Speaker, Trainer, Workshop Leader, Conference Planner: Audiences have ranged from a small women’s retreat on finding right livelihood in the law to leading the annual meeting for the Elder Law section of the Florida Bar Association, to speaking to over 1,000 coaches about legal issues for coaches. Conferences included "The Role of Peacemakers in Healing Polarization" in Black Mountain, NC in July, 2005. Producer and leader of trainings in basic skills and advanced skills in collaborative law practice. See www.jkimwright.com

Media & Editorial Consultant to writers, editors, producers, magazines, television, and radio programs about the transformational law movement. Have educated about restorative justice to media ranging from Oprah to a documentary series on the A&E cable network. Speak frequently with producers of reality television in an attempt to educate them about the healing effects of restorative justice. Have commented, reviewed, and offered editorial comment to over a dozen books in the field.

Mediation, Coaching and Conflict Resolution: Peace-Making, Family Law Without War, Portland, Oregon. Mediator and paralegal working with divorcing couples in family law boutique firm. Marketed the law practice and networked with lawyers and the community. 2003.

Managing Attorney: Divorce and Family Law Center, Graham, NC. Starting as a sole practitioner, designed, created, and administered an innovative multi-disciplinary holistic law practice. Represented clients in district (family) and juvenile court, in negotiations, mediations, and family law matters. Advised clients of alternatives to litigation and worked with local lawyers in innovating new approaches. Supervised staff and independent contractors including counselor and social workers, and interns in law and social work. Member of community task forces on domestic violence, homeless teens. Organized "Latinos in Legal System" conference. Operated free Saturday clinic to give everyone access to legal services and served on legal aid pro bono panel. Maintained close relationship with internship program at UNC-Chapel Hill Law School, accepting several legal interns and was also the site placement for two social work interns, one from UNC-CH and the other from UNC-G. 1994-2000.

Adjunct Business Law Instructor. Alamance Community College, Graham, NC. 1995

Executive Director& Director of Development and Community Relations, the Sexual and Physical Abuse Resource Center in Gainesville, FL: 1989-90. In a Domestic Violence Agency serving 11 north Florida counties, I provided direct client services and advocacy for domestic violence victims; raised funds through grant-writing, public speaking, United Way and other resources; represented the agency on community task forces; organized community programs; educated and trained community, law enforcement, court personnel and others on sexual violence issues; hosted conferences with national speakers; supervised a staff of twelve; and administered the agency.

Juris Doctor: University of Florida College of Law, Gainesville, FL, 1989.

Extensive training in personal development, transformational technology, energy healing, conflict resolution, and coaching skills through Landmark Education, Life On Purpose Institute, the Carolina Center for Leadership and Conflict Resolution, the Center for Nonviolent Communication, Asheville Compassionate Communication Center, and many trainings too numerous to list.

Honoring Conflict as an Opportunity for Transformation. Collaborative Review (publication of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals), Spring, 2006. With Marty Price.

Should You Advise Clients to Apologize? Printed in North Carolina Bar Journal, Summer, 2005 and Spring, 2005 Bar Briefs, 28^th Judicial District Newsletter. Revised and reprinted for a newsletter for nursing home professionals.

Contributing author, Fifth Edition, What Can You Do With a Law Degree? by Deborah Arron. Decision Books, September, 2003.

Seven Steps to Transforming Your Life and Coaching Skills for Lawyers, (two articles) Collaborative Review, (publication of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals), Fall, 2003

Visionary Lawyering, New Approaches to Expanding Choices in Law Practice, August, 2001: ABA Law Practice Management Quarterly, Vol. 2, No. 3.

Author/Editor Web sites: Renaissance Lawyer Society web site, www.renaissancelawyer.com and co-author and co-editor of web site for the International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers, www.iahl.org

Regular columns in the following coaching journals [many of which were co-authored with Allison Tiffany]: Coachville Coaching Scoop; International Coach Federation Organizational Coaching Journal; Coaching World; Coaching Zone.

Transforming the Practice of Law by Barbara Stahura, published in Science of Mind, February, 2003.

Finding Your Field Of Dreams ...Considering a Coach to Help Your Practice by Marilyn P. Westerfield, Esq., Cincinnati Bar Association, June 2001

Honoring Conflict as an Opportunity for Transformation, Western NC Woman, April 2006.

A New Paradigm in Family, Creations Magazine, January, 2005.

Conscious Law & Conscious Divorce, Alternatives Magazine, March, 2004.

An Exploration of Discourse, co-authored with Will Nash and Lani Soules, The Journal for the Conference on Global Transformation, Landmark Education, 2003.

Arranging Life for an Impossible Promise; the Journal for Conference for Global Transformation: Transformation, A New Realm of Possibility; Landmark Education, 2001.

1995-1996 Co-author, weekly column in the Burlington, NC Times-News on legal issues for consumers.

September, 2007: Americorps Training, Kinston, NC: Honoring Conflict as an Opportunity for Transformation

August, 2007: Warren Wilson College, Residence Life Staff Training, Honoring Conflict as an Opportunity for Transformation

August, 2007: Warren Wilson College Residence Life Training, Introduction to Circles Process

July, 2007 Arriving as an attendee at the Harvard Negotiation Project Insight Initiative, I was invited to co-teach the segment on Restorative Justice at Harvard Law School.

July, 2007  Institute for Law School Teaching, Annual Meeting, Suffolk University Law School

May, 2007: Basic Collaborative Law Training and Advanced Training, Asheville, NC

March, 2007: Co-led Sacred Activism (Open Space and Appreciate Inquiry sections) with Andrew Harvey, Jim Garrison

February, 2007 Festival of Learning (co-presenter with Kevin Ginsberg)

December, 2006 Americorps, Honoring Conflict as an Opportunity for Transformation

October, 2006 International Academy of Collaborative Professionals

October, 2006 Asheville Area Paralegal Association

Co-Leader, "Restorative Justice Community Conference" & "Working Effectively with Victims & Offenders", Community Justice Program, County Attorneys Office, Yuma, Arizona, July, 2006

"From Vision to Reality", Conference for Global Transformation, San Francisco about my work in the legal profession, May 2006.

Co-leader of "Family Lawyers as Peacemakers? Basic Collaborative Law Training for Lawyers, May, 2006 in Asheville, NC

Leader, "A Potpourri of Skills for Being a More Effective Collaborative Lawyer" Advanced Collaborative Law Training, Finger Lakes Collaborative Lawyers, Ithaca, NY, June 1, 2006

Co-sponsor, co-leader of No Borders, No Barriers cross-border US/Canadian Symposium on use of collaborative law in LGBT issues. 

"Honoring Conflict as an Opportunity for Transformation", North Carolina Association for Marriage and Family Therapy Southwest Chapter Lunch & Learn on April 27, 2006.

New Bottom Line Lawyers Teleconference: "Lawyers as peacemakers, problem solvers and healers of conflict - including issues in collaborative law, transformative mediation, and therapeutic jurisprudence" on April 26, 2006.

Panelist, Our Clients & Ourselves, Meeting the Challenge of Diversity in a Multi-cultural World. The Coming of Age of Collaborative Practice at the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals conference in Atlanta in October, 2005.

Collablaw.org Western North Carolina Collaborative Law Association, co-founder

International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, IACP

Restorative Justice Resource Center, co-founder, member of Leadership Council

Asheville-Buncombe Coalition for Prevention of Family Violence task force member

Carolina Institute for Conflict Resolution and Creative Leadership (CICRCL), Board of Trustees

Renaissance Lawyer Society, founder, Board of Advisors, past President, past Chairman,

International Alliance of Holistic Lawyers, Board of Counselors

Organizer, Common Society Movement

From 1977 (when my first child was born) to 2003 (when my youngest child left home), I raised children. I was a parent, step-parent, host parent, foster parent, surrogate parent, and parental figure for dozens of children, most of them homeless teenagers. I was a Guardian Ad Litem in dependency and divorce cases. In the community, I was a member of task forces addressing the issue of homeless teens but primarily, I loved and cared for children in my home through no specific program or agency. Altogether, sixteen children lived with my family during those years. My current work rests upon the rich learning and inspiration gained from those years and those individuals and this document would not be complete without acknowledging them.