Gary Norman "Guide Dogs as Partners" on Why Do Pets Matter? with Debra Hamilton, Esq. Podcast #104

Gary Norman "Guide Dogs for Vision" on Why Do Pets Matter? with Debra Hamilton, Esq. Podcast #104 Gary Norman, Esq. shares how guide dogs become working partners. Gary shares the inside story on what it is like to form a bond with guide dogs, and how to respect the need for work as well as play.  More About Gary Norman Mr. Norman is a dedicated public servant gifted with the ability to bring people of seemingly unrelated interests together. He serves on the public stage with a special sidekick, Bowie. In November 2019, he served as a Fellow at the invite-only Public Policy Conflict Resolution Fellowship. A program for high-level leaders convened under the auspices of the Md. judiciary. He has also served as a Visiting Fellow at the Robert J. Dole Institute for Politics. He has a demonstrated track record of improved public policy through conversation, and through the gifts that able-bodied and the disabled can bring to the table when inclusively working together. He established a multi-year non-partisan symposium on animal law and policy brokering regional or even national experts together. He is known for his semi-regular salons in which he brokers thought leaders, including, the disabled and the able, having mentored a range of law students with disabilities. He is the past founder and Co-Executive Editor of The Mid-Atlantic Journal on Law and Public Policy: Animal and Disability Reporter, a law and public policy journal on animal and disability issues. He started his public service career as a Presidential Management Fellow in 2000 with the federal government after graduating from Wright State University and Cleveland State University. In 2011, he obtained his Masters in Letters of Law at the Program on Law and Government at the Washington College of Law at American University, focusing on healthcare regulation as well as healthcare policy and non-discrimination. He has served as a policy briefer on disability and non-discrimination at a global health conference on gender and human rights. To check-in on his captivating career as a lawyer with a guide dog, read a couple of writings from his column in the Maryland Daily Record or his imformal thoughts via his blog on Facebook. . About Debra Hamilton, Esq.  Debra spent 30 years as a practicing litigator, but she is now a full-time mediator and conflict coach for people in disputes over animals. Go here for more: https://hamiltonlawandmediation.com/ e-mail: [email protected] phone: 914.552.5021 Debra works both nationwide and internationally. She has far-reaching experience in resolving interpersonal conflicts involving animals, and she is also well-known in the world of purebred dogs as a top breeder and exhibitor of Irish setters and long-haired dachshunds. Debra speaks widely on the topic of how mediation techniques can help people address conflicts without litigation. She has presented at veterinary schools, the American Kennel Club, the American Veterinary Medical Law Association, the Society of Animal Welfare Administrators, the Living With Animals conference, state bar association Animal Law Committee meetings, and animal interest group meetings. Debra also writes a blog for Hamilton Law and Mediation and is a past contributor to the Solo Practice University blog and the Canine Chronicle. She has been featured in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, US News and World Report, and the New York Times, just to name a few. As the principal at Hamilton Law and Mediation, PLLC—the nation’s first solo mediation practice dedicated to helping people resolve conflicts over animals—Debra uses alternative dispute resolution to help address disagreements over the family pet during divorce, neighbors’ arguments over a barking dog, and confrontations between clients and veterinarians and other professionals who work with animals. HLM also looks forward to helping animal rights and welfare advocates see the benefit of having a conversation about the best interests of all parties—especially the animals—to resolve animal-related disputes. Debra is admitted to practice law in all New York State courts. She is certified as a mediator and collaborative professional and has worked with various court-based mediation programs in New York City (Queens-Community Mediation Service) and in Westchester and Rockland Counties in New York (Westchester and Rockland Mediation Centers).