Finding a PREMi Resolution Specialist Near You…

PREMi is an organization of dispute resolution experts who have numerous years experience in the various dispute resolution techniques.

Laura A. Athens

Laura A. Athens is an attorney, mediator, facilitator and arbitrator in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Ms. Athens provides alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services in a variety of matters, special and general education, higher education, university faculty grievance, employment, vocational rehabilitation, guardianship and disability rights cases. Ms. Athens previously served as a Hearing Officer in special education and vocational rehabilitation due process hearings.

As an Adjunct Professor at Wayne State University Law School, Ms. Athens taught education law, health law and bioethics. Ms. Athens also taught Legal Research and Writing at Washington University School of Law. She is an associate of Professional Resolution Experts of Michigan, LLC (PREMi) and has served on the State Bar of Michigan Alternative Dispute Resolution Council and as a former Chair of the Oakland County Bar Association ADR Committee. Ms. Athens has published numerous articles on education law, mediation and arbitration and frequently lectures and appears on cable TV programs regarding ADR and school-related topics.

Areas of Practice

Education Law
University Faculty Grievance
Employment/Workplace Conflict

List of Selected Articles

The Role of Restorative Practices in Effectively Addressing Gender Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace, Legal Daily News, January 2020

Facilitating Positive Change in the Workplace, Legal Daily News, November 2018

The New Emergency Seclusion and Restraint Statute and the Role of the Mediator, Legal Daily News, August 2017

Bullying and Harassment in the Schools: The Prevalence, Parameters and Proactive Solutions, Laches, January 2016

Overcoming Reluctance to Engage in Mediation, Oakland County Legal News, March 2014

Confidentiality Does not Automatically Extend to Pre-Mediation Resolution Sessions, Laches, May 2010

Creating Parameters for Arbitration, Laches, May 2009

Alternative Dispute Resolution in Special Education, Laches, May 2005

Special Protections for Students with Disabilities, Laches, March 2001

Personal Website/Email

Lathenslaw.com
Lathens@mi.rr.com

AREAS OF Practice

Education Law
University Faculty Grievance
Employment/Workplace Conflict

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

Washington University School of Law, J.D.
University of Wisconsin, M.S.S.W.
University of Michigan, B.A., Magna Cum Laude
Annual ICLE Advanced Negotiation and Dispute Resolution Institute – Speaker and Participant
Divorce Mediation Training, Mediation Training and Consultant Institute
Mediation Training, Oakland County Bar Association
Advanced Mediator Trainings:
Mediating Monetary Disputes
The Brain Science Behind Mediation
Conflict Coaching
Dialogue and Consensus Building & Mediating in the Public Arena
Med-Arb: The New Frontier in ADR
Restorative Justice Training
Conflict Resolution in the Schools Project
Inn of Court 1997-2003
Judicial Clerk, U.S. District Court of Eastern Missouri

HONORS AND AWARDS

Order of the Coif

BAR ADMISSIONS

Michigan
Missouri
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

State Bar of Michigan
Oakland County Bar Association, Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Chair 2004-05
State Bar of Michigan, Alternative Dispute Resolution Council, 2007-13
Michigan Special Education Hearing Officer 1995-2006
Michigan Rehabilitation Services Hearing Officer 2002-08
Board of Social Work, Master’s Social Worker, Clinical and Macro License
Judicial Law Clerk, United States District Court of Eastern Missouri 1987-89
Autism Alliance of Michigan Board Trustee
Adjunct Professor, Wayne State University Law School
- Education Law, Health Law, and Bioethics 1993, 1994, 2001, 2003
Visiting Assistant Professor and Adjunct Professor, Washington University School of Law
- Legal Research & Writing 1987-92

Publications

The Role of Restorative Practices in Effectively Addressing Gender Discrimination and Harassment in the Workplace,
Legal Daily News, January 2020