Faculty and Associates

Strategic Resolutions Group is proud to have on its team of outstanding consultants, teachers and mediators some of the most effective individuals in the field of conflict management. While each brings distinctive qualities and unique professional experiences, each offers to SRG clients the finest in services and teaching. The core personnel are described below.

L. Randolph Lowry is the founder of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution and a professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law. He works as a conflict management consultant to one of the nation’s largest hospital companies and for five years has served as chairman of the board for two non-profit health care organizations. A lawyer, active mediator, consultant, and internationally-recognized educator, he is on the faculty at Vermont Law School and City University in Hong Kong.

Lee Jay Berman is the director of the Mediating the Litigated Case Program for the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, and chair of the American Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Training Committee. He founded the Institute for Mediation Studies and has taught mediation and negotiation skills for the United States Agency for International Development, American Arbitration Association and Los Angeles County Bar Association. He continues to operate a thriving mediation practice, successfully mediating over 900 litigated cases in his 10 years in the profession.

Peter Robinson is the associate director of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution and an assistant professor of law at Pepperdine University School of Law, where he teaches negotiation, ADR processes, and mediation. Robinson has worked as an attorney for the US government and as the director of one of thirteen community dispute resolution centers in Los Angeles. He has the extensive experience mediating legal, community, and religious disputes, and has presented advanced negotiation and mediation skills training courses in Israel, Argentina, India, the Netherlands, and throughout the United States.

Nina Meierding has been the director and senior mediator of the Mediation Center for Family Law in Ventura since 1985, and has mediated over 4,000 disputes. She is an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University School of Law and Southern Methodist University. Meierding has held seminars in England, Ireland, Sweden, Scotland, India, the Netherlands, and throughout the U.S. She was a cofounder and president of the board of directors of the Ventura Center for Dispute Settlement. She has served as the president of the board of directors of the Academy of Family Mediators, and was on the board of directors of the Association for Conflict Resolution. In 2005 she received the John Haynes Distinguished Mediator Award.

Tim Pownall is a consultant and trainer who conducts management and staff trainings, courses and workshops in Negotiation, Mediation and Conflict Management skills. In this capacity, Mr. Pownall has trained nearly ten thousand professionals nationally and internationally in recent years, in various industries, according to their academic or corporate performance, HR and training requirements. Tim has also mediated hundreds of complex civil, employment/workplace (EEO/ADA/Title VII/WC), insurance, personal injury, business and commercial cases. He currently is the Executive Director of the Center for Conflict Resolution.

Denise R. Madigan was formerly with JAMS for ten years and with the Harvard-MIT Public Disputes Program. Madigan has extensive experience mediating a wide range of litigation and public policy cases nationwide. Areas in which she has mediated include complex commercial, intellectual property, high technology, financial, and many others. Madigan also teaches mediation as an Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine Law School, and is a regular lecturer at the City University of Hong Kong School of Law and for the California Judicial Council. She currently offers her mediation services through Action Dispute Resolution Services in Los Angeles.

Nathan Mellor is a leader in the fields of leadership development and conflict management. In demand as a speaker, he has spoken in fifteen states as well as numerous countries in Central and South America, Eastern Europe and Australia. Using his mixture of life experiences and specialized academic training, he assists individuals and organizations reach their personal and organizational goals. He has two degrees from Harding University, a Bachelors Degree in Religious Studies and a Masters Degree in Communications. In addition, he holds a Masters Degree in Dispute Resolution from the prestigious Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law. Currently, he is pursuing his Doctorate in Organizational Leadership from Pepperdine University. His passion for teaching translates into enjoyable and enriching learning experiences that touch the heart and engage the mind.

Teresa A. Wakeen has an extensive background in negotiation, mediation, and conflict resolution. Through her experience and training as a conflict resolution professional, corporate business counsel, and former trial lawyer, she brings a dynamic combination of skills to her negotiations. She has mediated over 2,000 disputes. Parties to her mediations have included government entities, Fortune 500 companies, private sector organizations, insurance companies, as well as private individuals. Wakeen formerly was associate general counsel for CUNA and Affiliates. Her corporate practice included areas of commercial and business litigation, multi-party contract negotiations, and antitrust advising.

Charles B. Wiggins is a professor at the University of San Diego School of Law. After completing his law degree at Hastings and LL.M. at Yale, Wiggins combined teaching with legal practice. In addition to offering sophisticated negotiation training programs for major law firms across the nation, Wiggins has recently provided negotiation skills programs for government and business leaders throughout Asia and Eastern Europe. Wiggins is the co-author of the book Negotiation and Settlement Advocacy.