Archives for December 2020

Ketan Soni has been using Zoom and other remote technology to deliver divorce and estate planning legal representation, arbitration and mediation services since before the start of COVID. Click here to read about Ketan’s latest post on the North Carolina Bar Association’s website about some of the latest Zoom features and how they positively impact your experience. This information applies whether you are a lawyer, mediator, arbitrator, or any person who uses Zoom in their business and personal activities!

There is a relation between how Zoom is used and how effective lawyers can be in communicating with their clients or parties in a lawsuit.  What may seem like minor adjustments, like moving a video screen, can actually create better rapport and understanding between everyone involved. Think about a phone conversation versus an in-person meeting. You can obtain more visual cues that help you understand what the other person is really trying to say. That same concept is true when having conversations with family law and estate planning clients, litigants in the court system, and parties to an arbitration.

Soni Brendle is proud to announce that Ketan Soni has been appointed to the NCDRC Commission for a 3-year term!

The North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission was established in October of 1995, pursuant to N.C. Gen. Stat. § 7A-38.2. The Commission is charged primarily with certifying and regulating private mediators who serve the courts of this State. The Commission also recommends policy, rules, and rule revisions relating to dispute resolution in North Carolina’s courts; provides support to court-based mediation programs; certifies mediation training programs; serves as a clearinghouse for information about court-based mediation programs; assists other State agencies interested in or providing dispute resolution services to their constituencies and publishes a newsletter.

Ketan has been mediating since 2011 in Superior and District Courts which primarily involve family law matters.  He uses the 20 years of divorce litigation and his experience resolving cases to assist spouses who wish to avoid the court system.  The use of mediation as an alternative to litigation has become increasingly popular as the costs of divorce skyrocket across the state.  This process provides couples with an option to have a greater say in the ultimate result of their own case.

As the governing body for court-ordered mediation in North Carolina, Ketan will have an opportunity to shape the future of mediation and dispute resolution with other colleagues across the state.  Congratulations!