Peggy Roth: Q and A

Peggy RothWe have exciting news at Miles Mediation & Arbitration — on December 1, 2024, mediator Peggy Roth was officially appointed to the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution. She will be sworn in on December 4 and will be one of only two non-attorneys on the 16-member commission.

 

Q: Peggy, tell us a little about your background.

A: My educational background is in psychology; I have a BA in psychology and have been mediating for about 16 years. I specialize in domestic, eldercare, personal injury, civil, and juvenile cases, and I have extensive experience in family matters, having mediated domestic cases for the last 16 years. I also handle employment cases and have mediated EEOC cases for more than 12 years.

 

Q: You have been mediating cases for Miles’ Workplace Division, which is a great fit for your background and experience. Tell us what you enjoy about that type of work.

A: Being able to help parties discuss their issues in a safe, confidential setting and helping them find some resolution that ensures a safe, comfortable, productive work environment going forward. Most of the time it is an issue of being able to state what the underlying issues are and being “heard”.

 

Q: Where do you receive your training?

A: In addition to having a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Ohio State University, I received my training at the Justice Center of Atlanta and Henning Mediation.

 

Q: It’s somewhat unusual to be a non-attorney mediator — you’re currently the sole non-attorney mediator at Miles. Is that ever a challenge for you?

A: All the time I’ve been mediating, there’s been one constant — the attorneys don’t realize I’m not a lawyer. After a mediation, I’m often asked about what kind of practice I have, and I explain that I’m not an attorney. I don’t have to know the law to be a good mediator — I’m not a judge making a ruling. All I have to know is how to be a really good listener, and to be able to find a middle ground between the parties and help them see the strengths and weaknesses of their cases. Any problem can be solved if we can get each other to listen —that’s what I bring to mediation.

 

Q: Tell me about your appointment to the commission.  

A: It’s a five-year appointment, and the commission meets four times a year. The commission doesn’t pass the laws for the Supreme Court of Georgia, but they write them. The mission of the Georgia Commission on Dispute Resolution is to “help the Georgia Supreme Court fulfill its Constitutional mandate to ‘provide for the speedy, efficient, and inexpensive resolution of disputes and prosecutions’ in the judiciary.” I’m very excited to be part of the commission and to help make sure that mediators throughout the state of Georgia are held to a certain level of professionalism and ethics.

 

Q: Finally, I’ve heard that you’ve been called the “Swiss Army knife” of mediators. What does that mean?

A: Joe Murphey has called me that for years. I do a little bit of everything — I do domestic, family, personal injury, probated, and EEOC work as well as workplace cases. Our Workplace Division is ever-growing — more companies are buying into the idea of helping employees resolve their disputes quickly and efficiently

 

 

ABOUT MILES MEDIATION & ARBITRATION

Miles Mediation & Arbitration is shaping the alternative dispute resolution (ADR) industry with our comprehensive professional services model that combines the expertise of our highly skilled, diverse panel of neutrals with an unparalleled level of client support to guide and empower parties to fair, timely, and cost-effective resolution regardless of case size, specialization, or complexity. For more information, please call 888-305-3553 or email support@milesadr.com.

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