Solving disputes without resorting to traditional courthouse based litigation is the most meaningful and gripping part of my community association practice. Preventing arguments from escalating by skillfully facilitating difficult meetings and hearings is the work I enjoy most. Understanding how humans think, interact, form communities and solve disputes has been a passion of mine since high school. I majored in Sociology and Psychology at Wesleyan University of Middletown, Connecticut. After running an advocacy program for women in medicine at the Yale Medical School, I decided to go to the University of Connecticut Law School graduating in 1982. My further education includes mediation and facilitation training. I have served on the Board of Community Mediation of Greater New Haven. In 1994, I was inducted into the charter class of the Community Association College of Community Association Lawyers.
Twenty-five years ago, when Ron Bender and I formed our law firm, we decided to focus on the representation of community association. As one of the earliest practitioners in this field, we helped to develop the law governing community associations in Connecticut. In the intervening years, I have successfully mediated hundreds of community association disputes using formal and informal approaches. This effort has covered a wide range of issues including developer construction defect cases, rule enforcement and document interpretation, disputes between associations and unit owners, vendors, government agencies and disputes between board members and neighboring associations. I spoke about my work at the 2012 National Community Association Law Conference and more recently at the 2013 Connecticut CAI trade show."