Former Judges Form Mediation Firm

Sun., June 22, 1997

Associated Press

A group of former state judges has formed a firm that will offer mediation and arbitration services to people who want to resolve civil cases outside the crowded court system.

Judicial Dispute Resolution opens for business July 10 at its downtown Seattle location.

Founding members of the new firm include two former King County Superior Court judges, Charles S. Burdell Jr. and Terrence A. Carroll; former state Court of Appeals Commissioner JoAnne Thompkins; and Rosselle Pekelis, who has 15 years bench experience with King County Superior Court, the state Court of Appeals and the state Supreme Court.

Also joining the firm is Jack Rosenow, a former partner with Rosenow, Johnson & Graffe.

All the founders left the Seattle office of JAMS/Endispute, the nation’s largest nonprofit mediation and arbitration firm, to start Judicial Dispute Resolution.

In arbitration, a third party hears both sides of an argument and makes a ruling.

Mediators and arbitrators can decide any civil case, from divorce and sexual harassment to contracts and estate battles.

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