About Me

Stephanie West Allen, JD, practiced law in California for several years, held offices in local bar associations, and wrote chapters for California Continuing Education of the Bar. While in CA, Stephanie completed a number of five-day mediation training programs, including several with the Center for Mediation in Law, and a two-year intensive with Center co-founder Gary Friedman. She has been a mediator for over two and one-half decades.

While in law school, she took many courses in Santa Clara University's School of Counseling Psychology.

Stephanie has consulted with lawyers and law firms for many years, and spent a number of years as lawyer training director at a large firm. She also designs and presents Continuing Legal Education programs. She has taught workshops around the US, including such venues as Portland State University and Smithsonian Institution.

She is the author of Creating Your Own Funeral or Memorial Service: A Workbook and many articles on workplace and professional issues for such publications as Lawyer Hiring and Training Report, Colorado Nurse, The Complete Lawyer, National Law Journal, Of Counsel, The Jury Expert, Law Practice, Denver Business Journal, and TRIAL.

Stephanie co-wrote "The Human Factor," a column on alternative dispute resolution for The Complete Lawyer before it stopped publishing in July of 2009. She also wrote the column "Reading Minds" for the ABA's Law Practice.

Her most recent articles include:

Move From Being a Mindless Lawyer To a Mindful Lawyer

Rules of Engagement: Generation Y

Atticus Finch Would Not Approve: Why a Courtroom Full of Reptiles Is a Bad Idea

Articles coauthored with Dr. Jeffrey M. Schwartz:

A Blueprint for Self-Leadership

Law Students: Create A Well-rounded Life

Brain Management . . . Law Firm Leadership on the Neuro Frontier

Exercise Mind Hygiene On A Daily Basis

Stephanie's latest award was the L. Randolph Lowry Lecturer reflecting Lowry's life-long commitment to:

1) educate mediators, 2) further the values of communication to restore, to enhance or, at least, to ameliorate the effects of conflict in ongoing personal, professional and business relationships; and 3) build bridges of understanding in organizations.

She has designed and taught courses at such institutions as Hastings College of the Law, University of Colorado-Denver, and Regis University (Denver). Course titles included Settlement and Negotiation, Psychology of Conflict, Law and Psychology, and Psychology of Prejudice.

In her Attention Choreography programs, she shows people how to use their minds to change their brains in order to break and create habits, increase focus and awareness, and achieve goals.

Stephanie has developed a ground-breaking mediation model that utilizes the latest findings in neuroscience to facilitate resolution of conflict.

She has developed a seminar on the neuroscience of writing, looking at the role of the mind and the brain in both the writing process and the reading experience. The main question she addresses is how to make an effective connection between what the writer says and what the reader receives.

Stephanie is dedicated to continuing her learning and thus regularly attends professional conferences, including those sponsored by the Association for Psychological Science, Learning & the Brain, Association for the Advancement of Psychosynthesis, and University of Massachusetts Medical School's Center for Mindfulness.

Her two blogs are idealawg and Brains On Purpose™.

Contact her by e-mail to inquire about Stephanie speaking to your firm or organization.