Brigitte Bell

About Brigitte Bell

I have been a lawyer since 1979, a mediatior since 1985, and have had my own practice concentrating on family law and dispute resolution issues since 1993. My focus has always been on resolving issues without resort to courts, working instead to help clients solve their problems-legal, financial, relationship, emotional-in ways that are respectful and private. Thus, when I heard about Collaborative Practice I knew that was a name for something that sounded like what I had been trying to do, but without the help of groups or teams or other professionals. I was a founding Co-President of the Collaborative Law Institute of Illinois and chair the Excellence and Best Practices Committee. I continue to do volunteer mediation for the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago, at which I got my training when it was still Neighborhood Justice of Chicago. I served on the Board of Directors for 25 years and am a senior mediator and trainer for them. I am also interested in adoption issues (having three now-adult adopted children) and helping the various parties to adoptions-birth parents, children, adoptive parents-think about and discuss the various relationship issues that arise in this complex context. Specialties: Mediation, collaborative practice, ethical issues in conflict resolution.

Experience

1. Mediator and Collaborative Professional

   Brigitte Schmidt Bell, P.C

   Mar 1993 — Present

   For more than 30 years, I\'ve provided mediation and legal services to families in the context of divorce, parenting, pre- and post-nuptial situations, always trying to find the best ways to help without making things more difficult or acrimonious than they already are.

Education

• Swarthmore College

  B.A.

  1966 — 1970

• University of Chicago

  J.D.

  1976 — 1979

• University of Iowa

  Educational Measurement & Statistics

  1974 — 1976