Dan Simon
Practice Philosophy:
I practice transformative mediation. This means I support disputing parties in having a conversation. My job is to support each party in making his or her own choices about what they want to talk about and how they want to talk about it. My hope is to enhance the conversation. This often leads to parties gaining a sense of calm, clarity and connection. Often, they also come to agreements about how to resolve their differences. The transformative model differs from settlement-focused mediation, in that parties in transformative mediation need not feel inhibited by a mediator's preference that the conversation move directly to settlement. Instead, parties are encouraged to focus on whatever aspect of the situation they want to focus on; this usually leads to a deeper sense of empowerment and a deeper sense of mutual recognition. Settlements often become easy to reach when the parties have experienced fundamental shifts on how they view the situation and each other.
Name of Firm:
Twin Cities Mediation
Law School Attended:
University of Minnesota Law School
Website:
Twin Cities Mediation
Business Phone:
(612) 824-8988
Professional Information:
Lawyer, Barrister, Solicitor, Attorney
Professional Information:
Mediator
Professional Information:
Mental Health Professional
Professional Information:
Coach
Professional Information:
CLE Provider, Trainer, Speaker, Author, Media
Practice in (U.S. States):
Nationwide Dan Simon has been the director of Twin Cities Mediation since he founded it in 1998. He helps with divorces, parenting differences, real estate issues, employment cases, business disputes, and neighbor to neighbor conflicts. Minnesota Law and Politics featured Dan Simon in the February 2000 issue, calling his process "a kinder gentler mediation." The St. Paul Pioneer Press profiled Dan in 2003 as "the man in the middle." And Minnesota Lawyer featured Dan in 2007 in "Transformative ADR Movement Gains Toehold in Twin Cities."
As a teacher and practitioner of the transformative approach, Dan helps parties have a constructive conversation about their differences. He received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Minnesota School of Law, his M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Minnesota, and his B.A., with honors, from the University of California at Berkeley. Although he is licensed to practice law in Minnesota, he prefers to practice mediation exclusively. Before creating Twin Cities Mediation, Dan worked as a business litigation attorney and as a family business consultant. He is the first Certified Transformative Mediator (certified by the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation) in Minnesota.
Dan provides transformative mediation trainings frequently in the Twin Cities, in 40-hour family, 30-hour civil, and 18-hour advanced formats. He has provided training nationally for the U.S. Postal Service and for the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation.
