Couples & Families
Separation, prenuptial discussions, family decisions, and the conversations that keep going wrong.
- Separation and family transitions
- Prenuptial discussions
- Parenting and family decisions
- Eldercare and estate disagreements
Mediation · Conflict Resolution · Ombuds · New York
Difficult conversations need a constructive way forward.
Venn Mediation helps individuals, couples, families, businesses, and organizations address conflict through a confidential, structured, and impartial process.
Prefer to talk? (212) 960-8366
Help for the situation you are actually in
Mediation looks different for a divorcing couple, a pair of co-founders, and a conference organizer. Start with yours.
Workplaces & Businesses
Team conflict, partner disputes, and commercial disagreements, resolved privately, with working relationships intact where possible.
- Conflict between colleagues
- Business-partner and co-founder disputes
- Contract and commercial disagreements
- Leadership and team friction
Organizations & Conferences
Independent, confidential ombuds services: a trusted place for your people to raise concerns, and early insight for you.
- Organizational ombuds coverage
- Conference and event ombuds
- Facilitated group conversations
- Anonymized trend reporting
Why mediation
A different posture toward conflict
Mediation is not about avoiding hard conversations. It is about having them well, with structure, privacy, and an impartial professional at the table. Depending on the matter, it may help participants:
- Retain greater control over the decisions that affect you
- Address conflict privately rather than publicly
- Clarify what actually matters to each person involved
- Reduce unnecessary escalation
- Explore practical options a court could never order
- Preserve relationships that continue after the dispute
- Reach agreements you fully understand, in your own words
- Avoid some of the strain that prolonged disputes bring
The mediator decides nothing. That is the point: the people in the room keep the authority to shape what happens next.
How mediation worksWhat we bring to the table
Impartial facilitation
Mediators who take no sides and impose nothing, the outcome belongs to the participants.
Co-mediation, when it fits
Depending on the matter, Venn may use a co-mediation model that brings complementary perspectives and experience to the process.
Cross-disciplinary experience
Backgrounds spanning law, arbitration, diplomacy, negotiation, ombuds practice, and media, brought to bear on real-world disputes.
Structure and respect
A calm, deliberate process where every participant speaks, is heard, and can think.
Individuals and organizations
From two people at a kitchen table to multi-party commercial and organizational matters.
Flexible formats
Sessions by secure video conference, structured around participants' schedules.
The process
How working with Venn works
Four steps, paced by you.
Confidential introductory conversation
A brief, no-obligation conversation about your situation in general terms, how mediation works, and what to expect.
Suitability and conflict review
We consider whether mediation is appropriate for the matter and whether any conflicts of interest prevent us from serving as neutrals.
Preparation and mediation sessions
Participants prepare, then meet in structured joint sessions, and, when useful, private sessions (called caucuses), guided by the mediators.
Documentation or next steps
If participants reach an understanding, its terms can be written up in their own words. If not, they leave with a clearer picture of the issues and options.
The exact process varies by matter, the number and format of sessions depend on the people and issues involved.
Frequently sought services
Prenup Mediation
Turn the awkward prenup conversation into a balanced, respectful one, and build terms you both actually shaped.
Workplace Mediation
Address conflict between colleagues, or between managers and employees, before it hardens into turnover, grievances, or litigation.
Commercial Mediation
Resolve business and contract disputes privately, often preserving the commercial relationship that made the deal worth doing.
Business-Partner Dispute Mediation
For partners and co-founders whose disagreement is threatening the business, and the relationship it was built on.
Organizational Ombuds
An outsourced, independent, confidential resource your people can turn to, and an early-warning system for your organization.
Meet the mediators
Professionals whose paths ran through law, diplomacy, coaching, and network news before converging on the same conviction: most disputes deserve a better process.
Ehsan Ali
Founder & Mediator
Mediator, practicing New York lawyer, and arbitration specialist with experience in major national and international commercial disputes.
Alnoor Maherali
CEO & Mediator
Mediator, former diplomat, and practicing ombuds professional whose career spans conflict resolution on four continents.
Robin Beckhard
Mediator
Mediator, coach, and facilitator with three decades of experience helping people negotiate money, space, and shared lives.
Hal Gessner
Mediator
Certified mediator serving business, community, family, and estate matters, after an award-winning 35-year career in network news.
Resources
Understand the process before you start it
Understanding Mediation
What Happens During Mediation?
A step-by-step walk through a typical mediation: what the mediator does, what you do, and what the room actually feels like.
Understanding Mediation
Mediation Versus Litigation: An Honest Comparison
The real differences between mediating and litigating a dispute: control, privacy, cost dynamics, and when each path makes sense.
Understanding Mediation
How to Prepare for Mediation
Practical preparation that actually helps: clarifying interests, gathering what's needed, and getting your head ready for a different kind of conversation.
You do not need to have everything figured out.
A confidential introductory conversation can help determine whether mediation is an appropriate next step, with no obligation to continue.