Duane Ruth-Heffelbower, Attorney Mediator

Duane Ruth-Heffelbower, Attorney and Counselor at Law, mediator, arbitrator and facilitator in all disputes. Advanced Practitioner Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution Family Section. Chair of the ACR Family Section training committee and member of the Family Section Advisory Council. Member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals and Central California Collaborative Law Affiliates.

Office location:
4882 E. Townsend Ave.
Fresno, CA
Telephone: 559-453-3421
Fax 559-252-4800
Skype: duane.ruth.heffelbower
email: duanerh@fresno.edu

Background (Full academic home page)

Attorney admitted to the California Bar in 1974, businessman, victimologist, professional mediator, facilitator and intervention specialist since 1985. Pastor, trained and experienced counselor, teacher of alternative dispute resolution. Thousands of cases handled as advocate, mediator, arbitrator or facilitator in everything from schoolyard fights to international disputes between governments. Thousands of people trained in conflict resolution on five continents in over a hundred languages with a specialty in inter-religious and cross-cultural disputes. Serve as a settlement officer in Fresno County Superior Court. His wife of over 40 years directs the Circles of Support and Accountability re-entry project for paroled sex offenders. Their son and his wife have three children.

Associate Professor of Peacemaking and Conflict Studies, Fresno Pacific University; Director of the Center for Peacemaking and Conflict Studies and its graduate academic programs; member of the faculty of the Criminology and Restorative Justice Studies degree completion program; member of the faculty in the School of Business Leadership Studies MA Program.

Education

• M.Div., 1988, emphasis in counseling and dispute resolution, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, IN
• J.D., 1974, Golden Gate University School of Law, San Francisco, CA
• B.A., 1970, English literature, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS

Training

Rates

Prof. Ruth-Heffelbower's standard rates for services as a consultant, trainer, facilitator or mediator are $240 per hour or $2,000 per day, plus expenses. He has provided services on five continents to people speaking over one hundred languages and makes a specialty of California divorces, interpersonal conflicts in business and non-profit organizations, inter-group conflicts and worldwide inter-tribal and inter-religious conflict. PACS is able to provide services on a reduced or no fee basis in some cases.

Complete publications list

Professional Affiliations

• Ordained Mennonite Minister - Pacific Southwest Mennonite Conference
• Active member State Bar of California since 1974.
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals - 9th Circuit
• United States Supreme Court
• Mediate.com certified mediator
• Mediation Associates^sm
• Member of Central California Collaborative Law Affiliates
• Member of International Academy of Collaborative Professionals
• Advanced Practitioner Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution. ACR Family Section Advanced Practitioner Member list.
  • Practitioner Member and Approved Consultant, Academy of Family Mediators prior to that organization's merger into Association for Conflict Resolution in 2001.
  • Member of the Family Section training committee since inception, Chair 2006-
  • Member of the Family Section Advisory Committee 2008-
  • Member of the Central California Chapter of the Association for Conflict Resolution. Member of the board from inception in 2003. Secretary 2003-2005
  • Web editor for ACR Restorative and Criminal Justice Section, and Central California Chapter since inception.
  • Member of the Research Section
  • Member of the Workplace Section
• Restorative Justice editor for CRInfo.org
• Member of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences
  • member and web editor of the Victimology Section
  • Counselor, Victimology Section 2010-
  • member of the Restorative and Community Justice Section
• Life Member of the American Society of Victimology
  • Member of the board of directors of the American Society of Victimology 2005-
• Member of the Mediator Referral Panel of Fresno County Superior Court
• State Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, Chair, Ethics subcommittee North 1998-1999
• State Bar Family Law Subcommittee on Alternative Dispute Resolution - North 1996-1999
• Fresno County Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
• Fresno Metro Ministry Board of Directors 1997-1999
• Valley Children's Hospital Institutional Ethics Committee 1998-1999
• Member of Victim Offender Mediation Association. Webmaster 1997-
• Mennonite Central Committee Indonesia Director of Peace Programs 1999-2001
• Mennonite Central Committee Laos Bombie Project 1995. The resulting UNDP program is described here and UXO Lao is described here.
• Christian Peacemaker Teams, recording secretary for organizational meeting 1986.
• West Coast Mennonite Central Committee Coordinator of Developmental Disabilities services 1985-86
• Member of the board and secretary of Lakeview Association, Inc., the owner and operator of Lakeview Cottages on Huntington Lake, California 2006-.

Mediation Associates^sm in Fresno, CA, serves clients throughout Central California, including the cities of Bakersfield, Bass Lake, Chowchilla, Clovis, Coalinga, Coarsegold, Corcoran, Delano, Dinuba, Exeter, Farmersville, Firebaugh, Fowler, Hanford, Huron, Kerman, Kingsburg, Lemoore, Lemoore Naval Air Station, Lindsay, Madera, Mendota, Merced, North Fork, Oakhurst, Orange Cove, Parlier, Porterville, Reedley, Sanger, San Joaquin, Selma, Tulare, Visalia, Woodlake, as well as Fresno County, Kern County, Kings County, Madera County, Merced County, Tulare County, Kings Canyon National Park, Sequoia National Park, and Yosemite National Park. We have provided services nationwide and around the world.