About Us
Focused services, to assist in resolving issues.
Efficient, to make the most of your time, and ours.
Fair, to make sure you get the service you need.
We are dedicated to bringing peaceful problem-solving to the legal world. We are here to assist people through the process of mediation of legal issues with the focus of collaborating and working together.
James Krueger
James earned his J.D. from William and Mary School of Law and Ph.D. from University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focus is legal pluralism, which includes the relationship of the state and judiciary to nonstate institutions of conflict resolution like elders’ councils, neighborhood groups, and the family. He joined the Washington State Bar Association in 2006 and then traveled widely, serving as a law professor at Haramaya University in Ethiopia, a post-doctoral researcher at Cornell University with a project in Kenya, and a U.S. Ambassador’s Distinguished Scholar at Mekelle University, Ethiopia.
As a pragmatist, James is an advocate of whatever can be shown to work in mediation. He supports professional mediation in the broadest sense, including any third-party neutrals and any techniques of peaceful problem-solving that help us get along through difficult times. Outside of law and mediation, James seeks peace of mind through hiking and biking and relaxing with his family and two dogs.
Shallan Knowles
Shallan is an experienced mediator and facilitator who most recently completed more than 120 mediations for Northwest Mediation Center in the first six months of 2023. Her facilitation experience spans nearly two decades and ranges from facilitating watershed stakeholder meetings for Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and the Spokane County Conservation District, to leading the Peaceful Valley Design Charrette in Spokane as part of their neighborhood planning process.
She holds certificates in Trauma-Informed Mediation, Advanced Mediation Training as well as a certificate in group facilitation methods for meetings. Her mediation and facilitation centered on caring support for both parties while finding the root of the issue.
Shallan has worked for several Spokane-region non-profit conservation organizations and government organizations, and is the current co-owner of a small media and marketing business while also mediating at Syringa Law & Mediation.
BA, Environmental Science – University of Idaho
ToP Meeting Facilitation Certificate
Charrette Facilitation Certificate
Basic and Advanced Mediation Certificate – NW Mediation Center
Judy Krueger
Margaret Judith “Judy” Krueger is a trained mediator and lawyer and holds the Basic and Advanced Mediation Certificates. Judy earned her J.D. degree from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. She has been admitted to (or is formerly a member of) the Bar in the States of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Tennessee, and Washington. Judy worked as an attorney for the US Department of the Interior, Office of the Solicitor, and was Associate Counsel for the US Defense Distribution Region East, Defense Logistics Agency. She was an Administrative Judge for the US Merit Systems Protection Board, Chicago Regional Office.
Judy worked for Washington State University in the Office of Compliance and Civil Rights (formerly the Center for Human Rights) and as an Ombudsman for students and administrative staff.
As an Administrative Judge and as an attorney representing the federal government, Judy participated in many administrative hearings and settlement conferences. In her role as Ombudsman, she was frequently called on to mediate complaints. She believes mediation is the most effective and efficient instrument in resolving disputes.
