Mark L. Watkins, Ph.D.

Mediator/Professor/LDA/Author Mark L. Watkins, Ph.D.

Between 1991 and 1993 Mark mediated as a volunteer in Los Angeles. After finishing his Master’s degree in Negotiation and Conflict Management in 1994 he opened the Coachella Valley’s first organization dedicated to the management and resolution of litigated and non-litigated disputes through mediation and collaborative negotiation.

Today, Able To Help continues to assist self-represented parties and attorneys in resolution of divorce and civil cases. Mark has helped self-represented parties resolve divorce issues (where one, both or neither party has an attorney) for more than 26 years.

In 2014, Mark completed his doctoral dissertation evaluating the effectiveness of changes to the California Rules of Court Rule 5.83 in predicting divorce resolution and has conducted other research in the Alternative Dispute Resolution field since 1994.

Mark taught conflict management and other Sociology courses for Brandman (formerly Chapman) University and an annual seminar for the University of Alaska’s Distinguished Practitioner series between 1997 and 2015. He is author of Sociological Approaches to Resolving Conflict and Managing Disputes, the textbook used in his conflict management courses, and Negotiating with Your Ex: Foundations for Foundations for Productive Negotiation of Property, Parenting Time, Child Support & Spousal Support ©2019.