Legal Grounds | Winter Wheeler

Well it’s been a little bit, but I’m happy to say we’ve got a full, brand new episode of the podcast this week. 

Over the past month it’s felt like everything has conspired against me being able to sit down and record a new episode. 

First it was a covid scare, then a couple of reschedules (both on me), a couple of unforeseen matters getting shuffled around, and finally a case that should have settled but went to trial anyways. 

And because I’d taken on some new files, on top of trying to get my other case to settle, I found myself working a LOT on mediations. 

Now, I don’t keep my love for being a mediator a secret and it’s one of the things I’m excited to do more of as I transition away from managing the Firm. 

But having to actively participate as an interested party is, on a good day, mentally exhausting. On a bad day, it can be devastating to your client, your case, or both. 

And I think it’s because of that drain, that adrenaline drop that always comes after a contentious mediation or any trial, that a lot of us lawyers do our best to keep our emotions in-check, if not buried.
 
After all, if you practice long enough you will have that one client or case where it’s obvious someone’s been wronged, but the law just isn’t there. 

Thankfully my first guest after a brief hiatus is one of the best mediators I know, and she’s flipping the script by bringing emotions to the forefront of how conflict resolution can work. 

 In the two years since we last spoke, Winter Wheeler has given two TEDTalks**; the book she’d just co-authored, #Networked, has become a bestseller, and most recently, she has earned the title “Senior Neutral”—the highest honor a mediator and arbitrator can achieve in her home city of Atlanta.

Winter Wheeler has been a senior litigation attorney at multiple law firms, was named one of National Black Lawyers Top 40 Under 40, and is the founder of her own incredibly successful mediation practice and coaching program.

We discuss her 4 cornerstones for successful mediation, how allowing space for emotion can also allow space for negotiation, and why the myth of “leaning in” is leading to the very real problem of burnout among women in the professional realm. 

I couldn’t have asked for a better conversation to kick things back off. 

Enjoy the show! 

TEDTalk: Confessions of a Mom Who Has it All

TEDTalk: Mastering the Art of the Uncomfortable Conversation

Find Winter on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/winterwheeler/