Ms. Kandell is an attorney and dispute resolution professional and trainer with over 35 years of experience in public and private sector law practice. Her practice is dedicated to serving as a neutral and she has been mediating cases for over 30 years. In 2016 the ABA published Mediation for Estate Planners, that contains a chapter Ms. Kandell authored. In April 2014 she became certified by the International Mediation Institute. She is one of a dozen mediators in the DC-VA-MD region to have gained this recognition. She is one of eight Maryland mediators featured on a video of best practices, and has been selected to train Maryland’s Court of Special Appeals judges as well as its Administrative Law Judges. Ms. Kandell facilitates large group organizational and team conflict sessions using a customized problem solving approach. Ms. Kandell has mediated ADA, business, estate, employment, environmental and public policy, family, healthcare, personal injury and workers compensation cases. Prior to opening her company in 1999, Ms. Kandell managed the alternative dispute resolution program at the Environmental Protection Agency, designed pilot projects and conducted ADR training. Ms. Kandell has arbitrated over 200 commercial moving company cases.
Clients have repeatedly remarked that her calm approach has facilitated their settlement. She is a frequent presenter at business and professional meetings and conferences in the Washington DC metropolitan area and throughout the United States.
Prior positions:
Ms. Kandell trained as a mediator at Harvard Law School in 1992 and has mediated over 1000 cases. She has over 280 hours of advanced and specialized training.
She is a recognized mediation trainer, having been repeatedly awarded a contract by the Maryland State Bar Association for the past 12 years. This training, formerly offered in person is now provided online.
In June 2016 she participated as an assessor in the second annual Consensual Dispute Resolution Competition (CDRC), an international mediation competition in Vienna Austria. She was one of 50+ dispute resolution professionals from 25 different jurisdictions across the world who were selected based on their varied experience and expertise as mediators and negotiators.
She serves on the Maryland Council for Dispute Resolution Certification committee where she is working with colleagues to design a mediator mentoring project for new mediators.
It is my passion and belief that my job as a mediator is to stand for the possibility of settlement and to help the parties develop a solution that is in their mutual best interests. When developing settlement options, I only make suggestions if the parties are unable to formulate options themselves. My approach in mediation is to help parties candidly evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of their case and assess the benefits of settlement, the risks of litigation and the costs of prolonging the dispute. I may suggest a specific solution or give an assessment, so long as it doesn’t impinge upon my duty to remain neutral.
JD Temple University School of Law
BS University of Maryland
Available upon request.
