Courses for Judges
You've spent your career resolving conflict. Now you can do it on your own terms.
Retiring and retired judges are among the most sought-after mediators in the country. EMA will show you how to make that transition properly and confidently
What Makes a Judge Exceptional in the Mediation Room
Parties choose mediators they trust to understand the law, read the room, and make things move. You’ve done all three, thousands of times. What mediation adds is a different kind of authority, not the power to decide, but the skill to guide parties to their own resolution. EMA teaches you that transition: how to set aside the judicial role, how to navigate the emotional currents of private dispute resolution, and how to build agreements that hold. Bruce Edwards has trained alongside retired judges for decades. Several of EMA’s own instructors are former jurists.
I've been doing settlement conferences for decades. Do I really need this?
It’s a fair question, and one we hear often. Settlement conferences and mediation share some DNA, but they’re fundamentally different disciplines. In a settlement conference, your authority is part of the process. In mediation, it isn’t. And that changes everything about how you listen, how you move parties, and how you build agreements that hold.
Several judges who came to us with that question have told us afterward it was the most surprising professional development experience of their career. The ones who skipped it and went straight to the Advanced course came back.
Learn from Judges Who Made the Transition
Among EMA’s instructors are former judges themselves, including Hon. Danny Weinstein and Hon. Rebecca Westerfield. When they describe their mediation strategies, they’re speaking from the same transition you’re considering. You’ll learn from people who’ve made exactly the move you’re thinking about.
CLE & Credentials
The Mediation Skills Course is approved by the California State Bar for 29 CLE hours, including 4 ethics hours. After completing the course, you receive a certificate from Edwards Mediation Academy for 40 hours of mediation training, recognized by most courts, panel rosters, and ADR providers.
From Professionals Like You
“Outstanding — far exceeded my expectations. The module on Apology and Forgiveness was transformational. These are concepts totally foreign to traditional law practice, and yet they profoundly changed my thinking. I will apply these teachings for the remainder of my life. The shadowing experience was excellent too. You would think it would be boring, but the goals of each module made it fascinating to analyze what was happening and why.”
–Eugene Joseph Berkes (Attorney and former Administrative Law Judge
Mediation Skills Course
40 Hours | $997 | 29 CLE credits + 4 Ethics + 2.5 Bias
The professional foundation for judges entering mediation practice