The MCBA and Marion County Circuit Court Family Law Advisory Committee (FLAC) have collaborated to present seven High Conflict Symposia. The first Symposium will feature renowned speaker William (“Bill”) A. Eddy who will discuss how to manage high conflict personalities in family law cases.

A Brief History and Description of the FLAC

Enacted in 1997, ORS 3.434 required each judicial district to create a local FLAC to adopt a local plan to coordinate the provision of services to families in domestic relations proceedings. Since then, the FLAC promulgated the Integrated Family Services Plan as well as the Domestic Violence Plan, the Parental Access Program, and the Young Child Case Processing Protocol. In addition to producing the High Conflict Symposia, which draws attendees from around the state, the Marion County FLAC continues to provide input to the court and serves as a forum for discussion on a multitude of family law issues. Its multi-disciplinary membership includes representatives from DHS, the Mid-Valley Women’s Crisis Service, YWCA, Marion/Polk Legal Aid, the DA’s office, the local family law bar, as well as mediators and custody evaluators.

Bill Eddy

Mr. Eddy is an attorney, therapist, mediator, and the President of the High Conflict Institute based in San Diego, California. Mr. Eddy trains professionals how to manage high conflict personalities by providing seminars to attorneys, mediators, collaborative law professionals, judges, ombudspersons, mental health professionals, hospital administrators, college administrators, law enforcement personnel, homeowners association managers and others. He has presented domestically in over 25 states and internationally in Canada, Australia, France and Sweden.

A Certified Family Law Specialist, Mr. Eddy has represented clients in family court and provided divorce mediation services for the past 18 years. Prior to practicing law, Mr. Eddy worked as a psychotherapist for 12 years, providing services to children, adults, couples and families in psychiatric hospitals and outpatient clinics.

Mr. Eddy is the author of several books, including It’s All Your Fault!: 12 Tips for Managing People Who Blame Others for Everything, High Conflict People in Legal Disputes, and Managing High Conflict People in Court. He is the developer of New Ways for Families, a short-term program for strengthening conflict skills for potentially high-conflict families and a co-developer of “HCI Pattern Analysis” a software service for presenting high conflict behavior patterns in family law settlement and litigation.

Mr. Eddy also teaches Negotiation and Mediation at the University of San Diego School of Law. He has served as a Special Master and as a Settlement Judge. He is currently the Senior Family Mediator at the National Conflict Resolution Center in San Diego, California. He is an adjunct professor at the Pepperdine University School of Law and on the faculty of the National Judicial College.

Symposium Details

High Conflict Symposium VIII: Managing High Conflict Personalities in Family Cases will be presented:

• Friday, January 6, 2012
• Paulus Lecture Hall of the Willamette University College of Law,245 Winter St. in Salem, Oregon.
• Registration begins at 8:00 a.m.
• Opening remarks by the Honorable Thomas M. Hart at 8:30 a.m.
• Bon Appétit will provide morning refreshments, lunch, and a hosted reception with Bill Eddy following the program.
• All included with the registration price of $75.
• The symposium will provide 6.5 CLE hours.

Contact David Bertram, Mediation Coordinator for the Marion County Circuit Court at 503-584-9055 for more registration details.