About
Meet Debra
Debra Smearman brings over 30 years of courtroom experience to every mediation. She spent her first decade fighting for injured plaintiffs, then fourteen years defending corporations and insurers. In 2016, she joined a large creditors rights firm and spent 6 years as Senior Counsel and Director of Compliance. After trying dozens of jury trials and handling everything from fender-benders to catastrophic injury cases, she understands what keeps both sides up at night.
When colleague Chris Ziegler asked her to help with overflow mediations in 2021, she expected occasional work. Five years and hundreds of mediations later, she's built a thriving practice centered on one principle: the best outcomes happen when people can talk to each other as people, not just as parties to a lawsuit. Her conversational approach helps attorneys and their clients move past positioning to find workable solutions.
Blue Door Mediation takes its name from a pair of antique doors with a beautiful blue patina that served as Debra's backdrop during her early Zoom mediations. Those doors reminded her that mediation opens pathways to resolution, and in 2024, she opened actual doors to her own dedicated mediation space in Midtown Atlanta. Here, attorneys and their clients find a private, professional environment designed specifically for mediation, with no shared offices, no parking hassles, and no distractions—just focused conversation aimed at resolution.
Our Approach
At Blue Door, we believe mediation works best when it feels like a conversation, not a confrontation. While every mediation is a formal legal proceeding deserving full respect, we've found that attorneys and clients reach better resolutions when they feel comfortable speaking openly about what really matters. Debra's style is deliberately approachable and conversational because understanding each party's true concerns, not just their legal positions, is what moves cases toward settlement. We create an environment where people can talk through their differences as people rather than adversaries.
This approach yields results that go beyond simple case resolution. By helping parties understand the real risks and opportunities on both sides, we empower them to make informed decisions about their future. Sometimes that means settlement, sometimes it means better trial preparation, and sometimes it means continued negotiation with newfound clarity. We measure success not just by settlements reached, but by helping attorneys and their clients gain control over the outcomes. When parties leave understanding what drove the other side's position and what could happen at trial, they're equipped to make the best decisions for their situation.
Ready to Find Resolution?
Whether you need a Zoom session or prefer meeting in person, we're here to help move your case forward. Let's get your mediation on the calendar.