Nnena Odim

Serving as an Ombuds & Mediating Divorce, Family, Housing and Employment Matters with MWI
Case Manager: Josh Hoch: 617-895-4028 | jhoch@mwi.org

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Dispute Resolution Experience

Nnena Odim is a mediator, ombuds, attorney, trainer, and consultant. She has been mediating since 1997, and has mediated disputes involving issues such as employment, housing, business, consumer, academic/higher education, and the full range of family/domestic relations (divorce, unmarried parents, elder care, adoption, etc.). Nnena has also designed and/or led conflict management trainings for several local and national businesses and agencies, including the Boston Public Schools, Massachusetts Housing Authority, Neighborhood Works, Coca-Cola, and Netflix. In addition to her mediation and conflict resolution training background, Nnena is trained by the International Ombuds Association and has served as an ombuds for CVS, American Planning Association, and several local construction companies. After 25 years, Nnena has recently retired from Harvard Law School, where she was the Director and Senior Clinical Instructor of the Family/Domestic Violence Law Clinic at Harvard’s Legal Services Center. In addition to being an active practicing attorney in Massachusetts Family and Probate Courts, she provided experiential training to law students and taught them how to become effective and ethical attorneys.

Nnena has worked with the Harvard Mediation Program (HMP) and Harvard Program on Negotiation to provide trainings for students and community members, and to supervise Harvard Law School students in their mediation and negotiation studies. She served as a faculty and coach of mediation skills for trainings at Suffolk and Boston College Law Schools, MIT, and New England School of Law. Nnena has also served on numerous panels and speaking rosters for a variety of topics, including those on self-care and mental health for students and faculty, establishing boundaries in a professional setting, race and gender, and LGBTQ+ rights.

Nnena is a member of the HMP Advisory Board. In 2019, Nnena was honored by the Harvard Women’s Law Association International Committee. In 2015, she received the Harvard Law School Dean’s Award for Excellence, and in 2013, Nnena was a Top Women in the Law award recipient from Mass. Lawyers Weekly.

Focus Areas

Outsourced Organizational Ombuds
Conference Ombuds
Workplace and Employment Mediation
Worked with over 100 same-sex couples in both mediation and litigation, on a variety of legal scenarios, such as 2nd parent adoptions, divorce (with and without children), paternity, business dissolution, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, and donor agreements for sperm donation
Drafted over 100 post-mediation Settlement Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding
Guardian ad Litem, appointed by Suffolk and Middlesex County Family and Probate Courts

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Top Women in the Law award recipient, Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly, 2013
Member, Association for Conflict Resolution
Member, American Bar Association
Licensed Real Estate Broker

Lectures and ADR Trainings Conducted

Training faculty for MWI’s annual Advanced Divorce Training
Guest lecturer for Suffolk and Boston College Law Schools’ mediation courses

Background and Education

J.D., Northeastern University School of Law (1997)
M.S., University of Massachusetts/Amherst (1991)
B.S., University of Pittsburgh (1985)

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