Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)

Meet the ADR Staff

Maureen A. Denihan (Director of ADR Programs)

Maureen A. Denihan is the Director of ADR Programs with the District Court of Maryland ADR Office. In that capacity, she works with judges, court staff, interns, volunteers and community partners to build, maintain and strengthen existing ADR programs in the District Court. In managing ADR programs, Maureen is responsible for drafting internal and external policy and procedure manuals, developing training and orientation programs, and oversight of the ADR internship program. She works collaboratively both within the ADR Office and with external partners to develop, implement, evaluate and improve programs and to assist neutrals that provide services.

Maureen has been with the ADR since January 2004, and formerly served in the capacity of Coordinator of ADR Volunteers, and then ADR Manager, and then Deputy Director/Programs Development and Community Outreach Director, before being promoted to her current position. Maureen is a mediator, is licensed to practice law in Maryland and is a member of the Maryland Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR).

Maureen has presented at national and local ADR conferences including the ACR’s Annual Conference, the Maryland Mediator’s convention, the Maryland Program for Mediator Excellence (MPME) Member’s Only Synergy Session, the Center for Alternative’s Dispute Resolution Annual Conference, the Maryland ADR Roster Manager’s Conference on topics including: Ethics; Agreement Writing; Getting Plugged In: Going Beyond the 40-Hours of Mediation Training; Dealing with Sticky Situations (as a Roster Manager); Making the Most of Your MPME Membership; and, others.

Shannon M. Baker (Deputy Director/Quality Assurance Director)

Shannon M. Baker, Esq. is the Deputy Director and Quality Assurance Director for the District Court of Maryland Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Office. 

As Deputy Director, Shannon is responsible for monitoring and evaluating all District Court ADR programs and ensuring the provision of high-quality ADR services for District Court cases.  This involves the development and delivery of ongoing training and continuing education for ADR practitioners, the creation of best practices and policies, and maintaining and updating internal and external ADR program procedures. 

Shannon serves as staff to the District Court ADR Subcommittee and the Online Dispute Resolution Workgroup.  She is a member of the Maryland Judiciary’s 40-hour Basic Mediation Training team and served on the workgroup to develop the current Maryland Standards of Conduct for Court-Designated Mediators.  Shannon helped create and launch the District Court’s new Remote Pre-trial ADR Program in July 2020.

Shannon holds a B.A. in French and a B.S. in Business Administration from Susquehanna University.  Shannon earned her J.D. from the University of Baltimore School of Law where she was a UB Law Scholar, received the Nancy Cogliano Strause Award for graduating first in the evening program, and was named by the Honors Committee as the 2014 Law Faculty Award evening recipient.  Shannon was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 2014.

Shannon lives in southern York, PA with her husband and three children.

Meredith Camacho (Admin Office Specialist)

Meredith began as the Administrative Office Specialist in the District Court ADR Office in 2022. In this position, she works closely with the ADR staff to support and advance ADR Office initiatives. Prior to her role here, she has worked as a special education teacher, graphic designer, and admin for a non-profit. Meredith graduated from Columbia College in South Carolina with a BA in Special Education. She lives in Annapolis with her family. Meredith recently completed her Basic Mediation Training through Baltimore Mediation online in December 2022.

Carole Burkhart (ADR Roster Program Manager)

Carole is the Roster Program Manager for the District Court of Maryland ADR Office.  She is responsible for overseeing recruitment efforts for new volunteer ADR practitioners, reviewing and approving applicants to join the District Court ADR practitioners rosters, and managing scheduling in all Day of Trial and Remote ADR Programs.  Carole tracks practitioner volunteer activity and continuing education and annually assess the practitioners’ continued eligibility to remain on the roster. Carole will also direct the Annual ADR Programs Recognition and Volunteer Appreciation Event.

Carole began her tenure with the District Court in Calvert County in 2006, under the direction of Administrative Clerk Richard Parker as his Administrative Assistant.  Four years later, Carole was promoted to Administrative Judge Robert Riddle’s chambers, where she supported the six judges who sat in District IV, comprising of Calvert, Charles and St. Mary’s Counties.  In 2015, Carole was promoted to the Office of the Chief Judge of the District Court of Maryland.  Scheduling the usage of Senior Judges to sit in all 12 districts, comprising 33 locations, has been her top responsibility.  In this role, Carole maintained a roster of 100 Senior Judges and scheduled more than 3,000 assignments per year.  Over the past seven years, Carole has been their connection to District Court Headquarters, building significant relationships and connections with the roster of Senior Judges.  Carole has also served as support staff to the Chief Judge’s Committee and as a member of the Senior Judges’ Committee.  Carole is a graduate of the Court Professional Certificate program and assisted the Judicial Education team in developing the Judicial Assistant CORE program.

Carole recently completed her Basic Mediation Training through Baltimore Mediation online in December 2022. Carole looks forward to continuing her mediation training and ADR awareness in her new role as Roster Program Manager.

Sarah Kauffman (ADR Data and Public Information Analyst)

Sarah is currently the ADR Data and Public Information Analyst for the District Court of Maryland ADR Office. In this position, Sarah is responsible for collecting and analyzing the incoming data for all ADR volunteers, maintaining the office website, and supervising the ADR Office internship program. In 2013, she became a member of the ADR Program Managers. Before holding this position, she was both the Administrative Assistant and a full-time intern for the ADR Office. Sarah holds a B.A. in Communication and Conflict Resolution from Juniata College and a M.S. in Negotiation and Conflict Management from the University of Baltimore. She received her 40-hour Basic Mediation Training from Mediation Matters in 2010 and two 20-hour mediation trainings from Baltimore Mediation. Sarah was recently elected to the ACR Board in October 2017 and serves as the Secretary. Sarah lives in Mt. Airy, Maryland with her husband Justin, sons Jaxson and Cooper, and cat Geno.

Molly Wilson (Online Dispute Resolution Coordinator)

Molly Wilson was most recently the senior program manager with the Conflict Resolution Center of Montgomery County. She began mediating in 2016 when she started as an AmeriCorps Member with the CRCMC in-school mediation program. Molly received a BA in Political Science & Psychology from the University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC). She hosts a Harry Potter themed podcast and enjoys checking out new restaurants & local spots in and around Montgomery County with her husband, Griffin. She's excited to join the ADR team and continue providing mediation services across Maryland.

Cindy Faucette (Regional ADR Programs Manager)

Cindy holds a BA degree in Political Science from Virginia Tech and a BS degree in Paralegal Studies from the University of Maryland. Prior to joining the District Court of Maryland ADR Office, she was a paralegal with an insurance defense firm. Cindy joined the District Court of Maryland ADR Office in April 2004 as Regional ADR Coordinator and completed the 50-hour Basic Mediation Training, offered by MACMC (now Community Mediation Maryland) in October 2004 and 20-Child Access Mediation, offered by Mediation Matters, Inc., in July 2005. Cindy currently holds the position of Regional ADR Programs Manager with the District Court of Maryland ADR Office managing programs in Baltimore, Carroll, Howard, Frederick and Washington counties.

Elaine Phillips (Regional ADR Programs Manager)

Elaine is the Regional ADR Programs Manager in Anne Arundel, Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary's Counties. Elaine is responsible for building capacity for existing and new Day of Trial, Pretrial and other specialty ADR programs at each location. She will work closely with the judges, court administrators and court staff, ADR practitioners and community mediation partners to build access to the programs at each location, and work to ensure high quality services are provided to the public users of ADR. Elaine holds a Bachelor’s degree in Planning, Public Policy and Management, and two Master’s degrees from the University of Oregon - one in Conflict Resolution, and a second in Community Planning. She spent time interning with the National Policy Consensus Center at Portland State and received a certificate in Facilitating Collaborative Governance.  As a graduate teaching fellow, she worked for the Northwest Indian Language institute to assist Native American Tribes in reclaiming their language and culture.  She also worked for City Centre Initiatives in Derry, Northern Ireland helping local businesses and the police build working relationships with each other as they struggled to overcome a past civil war. Most recently, Elaine lived in Southern Maryland where she directed Community Mediation of St. Mary’s County, overseeing a cadre of 20 mediators, and ensuring that county residents had access to high quality, free mediation services.  She herself is a mediator who has participated in hundreds of cases about youth and neighborhood conflicts, prisoner re-entry, divorce and workplace problems.  Elaine is skilled at building relationships, in large part because of her commitment to inclusion and diversity, and her determination to work for these values until they are completely realized.

Leona Elliott (Regional ADR Programs Manager)

Leona S. Elliott, Director of ADR Roster Program Manager, has been with the District Court of Maryland ADR Office since April 2008. In this position, she is responsible for scheduling over 300 ADR Volunteers across the State for the Day of Trial Mediation and Settlement Conferencing programs on a quarterly basis. She is also responsible for reviewing ADR Practitioner Activity Reports and other forms. She also reviews incoming ADR volunteer applications of potential volunteers to determine if there is a need to add new volunteers in specific districts and if they are ready to go through the orientation program for mediation and settlement conference neutral programs. She also works with the Executive Director, Deputy Director, and the Regional ADR Program Directors to conduct orientation training and volunteer appreciation events.

Leona has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Virginia Union University. Leona was first introduced to mediation as a participant in 2004. Several months later, she completed the training to become a volunteer mediator and has been a volunteer with Community Mediation in Baltimore City since 2004 and is a former Board Member. Her training in mediation includes the Basic Mediation (inclusive model), Parenting Plan Mediation and Re-entry Mediation at Community Mediation. She also has received training in the Transformative model with Louise Phipps-Senft and facilitative training with Cecilia Paizs, Esq. She has also conducted workshops highlighting the experience of both the Participant and the Mediator at the mediation table which she refers to as a “gift at the table.”

Isadora Cipolletta (Regional ADR Programs Manager)

Isadora Cipolletta earned her Juris Doctor from Appalachian School of Law in Virginia.  She joins us from Baltimore City, where she worked as the Civil ADR Deputy Director for the Circuit Court for Baltimore City.  Prior to that she was in Miami, FL where she worked as a Case Manager for the 11th Judicial Circuit Court dealing with all issues in family cases pending before the court.  Isadora also worked in immigration law as a contractor for the Department of Homeland Security.   Prior to her residence down south Isadora lived in Howard County, Maryland and was the Mediation Coordinator for the Circuit Court for Carroll County. Isadora is originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina.   She is excited to join the District Court of Maryland Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Office as the Regional ADR Programs Manager for Montgomery and Prince George’s Counties. 

Wendy Schneider(Regional ADR Programs Manager)

Wendy holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Penn State University and began mediating in 2018 after completing Inclusive Basic Mediation Training with Tri Community Mediation (TCM) in Salisbury, Maryland. Wendy worked at TCM as the Mediation Program Coordinator where she oversaw the court mediation programs, mediated disputes, and assisted with center management. Since 2018 she has also served as a District Court Day of Trial mediator in Dorchester, Wicomico, and Talbot counties, both as a partner with community mediation centers and as a private practitioner, mediating in the inclusive and facilitative frameworks.

Wendy has advanced training in Mediation and Negotiation from the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School, Conflict Coaching through Conflict Coaching Matters, Parenting Plan and Police Complaint training through Community Mediation Maryland, and Basic Transformative Mediation through the Institute for the Study of Conflict Transformation. Wendy has also trained extensively in restorative justice, community facilitation, diversity and inclusion, and trauma-informed practice.

As the Regional Programs Manager for the eastern shore counties, Wendy looks forward to working with volunteer mediators, judges, court staff and administrators, and community partners to support and expand existing programs and provide greater access to mediation.