Episodes

  • A Caring Widow and Her Stepsons

    A Caring Widow and Her Stepsons
    Feb 17 2025
    Season 05 Episode 03
    Bette Epstein, Esq. has been mediating trust and estate disputes since 2000, following a remarkable career as a trust and estate litigator, and is highly regarded as one of the Bay Area’s leading probate specialists. In this episode, Bette shares the story of a conflict between the widow of a wealthy man whose intent was to ensure that his widow (who provided all the necessary care for him in his lengthy last illness) would be able to maintain the lifestyle she had previously enjoyed with her husband after his death, and his sons from a previous marriage, who were the co-trustees of the trust set up to support the widow. Listen to find out how she was able to guide the parties to a resolution.
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    44 mins
  • Betrayal of Trust

    Betrayal of Trust
    Jan 24 2025
    Season 05 Episode 02
    Steve Cerveris is a full-time, independent mediator and principal of CERVERIS MEDIATION. Assisting his clients through the emotionally and economically draining, time-consuming challenges of litigation earlier in his 40-year career ultimately led Steve to pursue the field of alternate dispute resolution for the past 25 years. His goal was and is to help people embroiled in litigation find a more humane, positive way to resolve conflict. In this episode, Steve relates the story of children in a church school, their molestation by a trusted pastor, and the devastating effect molestation had on their lives and relationships. The complicated mediation was not only effective in settling a lawsuit, but was also able to provide a means by which healing could begin, in part, through institutional changes.
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    46 mins
  • Jaywalking into the Twilight Zone

    Jaywalking into the Twilight Zone
    Jan 6 2025
    Season 05 Episode 01
    Welcome back for a brand new season of Masters of Dispute Resolution! Joining Len is returning guest Phyllis W. Cheng, Esq., former Director of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the largest state civil rights agency in the United States. In this episode, Phyllis tells the story of a man in his twenties, alone in a cell in a jail run by a firm under contract with a governmental agency. Activity in the cell was recorded by a video camera, where he was observed to be sleeping and exercising. It then abruptly showed him in pain with contusions, a black eye, and other injuries, with the man unable to remember what happened to him. What happened to cause these injuries? How did Phyllis guide the parties to resolution?
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    43 mins
  • Return of the Masters

    Return of the Masters
    Aug 22 2024
    In the first four seasons of Masters of Dispute Resolution, host Len Levy and his expert guests have not only made it their mission to share how mediation has brought about resolution but also to educate. Not just educate by giving attorneys, mediators, and others tools to perform their respective roles more effectively, but also to illustrate that kindness, dignity, and empathy all carry with them great healing powers. Tune in to hear Len's preview of Season 5, looking forward to more compelling stories of how lives have been changed by those who strive to make a difference.
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    3 mins
  • An Unplanned Waterfall in the Living Room

    An Unplanned Waterfall in the Living Room
    Aug 20 2024
    Season 04 Episode 12
    Bob Friedenberg, a full-time Mediator and Arbitrator on the Panel of Neutrals of ADR Services, Inc., and a former litigator, educator, and track coach, has 40 years of legal experience, the last 20 of which have been exclusively as a full-time mediator, arbitrator and discovery referee and special master. He has handled well over 2,000 cases through his years of experience. In this episode, Bob joins Len to tell the story of a dispute about a defective remodeled home and what it took to deal with the complex construction and insurance issues standing in the way of resolution.
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    44 mins
  • Life on the Farm

    Life on the Farm
    Jul 19 2024
    Season 04 Episode 11
    Steven A. Block, Esq. is a highly experienced mediator, arbitrator, special master, and referee. In this episode Steve tells the story of conflicts within a family, owners of a very successful farm operation, headed by two brothers and founded by their grandparents a century before. That conflict jeopardized not only the ability to continue their legacy business, but also their relationships within the family. Listen and learn how a master mediator helped the parties overcome considerable obstacles to resolution.
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    49 mins
  • The Case of the Posthumous Pregnancy

    The Case of the Posthumous Pregnancy
    Jul 6 2024
    Season 04 Episode 10
    Brad Bening is one of the most effective and well-regarded neutrals in Northern California. He has successfully mediated more than 2,000 cases throughout his career. In this episode, Brad shares the story of a conflict that arose in the aftermath of a wealthy man’s death when his family learned that he had fathered additional children, including two with an employee of his firm, born 11 months after his death, and what it took to resolve that conflict in mediation.
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    46 mins
  • Putting in the Work to Resolve a Complex Conflict

    Putting in the Work to Resolve a Complex Conflict
    Jun 8 2024
    Season 04 Episode 09
    Patrick M. Kelly is one of the pre-eminent trial lawyers, litigators, law firm leaders, and professional association leaders in the country. He has vast experience in numerous substantive areas that he will bring to bear in efficiently, effectively, and economically resolving matters as a mediator, arbitrator, or referee. In this episode, Pat tells the story of a complex probate dispute, what he did to help the parties reach a resolution recognized by the parties as fair and in everyone’s best interests, and what it takes to achieve satisfying outcomes.
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    39 mins