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Primary Trainer and NCDRC Certified MSC & FFS Mediator
Ellen Gelbin has been a litigator in North Carolina for thirty-nine years. She has over 20 years’ concurrent experience as an NCDRC Certified Superior Court (MSC) and Family Financial (FFS) Mediator. Her passion is teaching the Superior Court (MSC) and Family Financial (FFS) Mediation Training to attorneys and other learned professionals. For decades, Ellen has been judicial and peer rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubble®, designating the highest ethics and preeminent legal skills. She has long-devoted herself to the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Dispute Resolution Section (former chair). Ellen earned a merit-based membership in the American and NC Academies of Distinguished Neutrals. Since 2005, Ellen has taught mediation at Wake Forest University School of Law. Since 2010, she has taught the 40-Hour NCDRC Superior Court Mediation course to 3rd year law students. Resumé available upon request.
NCDRC Certified FFS & MSC Mediator
A seasoned civil litigator with deep business and legal experience, Colleen Byers focuses on mediating complex business, employment, trust, estate, fiduciary and family disputes to help companies, families and individuals solve their legal problems outside the courtroom. All of Colleen’s education is from Creighton University, a Jesuit University in Omaha, Nebraska. For the last sixteen years, it has been recognized as the number one “University in the Midwest.” She is proud to be a triple Blue Jay, having obtained a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, a Master of Business Administration, and Juris Doctorate (JD), cum laude from Creighton University. Colleen has received the following recognition: Lawyer of the Year, North Carolina Lawyers Weekly (2020) North Carolina Lawyer Weekly’s Leaders in the Law (2020); Best Lawyers in America (2020); North Carolina Super Lawyers, Rising Star (2016–2018); Business North Carolina Legal Elite, Young Guns (2016–2018); and Chamber of Commerce Winston Under 40 Leadership Award (2017). To Learn More Visit: www.byersmediation.com
NCDRC Certified MSC Mediator
Kelley Gondring is a Collaborative divorce attorney, DRC-Certified Family Financial Mediator, Parenting Coordinator, and Guardian ad litem in Winston-Salem, NC. Convinced that there had to be less destructive ways to help families transition from one roof to two, she opened Gondring Law, PLLC in the Fall of 2020 in order to focus her practice on Collaborative divorce, PC work, and mediation. She likes to say that she is a recovering litigator, and she last appeared before the court in a disputed matter in October 2021. She has found that it is possible for separating spouses – including those with significant disagreement – to wind down their marriages and find solutions that work for their unique family situation completely outside of the courtroom. Kelley is an active board member of the North Carolina Collaborative Attorney Network (NC-CAN), the Dispute Resolution Council of the NCBA, and co-Coordinator of Project Birthday. In 2019-2020, she served as the President of the Forsyth County Bar Association. Prior to opening Gondring Law, she was a partner at Robinson & Lawing, LLP, where she began building a Collaborative law practice while maintaining a traditional family law litigation practice and a robust criminal law practice, which she carried over from her time at the Forsyth County Public Defender’s Office. Kelley graduated with her J.D. from UNC School of Law in 2009. While there, she served as a staff member on the North Carolina Law Review and was the co-President of the Lambda Law Student Association. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minors in Business Management and Spanish, graduating summa cum laude from North Carolina State University in 2005. She is happily married and has two delightful daughters who bring her profound joy. Kelley loves hiking with family, hosting fancy dinner parties, early-morning spirited bike rides with friends, and adventurous traveling. The most stimulating place she’s been is Varanasi, India; the most beautiful, Patagonia, Chile.
Guest Presenter
Tara Lynn Kozlowski is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. She has been with the Commission since July of 2018. Prior to working with the DRC Mrs. Kozlowski was a family law litigator and mediator, practicing with a small firm in Wake County. Mrs. Kozlowski obtained a BS in Chemistry from Indiana University, and her JD from The University of Toledo College of Law in 2006. She lives in Apex with her husband, two daughters, and yellow lab. Please feel free to contact her at the DRC office anytime with questions or to introduce yourself.
Primary Trainer and NCDRC Certified MSC & FFS Mediator
Ellen Gelbin has been a litigator in North Carolina for thirty-nine years. She has over 20 years’ concurrent experience as an NCDRC Certified Superior Court (MSC) and Family Financial (FFS) Mediator. Her passion is teaching the Superior Court (MSC) and Family Financial (FFS) Mediation Training to attorneys and other learned professionals. For decades, Ellen has been judicial and peer rated “AV” by Martindale-Hubble®, designating the highest ethics and preeminent legal skills. She has long-devoted herself to the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Dispute Resolution Section (former chair). Ellen earned a merit-based membership in the American and NC Academies of Distinguished Neutrals. Since 2005, Ellen has taught mediation at Wake Forest University School of Law. Since 2010, she has taught the 40-Hour NCDRC Superior Court Mediation course to 3rd year law students. Resumé available upon request.
NCDRC Certified FFS & MSC Mediator
A seasoned civil litigator with deep business and legal experience, Colleen Byers focuses on mediating complex business, employment, trust, estate, fiduciary and family disputes to help companies, families and individuals solve their legal problems outside the courtroom. All of Colleen’s education is from Creighton University, a Jesuit University in Omaha, Nebraska. For the last sixteen years, it has been recognized as the number one “University in the Midwest.” She is proud to be a triple Blue Jay, having obtained a Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, a Master of Business Administration, and Juris Doctorate (JD), cum laude from Creighton University. Colleen has received the following recognition: Lawyer of the Year, North Carolina Lawyers Weekly (2020) North Carolina Lawyer Weekly’s Leaders in the Law (2020); Best Lawyers in America (2020); North Carolina Super Lawyers, Rising Star (2016–2018); Business North Carolina Legal Elite, Young Guns (2016–2018); and Chamber of Commerce Winston Under 40 Leadership Award (2017). To Learn More Visit: www.byersmediation.com
NCDRC Certified MSC Mediator
Kelley Gondring is a Collaborative divorce attorney, DRC-Certified Family Financial Mediator, Parenting Coordinator, and Guardian ad litem in Winston-Salem, NC. Convinced that there had to be less destructive ways to help families transition from one roof to two, she opened Gondring Law, PLLC in the Fall of 2020 in order to focus her practice on Collaborative divorce, PC work, and mediation. She likes to say that she is a recovering litigator, and she last appeared before the court in a disputed matter in October 2021. She has found that it is possible for separating spouses – including those with significant disagreement – to wind down their marriages and find solutions that work for their unique family situation completely outside of the courtroom. Kelley is an active board member of the North Carolina Collaborative Attorney Network (NC-CAN), the Dispute Resolution Council of the NCBA, and co-Coordinator of Project Birthday. In 2019-2020, she served as the President of the Forsyth County Bar Association. Prior to opening Gondring Law, she was a partner at Robinson & Lawing, LLP, where she began building a Collaborative law practice while maintaining a traditional family law litigation practice and a robust criminal law practice, which she carried over from her time at the Forsyth County Public Defender’s Office. Kelley graduated with her J.D. from UNC School of Law in 2009. While there, she served as a staff member on the North Carolina Law Review and was the co-President of the Lambda Law Student Association. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and minors in Business Management and Spanish, graduating summa cum laude from North Carolina State University in 2005. She is happily married and has two delightful daughters who bring her profound joy. Kelley loves hiking with family, hosting fancy dinner parties, early-morning spirited bike rides with friends, and adventurous traveling. The most stimulating place she’s been is Varanasi, India; the most beautiful, Patagonia, Chile.
Guest Presenter
Tara Lynn Kozlowski is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission. She has been with the Commission since July of 2018. Prior to working with the DRC Mrs. Kozlowski was a family law litigator and mediator, practicing with a small firm in Wake County. Mrs. Kozlowski obtained a BS in Chemistry from Indiana University, and her JD from The University of Toledo College of Law in 2006. She lives in Apex with her husband, two daughters, and yellow lab. Please feel free to contact her at the DRC office anytime with questions or to introduce yourself.
1. Public interest law is an extremely broad topic with no single definition or practice setting. Often, it involves work on behalf of poor individuals and families with legal problems. This might pertain to criminal matters (through public defender offices) or to civil matters (most commonly through civil legal aid offices).
2. Public interest law also frequently supports civil rights and social justice causes. You’ll find public interest lawyers working with the American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Resources Defense Council, and many other nonprofit organizations dedicated to furthering these legal issues.
3.Public interest lawyers can also work in government, whether in prosecutors’ offices at both the state and federal level, or in government agencies, including attorney generals’ offices. The work can focus on domestic issues but also international ones, including human rights.
