Advancing Impartiality
Fostering Inclusion
Resolving Disputes

Laura A. Josephson-Bernat JD, MBA

With over 25 years of global, legal, and business experience, Laura A. Josephson-Bernat is a culturally intelligent lawyer, mediator, and arbitrator with a skillful ability to distill and synthesize complex legal, business, and interpersonal issues. She has resolved hundreds of commercial disputes through arbitration and mediation. Laura is a certified online mediator in accordance with the International Council for Online Dispute Resolution. Laura has used her expertise to assist individuals and businesses resolve pandemic-related disputes.

She develops researched-based educational programs on bias, decision-making, and dispute resolution for lawyers, neutrals, and other professionals. Laura’s legal career began as a prosecutor for the Cook County State's Attorney Office in Chicago. Transitioning to the private sector, she practiced law at the national law firm of Rudnick & Wolfe in Chicago (now DLA Piper); the Boulder, Colorado-based law firm of Chrisman Bynum & Johnson (now Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath); and the law firm of Chuhak & Tecson in Chicago. Laura is licensed to practice law in Colorado and Illinois.

As an international student, Laura studied business and law in Chicago, London, Maastricht, and Rome. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors from Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, and three years later graduated from Loyola University of Chicago with a Master of Business Administration and a Juris Doctorate cum laude.

Services

Fostering Inclusion

Advancing Impartiality through Bespoke Trainings

Humans are biased. Despite commitments to impartiality, decision makers and neutrals exhibit biases and unwanted variability of judgments. Implicit biases are unconscious mental shortcuts that impact understanding, actions, and judgments. Systemic and structural issues exponentially expand individual biases and variability. Laura is passionate about disrupting bias and improving equity. She facilitates engaging, research-based, and practical trainings to improve impartiality.

The large job yet to be done is dealing with unconscious bias.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg, December 16, 2019

Resolving Disputes through Arbitration and Mediation

As Abraham Lincoln wrote in 1850, Discourage litigation. Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can. Point out to them how the nominal winner is often the real loser - in fees, expenses, and waste of time. The same is true today.

As a dispute resolver, Laura arbitrates and mediates commercial disputes. During arbitrations, she serves as a neutral fact finder rendering arbitration awards. During mediations, she facilitates communications and negotiations assisting participants to reach voluntary, comprehensive, and durable solutions. Throughout the dispute resolution process, Laura provides procedural justice to each participant consistent with the rule of law.