About
Stephanie Lyons

Whether disputes involve financial statement analysis, contractual disputes, partnership agreements, will contests or fiduciary duty, Stephanie can read between the lines with both legal precision and financial acumen.

Stephanie brings a unique perspective to mediation: she's structured complex real estate transactions and partnership agreements, managed investment risks for a $300 billion institutional investment portfolio, and audited financial statements and operational controls across multiple regulated entities, including a bank, mutual fund, broker-dealer and registered investment advisor.

She has also navigated high-stakes negotiations with boards, regulators, and opposing parties, and led sensitive fraud investigations and whistleblower matters—experience that proves invaluable when trust has broken down and stakes are high.  Her past roles involved working closely with accountants, actuaries, investment bankers, compliance officers, cybersecurity experts, surveyors and title companies. She brings this experience and multi-faceted perspective to mediating complex commercial disputes.

Stephanie’s mediation philosophy is grounded in understanding how people actually make decisions under stress. She realizes that the emotional components of conflict are just, as if not more, important as the legal and financial ones. She believes that conflict is inevitable; what matters is creating the conditions for resolution. Stephanie brings this understanding to every mediation, using proven techniques to reduce tension, expand parties’ understanding of their conflict and guide parties toward satisfying outcomes.

Trained at the mediation programs of both Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois and the Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and committed to ongoing education in negotiation, mediation, and arbitration Stephanie focuses on practical solutions that resolve disputes efficiently, preserve confidentiality, and protect business value and family wealth. 

Stephanie grew up in and currently lives in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin with her husband, a Shorewood native. Together they have three adult children, the youngest of whom is leaving for college in the fall. Stephanie enjoys biking, hiking, travel, genealogy, cooking, gardening, and making maple syrup at her family’s cabin in Northern Michigan.