"The Beard Grows, But The Head Does Not Grow Wiser."
"Lawyers work hard and, like us, they're human, many of them."-Dick Cavett
“A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.” - H. L. Mencken
"I tell you, I'll consult my lawyer. And if he advises me to do it, I'll get a new lawyer."-Groucho Marx 
"We are all here for a spell, get all the good laughs you can."
While every attorney with a pulse attempts to set him/herself up as a mediator ("Available 24/7 for you mediation needs!"), I remember a time when mediation/facilitation was the exception rather than the rule.
One of the first to mediate full time was Judge Kaye Tertzag, who retired from the Wayne County Circuit Court Bench in 2004. He was a terrific mediator-intelligent, empathetic, engaging. And he was a better man.
I have tried to adopt his 3 Ps-Be Prompt, Be Prepared, Be Polite as my personal, professional standards.
At the conclusion of a Tertzag mediation, the participants did not get a business card, per se. They received a received a refrigerator magnet, shown below.
Judge Tertzag died in 2009, and I still have the magnet on my refrigerator. That is a tribute to the judge, not to the longevity of our Kitchen Aid side by side.
The judge's voicemail message is no longer associated with that cell number (I checked recently), and Mrs. Tertzag no longer lives in Brownstown.
I keep the magnet in plain view as a reminder of the man, his principles and his body of work.
So, as my mediation practice has increased, I thought I might copy Kaye Tertzag's promotional item, both as the good idea it is and an "homage" to the master.
This is my magnet, specifically designed to look as close as the Tertzag magnet as possible.
To further copy Judge Tertzag's valediction: Be Well.
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