Page 2 - Jeff Abrams

Mediator of the Month
Jef f
Abrams Esq.
It’s Showtime
By Dan Baldwin
“I love my work. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing,” says Jeff Abrams of Dallas- based Abrams Mediation & Arbitration.
“I was on the front lines of the ADR move- ment. My entire career has been dedicated to resolving conflict, to being a compassionate lAistener, to negotiating peace,” he says.
brams, who earned an AV Rating from Martindale-Hubbell, enjoys a national ADR practice. He has a deep well of mediation experi-
ence in a variety of business, employment, insurance and securities sub-specialties. In addition to being a full-time mediator, he has conducted hundreds of negotiation and mediation training programs in his 30 years of practice. He also works as a private arbitrator and settlement counsel.
Taking a Surgical Approach
Although an attorney, Abrams self- identifies as a mediator. “Being a lawyer is helpful in a mediation context, but I’m not practicing law when I mediate. I’m doing something completely different,” he says.
“Each case is deeply meaningful to the parties and I respect that,” Abrams says.
“I believe there is a solution for every problem. It takes perseverance and creativ- ity, forging common bonds. If a case does not settle on the day of mediation, I don’t let it go. I offer ideas for resolution. I make
proposals. When a lawsuit is filed, it is not because the parties want continued con- flict. They want a resolution to their prob- lem,” he says.
Abrams says that most cases, simple or complex, can be resolved in a single day if the lawyers and parties come prepared, are willing to be honest about the risks, and ne- gotiate in good faith. “It’s a surgical process. Lawyers live with a case for years on end. I like the fact that as a mediator, I can get in and out in a single day and bring about a positive result. And there’s always the thrill of getting the deal done. I never tire of the moment when everyone says ‘Yes!’” Abrams says.
It’s Showtime!
Abrams was born in the Bronx and grew up in the New York area. He remembers going to baseball games at Yankee Stadium and basketball games at Madison Square Garden with his two younger brothers. Abrams moved to Dallas in 1983. He has two grown children and three grandchil- dren (with another on the way). He lives near White Rock Lake with his sweetheart, Angela, and his dog, Alea, a rescue lab-mix.
Abrams felt a desire to help people as a career path early in his life, telling his father that he wanted to become a social worker when he grew up. His dad said, “Jeff, this is how you like to spend money and this is
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Ken Hatley Photography