MCFM FPresident's Message
Dear Mediators:
I am so honored that you, my peers, have elected me President and hope that, over the next two years, I prove worthy of the choice.
For those of you who don’t know me, I have been practicing law for 21 years and the last 16 have been in the family law area. Mediation represents about 40% of my practice and the rest is traditional representation and Collaborative Law. I still go to court and, for the most part, actually enjoy it. I also do a lot of prenuptial work and, because the subject is particularly compelling to me, I have researched and written about it extensively. Additionally, I have worked as a neutral for many years in different capacities: as a Board of Bar Overseers Hearing Panel member, as a Massachusetts Bar Association Fee Arbitration Panel member and a conciliator with the Middlesex County Bar Association.
Mediation compliments my practice and has made my professional life much more satisfying. The epiphany is familiar to many of you, I’m sure.
The last seven years have been particularly rewarding for me – that’s when I came on the Board as the Clerk. During this time, I have come to know many of you quite well and hope to meet more of you in the near future.
The year ahead should be a particularly exciting one for the Massachusetts Council on Family Mediation (MCFM):
Our 30th birthday is coming up and we are celebrating it on September 13 at the Endicott House in Dedham. Tickets will be $50.00 for members.
We are considering hiring a strategic planning advisor who may assist us with developing a mission statement and/or helping us identify some long and short-term organizational goals. An added bonus for MCFM – the services will be pro bono.
John Fiske and Steve Nisenbaum are already hard at work on their successful and engaging Professional Development workshops. So watch your inboxes for further information on that. These meetings have been at capacity for the last few years and we hope to see even more of you there in the next year.
Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions, comments, or concerns. I look forward to a promising year.
Yours,
Jonathan Fields