About Lee Taft
I am a pioneer in designing, developing, and implementing conflict resolution processes. As a plaintiff’s litigator for twenty years I saw first-hand how litigation – and litigators – failed both parties. I began to explore alternatives to traditional litigation. That exploration led me to Harvard Divinity School where I wrote my graduate thesis on the role of apology in legal settings, an essay published by the YALE LAW JOURNAL. Today I have integrated my expertise in law and ethics to create a client-centered alternative to litigation based on fairness, transparency, and accountability. In business parlance, I am called a disruptive innovator because my cost-saving-values-based method disrupts the high cost of traditional litigation.
Education
Harvard Divinity School, M.Div., 1999
Resident, Pastoral Counseling and Education Center, 1994-95
St. Mary’s University School of Law, J.D., 1975
Michigan State University, B.S. with honors, 1972
Certifications
Mediation Skills Training Institute for Church Leaders, Lombard Mennonite Peace Center, 2003
Attorney Mediator, Attorney-Mediators Institute, 1996
Board Certified Civil Trial Specialist, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1982-97
Board Certified Personal Injury Trial Specialist, Texas Board of Legal Specialization, 1982-97
Admissions
State: Texas, Michigan
Federal: Northern District of Texas, Fifth and Eleventh Circuits, United States Supreme Court