Mediator Resume

Attorney, arbitrator, mediator, court-appointed neutral, facilitator, and fact-finder of labor, employment, commercial, and public interest disputes. For the last 25 years has led the Mediation Tribunal Association, which is the largest court-mandated case evaluation agency in Michigan. State Bar of Michigan Commissioner, District H, Past chair of the ADR Section of the Michigan State Bar, Executive Director of PREMi, Academy of Court-Appointed Neutrals (NACAN), President-Wolverine Bar Foundation

Lisa W. Timmons, PLLC

Arbitrator, Mediator, Executive Director

Arbitrator/Mediator, Lisa W. Timmons, PLLC, 2013 - Present; Executive Director & ADR Clerk of the Court, Mediation Tribunal Association, 1998 - Present; Adjunct Faculty, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, 2015 - 2019.

Attorney, arbitrator, mediator, and fact-finder of labor, employment, and commercial disputes. Labor Relations: Extensive experience resolving labor-management disputes in the public and private sectors, including postal, education, public safety, municipal, and higher education bargaining units. Areas of focus include grievance arbitration, contract interpretation, discipline and discharge, past practice, seniority and job bidding, interest arbitration and LMOU impasse, and the statutory overlay of the NLRA and state public-sector labor relations acts. Employment Law: Experienced in claims under Title VII, the ADA, FMLA, FLSA, ADEA, ELCRA, and analogous state anti-discrimination statutes, as well as EEO regulations, the Michigan Whistleblowers' Protection Act, MSPB proceedings, and public-policy tort claims. Matters include discrimination (disparate treatment and impact), harassment, retaliation and protected activity, wage and hour violations, employee classification, severance agreements, at-will employment, and unemployment compensation. Also well-versed in personnel policies, workplace investigations, restrictive covenants, and the ministerial exception. Commercial: client representation, mediation, and arbitration in the following subject areas: landlord/tenant law, retaliatory and wrongful eviction, commercial leasing, commercial real estate, Michigan and local liquor license law, tortious interference with a business relationship, contracts and breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, shareholder actions, fraud, subrogation, defamation, specific performance, business incorporation and dissolution, injunctions, declaratory actions, lemon-law, the Consumer Protection Act, franchise law, unjust enrichment, and promissory estoppel. Representative Matters Include: • Represented Detroit bar owner in the transfer of state liquor license • Represented Pontiac business seeking medicinal and recreational cannabis site licensing • Obtained dismissal for business owner accused of breach of real estate purchase agreement • Represented local Pastor in a church separation resulting in a settlement agreement • Represented tax professional drafting franchise agreements to license proprietary tax preparation software • Represented community college drafting contracts, memorandums, and legal research • Defended landlord in a seven-day bench trial for unlawful eviction, obtained money judgment in favor of the landlord • Represented employees in Merit System Protection Board responses and appeals • Negotiated and drafted severance agreements on behalf of employees • Drafted personnel manuals and policies for closely-held business owners • Represented several members/shareholders in business divorce cases both pre-suit and in arbitration • Defended realtor in allegations of tortious interference of a real estate/property management company • Defended client in insurance subrogation claims resulting in a settlement agreement • Facilitated board meeting with executive director and board following an internal investigation • Contract work for plaintiff employment law firm handling drafting, discovery, and responding to motions.

Highly-experienced ADR professional, attorney, and real estate broker, with a 25-year career litigating and resolving disputes in labor, employment, and commercial matters. Background spans a diverse range of industries from public, federal, and private sector employees, healthcare, insurance, real estate, and colleges and universities. Chair-elect of the ADR Section of the Michigan State Bar Association and frequently asked to speak and write on topics involving employment and labor law, commercial law, and ADR. Proficient in utilizing technology for effective case management and dispute resolution.

• Mediated over 1500 EEO cases for federal sector employees since 1998. Cases involved allegations of failure to accommodate, retaliation for protected activity, disparate treatment, disparate impact, nexus to off-duty conduct, due process, hostile work environment, harassment, and progressive discipline. Often including union officials, pending grievances, and at times contract interpretation issues. • Mediated commercial and residential real estate issues involving breach of lease agreements, purchase agreements, and/or property management agreements. • Mediated two disputes involving the discharge of a pastor/minister from a church. Focusing on the ecclesiastical exception, employment agreements, and due process. • Mediated several post-termination employment matters as early pre-litigation disputes resulting in severance agreements. • Experience mediating property disputes and claims between creditors, interested persons, and personal representatives in decedent estates and probate matters.

I approach mediation with the sensitivity that the facts to each dispute are unique to the parties. I give them the time and thoroughness they need and deserve, while being mindful that mediation should be an efficient process. Efficiency not only helps to control costs, but it keeps the parties from being unnecessarily entrenched in their positions because of avoidable delays. My extensive training in ADR allows me to consider a “toolkit” of options that may provide for a successful resolution. I am comfortable and flexible in providing the parties with a range of mediation styles including facilitation, evaluation, and if appropriate a hybrid between the two; based on the needs, positions, and feedback I receive. I do prefer case summaries so that I can have some baseline understanding of the issues prior to the first meeting, but I am open to a format that suits the parties when mediating.

Proficient with Zoom, GoToMeeting, and WebEx. E-signing capability with Adobe Sign and DocuSign. Conducting in-person and remote hearings based on party preference.

University of Detroit Mercy School of Law (JD, cum laude - 2013); Wayne State University (MA, Dispute Resolution - 1997); Michigan State University (BA, Communications - 1989).

Admitted to the Bar: Michigan (2013); U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Michigan. Real Estate Broker, Michigan.

Past Co-Chair Mediation Committee, Dispute Resolution Section of the American Bar Association; Neutral Co-Chair State and Local Government Bargaining Employees Committee, Labor and Employment Law Section of the American Bar Association; State Bar of Michigan, Board of Commissioners, District H; Fellow, Michigan State Bar Foundation; International Bar Association; Sports Lawyers Association (SLA) (subcommittees: college sports education and planning and boxing/MMA); Women in Sports Law (WIS); International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA); California Arbitration (CalArb); New York State Bar Association (non-NY attorney membership); Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center; Michigan State Bar (District H Character and Fitness Committee; Representative Assembly, 3rd Circuit of Michigan); American Bar Association (Labor and Employment Law Section; Michigan Regional Chair and Publications Editor, WIDR, Women in Dispute Resolution, Subcommittee of the ADR Section); Secretary/Treasurer-Detroit Bar Association; President, Wolverine Bar Foundation; Chairperson, Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution); Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), National, Oregon, New Jersey, Houston, and Detroit Regions; Oakland County Bar Association; Federal Bar Association; Fellow, American Bar Foundation; ArbitralWomen; The Labor Guild; Society of Federal Labor and Employee Relations Professionals.

• Panelist, The Labor Arbitration Playbook, State Bar of Michigan, ADR Section Annual Meeting, September 2025 • Panelist, ADR Case Law Updates, State Bar of Michigan, ADR Section Annual Meeting, September 2025 • Panelist, Addressing Gender Neutral & Gender Identity Considerations in Bargaining & Labor Relations, Association of Labor Relations Agencies (ALRA), 2024 Annual Conference • Author, Early dispute resolution: Practices and principles for early settlement, Michigan Bar Journal, June 2024 • Author, Newly Neutral, Oakland County Legal News, February 27, 2024 • Panelist and Author, Grievance Arbitration Report, State and Local Government Bargaining and Employment Law Committee Midwinter Meeting, ABA Labor and Employment Law Section, January 2024 • Moderator, Bankruptcy Lunch & Learn, WIDR of the ABA and the Wolverine Bar Association, November 28, 2023 • Panelist, Meet the Diverse Neutrals, University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, October 5, 2023 • Marketization and Its Discontents, Book Review, LERA Perspectives on Work, 2023, pp. 100-101. • Panelist, Just Cause—How Arbitrators Rule, Arbitrator & Advocate Symposium, sponsored by NAA, LERA, and FMCS, Columbus, Ohio, October 2023 • Moderator, Discrimination in Dispute Resolution, with Dan Berstein, State Bar of Michigan ADR Section, Annual Meeting, September 2023 • Moderator and Panelist, Turning No into Not Yet: Neutrals Discuss Their Path to Practice, State Bar of Michigan ADR Section, Annual Meeting, September 2023 • Moderator, Case Evaluation 2023, Lessons Learned One Year after the Court Rule Change, State Bar of Michigan ADR Section, Annual Meeting, September 2023 • Panelist, Optimal Virtual and Hybrid Hearings, Association of Labor Relations Agencies (ALRA), 71st Annual Conference, July 18, 2023 • Symposium Chair, Law and Regulations in the Workplace, LERA Annual Meeting, June 2, 2023 • Panelist, The First Year in a New Arbitration Practice, LERA Annual Meeting, June 2, 2023 • Panelist, The Diversity Dilemma, Is Checking the Box Enough, ADR Section of the ABA, Annual Conference, May 11, 2023 • Speaker, Navigating Change, Case Evaluation, and Tort Cases in Michigan, ADR Section of the ABA, Annual Conference, May 10, 2023 • Moderator, What’s the Fallout? State Whistleblower Claims and Other Torts, ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law, Employment Rights and Responsibilities Committee, Midwinter Meeting, March 14, 2023 • Moderator, Michigan AFSCME Council 25 v Wayne Co., State Bar of Michigan Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, February 7, 2023 • Panelist, Michigan Legal Diversity Summit, Building a More Equitable Legal Profession, 2022 • Author, Book Review of “Coffee and Conversations: Inclusion and Belonging,” by Zenell B. Brown, Detroit Lawyer, Detroit Bar Association, (February 2021) • Featured in Detroit Lawyer, “From a Tiny Acorn into a Mighty Oak: The Story of Mediation/Case Evaluation in Michigan,” by Sheldon L. Miller, (February 2021) • Moderator, Diversifying the Practice of ADR: Lessons Learned Mediating in Diverse Communities and Conflicts, State Bar of Michigan, ADR Section Annual Meeting, 2021 • Panelist, Million Dollar Questions in Mediation, State Bar of Michigan, ADR Section, 2021

Metro-Detroit Area.

Hourly Rate: $425.00 Daily Rate: Not provided Study Rate: $425.00/hr Cancellation: $1,700.00/Day Cancellation Period: 7 Days Comment: Compensation rates, established by the AAA, are set forth in the applicable Consumer Mediation Procedures.

English

United States of America

West Bloomfield, Michigan