Marietta Shipley 

Upon retirement Judge Shipley explored how best to use her interests and talents in the ADR field.  She has assembled some of the best mediators and arbitrators in the State of Tennessee.  They are experienced and well-trained in many diverse fields .  She believes that through the use of a Group, one can monitor the quality of the mediation or arbitration, keep abreast of current law and trends and provide training that is the most up to date.  Having a group also allows her to market these individuals to attorneys, corporate counsel, corporate managers, and to local and state government.  Her goal is to make mediation a way of resolving conflicts in all aspects of life. 

While she was judge she mediated numerous civil matters in settlement conferences, from personal injury cases to malpractice cases.  She also provided case management conferences for family cases, which often led to settlement.   She was Chair of the Judicial ADR Committee, which primarily brought education to the judges statewide so they were ready to respond to this helpful tool in resolving disputes.  Many of the jurisdictions now either exchange cases for settlement or routinely send them out for mediation, resulting in cases moving forward more quickly. 

Prior to her election in 1990, she was in private practice with Shipley & Behm for 10 years. She had a general litigation practice, particularly in the fields of family, employment, probate and personal injury law.  She began her law practice in the District Attorney's Office in 1977, where she founded the Child Support Division with Tom Thurman, Deputy District Attorney.

She graduated from the Nashville School of Law in 1976   While attending law school she taught German for six years, after having obtained a M.A.T and B.A. from the University of Kansas. She received her original mediation training with Colorado Dispute Resolution, sponsored by the ABA  at Stanford University Law School. At that time there were about five mediators in the state.  She has served as an Assistant for  Mediation Training at Judicial College 1994 and 1995. She received further training from David Strawn from Florida and from  Nina Meierding from Pepperdine Strauss Institute at several trainings for judges.  She has attended numerous AFM and ABA Conferences on mediation.  She has been a frequent presenter at seminars for  bar associations and other organizations.

 She is married to Dr. David McMillan, a psychologist, who also mediates cases and serves as a parent coordinator. He is a member of The Mediation Group of Tennessee.  She has a dog named Greco and a cat named Sable. The two get along very well.

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