PRESENTERS
Sam Ardery
Sam Ardery has mediated more than 5,000 cases and tried dozens of jury trials. He teaches negotiation at the Indiana University Maurer School of Law and is the author of Positively Conflicted, as well as the creator of the companionPositively Conflicted podcast, a free audio adaptation of the book.
Sam advises executives, boards, and organizations around the world on conflict, negotiation, and mediation. His frameworks for conflict engagement are used by legal and non-legal professionals throughout the United States, Canada, and beyond.
Sam earned his J.D. from the Indiana University School of Law after graduating from DePauw University with a degree in Philosophy and Religion. He completed advanced training in negotiation and mediation at the Harvard Program on Negotiation and the Straus Institute at Pepperdine University. He has been a lawyer at Bunger & Robertson since 1988.
Sam lives in Bloomington, Indiana, with his wife, Patty, and their rescue dog, William.
Ashley Hart
Ashley Hart is an attorney and social worker licensed in Indiana. She is the Executive Director of the Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program (JLAP). Prior to assuming this role, Ashley served as the Deputy Director, and she was a past JLAP volunteer and committee member. Ashley was a former staff attorney in the pro se office for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana and proudly served both federal district and magistrate judicial officers for five years. Ashley is passionate about working with individuals and groups navigating grief and loss and the unique grief of suicide loss survivors. Ashley is trained as a Suicide Bereavement Support Group Facilitator through the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP). She is a Certified Grief Educator after completing world-renowned grief expert, David Kessler’s, certificate program in June 2025. A Certified Grief Educator is committed to providing the highest level of grief support through education, experience, and insights into the often unacknowledged and rocky terrain of grief. Ashley has also attained her International Certification in Critical Incident Stress Management (CCISM). Ashley serves the legal community with her faithful JLAP certified therapy dog, a German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois, the Honorable K9 Judge. When she is not lawyering or social working, she is singing, as she has spent more than 40 years in the music industry as a professional musician, songwriter, and performer. You can always count on her to leave you with a song!
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS
Resources for Legal Professionals: Lawyers work with people in distress on a regular basis and may be at risk of compassion fatigue, a combination of burnout and secondary trauma that can significantly decrease our effectiveness at work and in life. This session will generate discussion of the elements of compassion fatigue and burnout, how to recognize it in ourselves and our colleagues, and how its effect can impact professional conduct, including competence, diligence, and communication. Add in human moments of feeling like everyone around you is smarter, works harder, and does a better job, can leave you feeling like an imposter in this work. Imposter syndrome not only makes us miserable, but it also negatively impacts our physical well-being, work performance, productivity, and competence. This session will also discuss the imposter syndrome effect on lawyer well-being. Learn some resilience tools and techniques to stay in the game! The audience will get an overview of services available through the Indiana Judges and Lawyers Assistance Program (JLAP), with special emphasis on Admission and Discipline Rule 31 and JLAP confidentiality, to help them stay well!
Diseases of Self-Deception: Addiction and Litigation: In January 1995, I began my career as a mediator, which was the same month I got sober. The timing was an accident, but over the years it has taught me something unexpected. The self-deception and self-absorption that plague so many addicts also plague many litigants and their lawyers. This talk explores the surprising parallels between recovering from addiction and resolving litigated cases.
THE ST. JOSEPH COUNTY BAR FOUNDATION
The St. Joseph County Bar Foundation, Inc. is a charitable organization dedicated to meeting the needs of the public and legal profession through educational programs, legal services, and civic projects offered within the local community.
Established in 2008 as a philanthropic initiative of the St. Joseph County Bar Association, the Foundation relies solely on private donations to fund its efforts and accepts general donations, donor-directed gifts, and memorial or honorary gifts. The Foundation has provided financial support for high school and college mock trian programs, courtroom technology improvements, legal scholarships, pro bono services, legal education programs, and the documentary for the St. Joseph County Bar Association’s 150th Anniversary.
The Foundation’s 501(c)(3) status provides favorable tax treatment for its donors. The Foundation is grateful for any gift and also recognizes sustaining members as Fellows ($750), Life Fellows, ($1,500), and Life Patron Fellows ($2,500). We are grateful for your support.