• Beason & Ellis Conflict Resolution, LLC
• 2741 University Drive
• Post Office Box 52270
• Durham, North Carolina 27717-2270
• Telephone: (919) 419-9979
• Facsimile:   (888) 788-2153
• rbeason@beasonellis.com

• J.D., 1973
  University of North Carolina School of Law
• B.A., 1970
  College of William and Mary

Beason & Ellis Conflict Resolution, LLC

Currently, my practice is devoted to mediation. I have been mediating family and community disputes since 1988 when I completed specialized domestic mediation training. Since my training as a superior court mediator in 1992, my mediation practice has involved over one thousand disputes including complex, multi-party cases. This experience includes a broad range of subject matter areas including business, commercial, contracts, employment, products liability, insurance/personal injury, real estate, land condemnation, equitable distribution, construction, professional liability matters, environmental and others. I presently serve as a mediator for the Superior Court Mediated Settlement Conference Program in North Carolina, the Office of Administrative Hearings in North Carolina, and the United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western districts in North Carolina.

I have trained more than 500 lawyers and other professionals in North Carolina and South Carolina in my capacity as a Primary Trainer for Dispute Management, Inc. and the Duke Private Adjudication Center, having lectured in twenty forty-hour sessions since January 1993. I have conducted seminars introducing mediation to litigators for the Superior Court Programs in Durham and Raleigh, North Carolina. In addition, I have done mediation workshops for the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers. I participated on a panel for the Dispute Resolution Section of the North Carolina Bar Association on Ethics in Mediation. I organized a seminar for advanced participation in mediation for the Academy of Trial Lawyers. I was a panel member for the 1994 Annual American Bar Association Convention for "Dispute Resolution in Complex Litigation." I participated in a panel discussion on Mediation Practice in North Carolina for the North Carolina Defense Attorneys 1994 Annual Fall Seminar. In addition, I am a principal organizer for a seminar for invited attorneys on mediation and medical malpractice in North Carolina. I presented an ethics workshop on the Standards for Mediators for the Dispute Resolution Section of the ABA. I have recently served as the course coordinator, lecturer and moderator for a NC Bar Association ethics seminar introducing North Carolina's Standards of Professional Conduct for Mediators.

In October 1993, I was a member of a mediation delegation of the People to People/Citizen Ambassador Program to China for two weeks. There was an interchange from our delegation (representing the United States and six other countries) with Chinese mediators, judges, arbitrators, neighborhood community mediation groups, and other related groups. I served as member of the Board of Directors for the Durham Dispute Settlement Center from 1988 until 1993. I chaired the Committee on Ethics and Professionalism for the Dispute Resolution Section Council of the North Carolina Bar Association. The committee has developed ethical standards for mediators in North Carolina that have now been adopted by the Dispute Resolution Commission. In October 1995, Chief Justice Burley Mitchell appointed me as one of the two certified mediators serving on North Carolina's first Dispute Resolution Commission. I chaired the Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the Dispute Resolution Commission. I remain on the commission ex-officio as the liaison to the North Carolina Supreme Court’s ADR Committee. From 1986-1989, I served as chair of the Mediation Committee for the Family Law Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. In addition, I served as the only attorney member of the Child Custody Mediation Advisory Committee for the Administrative Office of the Courts for the State of North Carolina from 1989-1993.

Maxwell, Freeman and Beason

I practiced law from 1973 until 1995, concentrating on the representation of individuals in civil, criminal, and domestic law litigation. My partnership in Maxwell, Freeman and Beason in Durham ended in April of 1995 when I began an "of counsel" relationship with Maxwell, Freeman and Bowman. The "of counsel" relationship affords me the opportunity to continue a limited collaborative practice in civil litigation matters.

• Family Mediation Training, Asheville, North Carolina, April 1988.
• Dispute Management Incorporated, Mediator Training. A forty hour course required by the Supreme Court of North Carolina Rules Implementing Court Ordered Mediated Settlement Conferences, for mediation of matters in North Carolina. Raleigh, North Carolina, April 1992.
• Advanced Civil Superior Court Mediation Training, August 1993. Harvard Law School, Negotiation Project, June 1996.

• Primary Trainer, Dispute Management, Inc. from April 1993 until 1995.
• Primary Trainer, Duke Private Adjudication Center, since 1995.
• Principal Organizer and Trainer, Workshop for the Academy of Trial Lawyers, June 1993.
• Principal Organizer and Trainer, Introduction to Mediation for Litigators, Superior Court Programs, Durham and Wake Counties, Raleigh, North Carolina, 1993-1994.
• Panel Member, North Carolina Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, Ethics in Mediation, 1993.
• Panel Member, American Bar Association Annual Convention, Dispute Resolution in Complex Litigation.
• Guest Lecturer, Duke Law School, Negotiations and Mediation, 1994; 1995; 1996.
• Senior Lecturing Fellow, Duke Law School, Negotiations and Mediation, Fall 1996.
• Presenter, The North Carolina Liaison Group Technical Assistance Seminar, Alternative Dispute Resolution Strategies and Their Advantages For Employers, August 1994.
• Staff Member, National Institute for Trial Advocacy, Negotiations Seminar, since 1990.
• Course Coordinator, Presenter and Panel Moderator for New Ethics Rules for Superior Court Mediators, January 1997.
• Principal Organizer and Trainer for North Carolina Department of Labor, Negotiation Training, September, November 1995.
• Speaker, SPIDR International Conference, Washington, D.C., September 1995.
• Speaker, SPIDR International Conference, Anaheim, CA, October 1996.
• Speaker, ABA Dispute Resolution Section, Mediation Seminar, Model Standards of Conduct and Performance Evaluation for Mediators, May 1996.
• Speaker, North Carolina Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, New Ethics Rules for Superior Court Mediators, Greensboro, North Carolina, and January 1997.
• Speaker, Susie Sharp Inn of Court, Mediation, Raleigh, North Carolina, September, 1997.
• Speaker, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, Negotiation Workshop, Raleigh, North Carolina, October 1997.
• Speaker, Braxton-Craven Inn of Court, Workshop on Gender Negotiation, Raleigh, North Carolina, November, 1997.
• Speaker, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, Annual Meeting, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, June, 1998.
• Speaker, SPIDR International Conference, Portland Oregon, October 1998.
• Speaker, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, "Masters of Insurance" Conference, November 2002

• Member, Dispute Resolution Commission of North Carolina.
• Chair, Ethics and Professionalism Committee of the Dispute Resolution Commission.
• Member, North Carolina Bar Association, since 1975.
• Member, North Carolina Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, Council.
• Chair, North Carolina Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section Committee on Ethics and Professionalism.
• Chair, North Carolina Bar Association Family Law Section, Mediation Committee, 1986-1989.
• Member, Child Custody Mediation Advisory Committee for the Administrative Office of the Courts, 1989-1993.
• Member, Fourteenth Judicial District Bar Association, since 1973
  • Treasurer, 1984-1985
  • Vice-President, 1985-1986
  • President, 1986-1987
  • Member, Grievance Committee, 1990-1991.
• Member, North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, since 1979.
• Member, American Bar Association.
• Mediator, Durham Dispute Settlement Center, since 1988.
• Member, Board of Directors, Durham Dispute Settlement Center, 1989-1993.
• Delegate, Mediation Delegation of People to People/Citizen Ambassador Program to China, October 1993.