DISPUTE RESOLUTION CENTER - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Dispute Resolution Specialist / Mediator

Deborah Medlock has been serving the Kansas City metro area as an Alternative Dispute Resolution provider for over 25 years. Like her Dispute Resolution Center attorney-colleagues, Deborah also attended law school at UMKC, and became interested in mediation through her work as a CASA volunteer. Law school gave her the skills necessary to develop her ADR expertise and she has spent much of her career working with clients in this capacity. Deborah genuinely cares about people and loves the challenge of helping them solve difficult problems. She began her full-time career in dispute resolution in 2000 working in a high-volume court-connected agency dealing primarily with family disputes. To date, Deborah has spent over 25 years working with (and helping!) over six thousand families involved in the court process. While Deborah has extensive experience working with families in paternity and divorce cases, she has also mediated workplace issues, elder issues, and a wide range of civil and business cases. Deborah is a Kansas Supreme Court-approved Dispute Resolution Provider in the areas of Domestic, Civil, Core, Parent/Adolescent, and Juvenile Dependency matters. She is also approved as a Conciliator, Parent Coordinator and Mentor Mediator for those just entering the field. Deborah is deeply involved and well-regarded in the dispute resolution community. She is a Past President of Heartland Dispute Resolution Association and is currently serving on the Board of Directors. Deborah spent six years on the Kansas Courts Advisory Council for Dispute Resolution, and helped create the current Kansas Rules for Dispute Resolution, submitted to and approved by the Supreme Court of Kansas. Deborah is also a skilled facilitator, educator, and presenter. Her friendly demeanor and sense of humor work well together with a deep, intuitive understanding of conflict resolution she has developed after years of training parents (via parent education, groups, and court-connected classes) and professionals. Deborah is a primary trainer at Johnson County Community College for Core and Domestic Mediation; teaches Conciliation state-wide, and works with those seeking approval as mentor mediators in the State of Kansas. Deborah excels at connecting with people and engaging in creative problem solving. Two of her favorite activities include playing with her dogs (or anyone else's) and being in a room with people who are in dispute.

Job Titles:

• Partner Attorney / Mediator

The journey that began MaKenzi's interest in law started in Los Angeles. She volunteered as an intern at a talent agency, was hired the next week as an assistant, and six months later was promoted to talent agent. This made her the youngest Screen Actors Guild franchised agent on either coast at age nineteen. Although not yet a lawyer, she learned legalese as she went, successfully negotiating forty-page talent contracts with networks, and broke new ground by creating a cure clause never before used by talent networks that became boilerplate terminology for most tv and film contracts today. MaKenzi continued to advocate for actors and models and eventually transitioned from agency to management at twenty-three, becoming the CEO of a large management firm at twenty-four, and later opened her own talent management company with her sister, Marissa. To this day, Marissa carries that talent company, Triniti Management, forward with clients on film and television that you would know and recognize. MaKenzi graduated Cum Laude from the University of Missouri-Kansas City with dual Bachelor's degrees in Art History and Studio Art. She graduated with honors from UMKC School of Law with her Juris Doctor after providing over 200 hours of free legal work for domestic abuse victims in Kansas City. MaKenzi also worked with the Urban Development Team at Legal Aid of Western Missouri, aiding Mayor Sly James' goal of urban revitalization of abandoned and debilitated properties in Kansas City, MO. MaKenzi was named the top Oralist at the Ellison Moot Court Competition at the Federal Courthouse in Jackson County, MO and received a cash award for her excellent appellate advocacy skills during her legal training. Ms. Higgins is an openly queer attorney, and works diligently representing all persons under the law with a unique understanding of how people's differences make them amazingly different, but also how that can affect the way the law and opposing parties may see them. Fierce advocacy is the cornerstone of MaKenzi's personal practice philosophy and she stands ready to fight for clients who need assertive, but diligent representation, always leaning towards settling things where she can for the benefit of her clients, or fighting for their legal rights and goals when agreements cannot be reached. Ms. Higgins has also consulted for dental practices and enjoys speaking all across the country on a variety of legal and dental issues. MaKenzi is an advocate, wife, widow, sister, daughter, friend, and most importantly the mother of three beautiful children and multiple fur-babies.

Job Titles:

• Partner Attorney / Mediator

Ryan grew up in Overland Park Kansas graduating from Blue Valley Northwest in 2002. Ryan's Mother always knew that one day he would become a lawyer and much to his chagrin, she was right. Ryan's interest in history and government, his desire to help people, and his witness of an injustice contributed to his decision to help people for his career. After graduating from KU with a double major, Ryan moved on to the University of Missouri-Kansas City for law school. In law school Ryan took the opportunity to participate in UMKC's Solo/Small Firm Clinic where he first got the idea that he would run or join a small practice. After experiencing the feel of a larger "corporate" practice, Ryan made the determination that he would run his own practice. After passing the Missouri Bar in 2009, Ryan started practicing law and has been ever since. He joined with MaKenzi Higgins and Dispute Resolution Center in 2019, and became a partner in Dispute Resolution Center because Ryan and MaKenzi share a common desire to genuinely help folks. Not long after starting his own practice, Ryan decided to take another plunge and propose to the love of his life Emily Evans. They now have two wonderful children together, Jack and Ila. Emily is a first grade teacher in the Blue Valley School District where she works hard every day to educate and better the lives of children. When he is not practicing law, Ryan spends every moment he can with his wife and children, as they are the most important thing in the world to him. (Followed by the Chiefs, Jayhawks, and Royals).