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1225 Franklin Avenue, Suite 325
Garden City,
New York
11530
Phone: 516-495-7913
Fax: 516-294-0870
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Welcome
Our professionals are devoted to the principle that mediation should be viewed as an alternative to costly, drawn-out litigation. The Long Island Mediation Group encourages the use of mediation, as the forum of choice, in all forms of disputes. Whether in a divorce, a commercial dispute, or in personal injury, mediation can successfully resolve a disagreement, which otherwise would result in a costly court battle. Of course, mediation requires an important element -- that each party in the dispute believes that he/she is right. If the goal is simply to cause the other pain, without regard to the cost and suffering inflicted, litigation is the way to go. However, if the parties want to resolve the issues and move forward while preserving a future relationship, mediation will be the way to resolve their dispute.
What is Mediation?
In simple terms, mediation is an extra-judicial process that attempts to bypass the courts to reach a resolution between adversarial parties. Unlike litigation, where a judge or jury decides, or arbitration, where an arbitrator makes the final decision, mediation is a process where the final decision is reached by the parties involved in the dispute and memorialized in an agreement. An example often used to describe mediation is where two people are arguing about an orange. Each individual holds to the position that they want the orange, to which they each have an equal claim. However what do they really want? Well, one wants to make orange juice, for which he needs the meat of the orange; the other wants to make a cake, for which she needs the skin. The fact is that while each party's position is that they want the same thing, actually their needs show that they both can make use of the orange.
This is, in a sense, what mediation attempts to do and how the mediator, acting as a facilitator, assists those involved in a dispute in understanding their individual needs so that they can form an agreement that both can both live with. By using questions to delve into individual concerns and fears, the mediator is able to separate one's position from what the individual is really looking for and helps them understand that they can both benefit from the orange.
Our Mediators:
David M. Stein
David M. Stein is an attorney in Garden City, New York, with nearly twenty-five years of legal practice. A graduate of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, he has handled all types of commercial disputes and has written extensively on commercial real estate. Mr. Stein is an experienced mediator, has been certified by The Center for Mediation and Training, and is a member of The New York State Council on Divorce Mediation. Email: davidstein@longislandmediationgroup.com
David Vallone
David Vallone is an attorney with offices in Garden City and Bohemia. He has seventeen years of private practice experience on Long Island. He is certified as a mediator by the Center for Mediation and Training and is a member of the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation. He also is a member of the Professional Standards Committee of the New York State Association of Collaborative Professionals. Email: davidvallone@longislandmediationgroup.com
Dina M. DeGiorgio
Dina M. DeGiorgio, born Bronx, New York; admitted to bar in 1993, New York; attended Fordham University at Rose Hill and Fordham University Law School (B.S. 1989 and J.D. 1992); Center for Mediation in Law (Post-Graduate Certificate Mediation); Adjunct Professor, New York Institute of Technology (1996-1999); Member, New York State Bar Association (Family Law Section); New York State Council on Divorce Mediation; engaged in private practice from 1995 through the present, specializing in family law, real estate, and litigation. Email: dinamdegiorgio@longislandmediationgroup.com
Lisa Siano
Lisa Siano is admitted to practice in the State of New York, in the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, and in the Supreme Court of the United States. She is a former Judge of the District Court of Nassau County, and law secretary to a Nassau County Supreme Court Justice. She is a member of the Nassau County Bar Association and Women’s Bar Association of Nassau County, past Director of the Nassau County Bar Association, Director and former Chair of the We Care Fund of the Nassau County Bar Association, and past President and Director of the Columbian Lawyers’ Association of Nassau County. She has lectured extensively in the field of matrimonial law for the New York State Bar Association, the Nassau County Bar Association, St. John’s CLE programs, and to various civic organizations. She has been an adjunct professor at Nassau Community College and has facilitated seminars for Law Guardians. She has a mediation certificate from the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals and is a member of the New York State Council on Divorce Mediation. Email: lisasiano@longislandmediationgroup.com
Please email us or visit our website for additional information.
