1.30pm: Login / Welcome

1.35pm: Understanding Conflict

• Defining conflict – what it is and isn’t
• Constructive vs destructive conflict
• Sources and causes of conflict (adapted from Moore, 2003
• Conflict reasoning and emotional triggers

2.20pm: Conflict, Stress and Personality

• The connection between conflict and stress
• Differentiating conflict behaviour from personality
• Identifying high-conflict personalities

3.00pm: Break

3.20pm: Communication and De-escalation Strategies

• Applying LARSQ: Listen, Acknowledge, Respond, Solve, Question
• Active listening and acknowledgment of conflict
• Strategies to respond to and support high-conflict personalities

4.15pm: Group Exercise – Managing a High-Conflict Scenario (30 mins)

• Work through a guided scenario in small groups
• Apply LARSQ and mediationstrategies in practice
• Facilitator feedback and discussion

4.45pm: Insights and Wrap-Up

• Key trends and lessons for mediators
• Practical tips for ongoing mediationpractice
• Q&A and close

5.00pm: Finish

This live webinar is ideal for family lawyers, mediators, and dispute resolution professionals working in or alongside family law. It suits practitioners seeking stronger cross-professional collaboration, deeper insight into the evolving roles in ADR, and practical guidance on ethics, FDR, and best practice. Perfect for those wanting to overcome misconceptions and elevate outcomes for clients navigating conflict.

This webinar is produced in NSW and features three NSW-based practitioners. 

The time listed for this course is Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). Please take note of any time differences if you are registering from QLD, WA, SA, NT or from outside Australia.

The course complies with the mandatory requirements of Professional Skills (1 point) and Substantive Law (1 point).  

If you intend to claim CPD units for this educational activity, please note that CPD activities are not accredited by the Law Society of NSW or any other equivalent local authority, with the exception of Western Australia. If you hold a practising certificate in a state or territory other than Western Australia and this educational activity extends your knowledge and skills in areas that are relevant to your practice needs or professional development, then you should claim one (1) "unit” for each hour of attendance, refreshment breaks not included. The annual requirement is ten (10) CPD units each year from 1 April to 31 March. Some practitioners, such as accredited specialists, are required to complete more than ten (10) units each CPD year.

Practitioners holding WA practising certificates are eligible to earn CPD points for this course. For instructions to earn CPD points, please click here.  

Kathryn Kearley 
Lawyer, Law Teacher & Accredited Specialist, Family Law Adjunct Lecturer, Practical Legal Training and Master of Applied Law Programs, The College of Law

Kathryn practised at a number of leading national law firms and has her own firm. She has worked in the areas of family law, litigation and dispute resolution and property practice.

Kathryn is an accredited family law specialist with the Law Society of NSW, a trained mediator and collaborative practitioner.

Kathryn Kearley has over 35 years in legal practice and over 20 years of experience as a law teacher.

Kathryn holds degrees of Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Laws (UNSW), Master of Laws (Hons) (UNE) and Master of Higher Education (Macquarie University).

Miriam Ziegler
AMDRAS Advanced Mediator, Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, Lawyer

Miriam is an experienced mediator, family dispute resolution practitioner and educator, with over 20 years of practice in the field.

Miriam trained in mediation at Harvard Law School and practiced in District Courts throughout Boston through the Harvard Mediation Program.  She has since mediated in a wide variety of settings including private practice, community organisations and local courts. She is appointed as a panel mediator for Legal Aid NSW, the Community Justice Centres, and the Law Society of NSW.

Beyond her mediation work, Miriam leads several academic and teaching programs. She teaches Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution at Western Sydney University where she is the Subject Coordinator for the Mediation Elective. She designed and co-delivers negotiation workshops at UNSW and coaches for The College of Law in the Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution and the National Mediation Accreditation course.

Miriam has a particular interest in Legally Assisted Mediations and regularly delivers workshops and webinars for solicitors seeking to enhance their mediation advocacy skills.

Committed to excellence in mediation, Miriam is a member of the ADR Committee of the Law Society of New South Wales. She is also a former Director of the Australian Mediators and Dispute Resolution Board.

In recognition of her contributions, Miriam was named a finalist for Mediator of the Year at the Australian Disputes Centre Awards in 2022.

Danielle Jaku-Greenfield
Nationally Accredited Mediator and Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner

Following some years working in print journalism, Danielle started her journey in family law. Since 2002, she has worked in family law in various capacities, starting as a solicitor in both private practice and in a community legal centre. After two years in Cambridge, UK, from where she completed her Master of Laws by thesis, she moved into mediation, becoming a Family Dispute Resolution Practitioner, in 2007.

A few years of balancing her practice as both a solicitor and a mediator confirmed a preference for a career in mediation. Since that decision, she has mediated in both private practice and the community sector and written and published books for children of separating families. Danielle has lectured sessionally in undergraduate family law, and since 2010 in postgraduate family law at The College of Law. Since 2014, she has also been involved in training future mediators and providing group and individual supervision.

Currently, she spends most of her week in community sector family dispute resolution, offering an exclusively online and subsidised mediation service to separated parents all over Australia, and the disability community. She also contributes to negotiation workshops at UNSW, coaches for The College of Law in their Graduate Diploma of Family Dispute Resolution and the National Mediation Accreditation course, and she co-presents webinars and workshops to solicitors seeking to upskill for legally assisted mediation.

Danielle sits on the Australian Mediation and Dispute Resolution Accreditation Standards (AMDRAS) Board of Directors supporting the mediation industry and practice standards. Her private practice is now focused on individual conflict coaching for anyone walking into a difficult conversation.

Please be aware that this webinar organised by the College of Law may be recorded for use on our websites, marketing materials and publications. By attending and participating in a College of Law Continuing Professional Development course, you consent to the College of Law photographing or recording and using your image and likeness and/or voice.