Tampa
Lawyer takes power
of mediation to Middle East
By COLLEEN JENKINS and ABBIE VANSICKLE
Published June
30, 2006
A
Lynn Cole,
a longtime federal trial attorney turned mediator, just returned from three
months in Amman, Jordan, where she helped implement the first mediation program
in that region.
The program
went into effect June 1. All five of the cases handled so far were successfully
mediated, said Cole, who went as a specialist with the American Bar
Association.
"It gives
me great hope for the area," she said. "What's so exciting to me is, at its
core, mediation is a peaceful resolution of
dispute."
She didn't
have much time to dwell on the achievement.
This week,
Cole hosted four Jordanians in
Their
jam-packed schedule had them watching a mock mediation in federal court and
real-life mediations from small claims court, plus a quick trip to
"The
purpose of the trip is to see the American experience and try to benefit from
it," said Judge Ali Al-Dmour, who also serves as secretary general of
The group
squeezed in some shopping as well, making stops at Best Buy and