About Mainspring Mediation Group, LLC.

In February 2023, Judge Patrick Campbell retired after serving as a judicial officer in Jackson County, Missouri since 2006. In over sixteen years on the bench, Judge Campbell presided over thousands of contested family law and civil litigation actions. His experience included numerous civil jury trials and countless child custody trials.

Judge Campbell had always been an advocate of “self-determination” for all litigants. He was one of the first jurists in Jackson County to require mediation in all family law matters. He also mandated mediation in all civil actions that came before him. Judge Campbell always encouraged litigants to explore options for resolving their disputes, options that frequentlyrequired “compromise” and “sacrifice” by all parties.

After retiring, Judge Campbell formed Mainspring Mediation Group, LLC as a means of continuing his pursuit of self-determination for all parties in all disputes. Self-determination is the act of coming to a voluntary, uncoerced, decision in which each party makes free and informed choices as to both process and outcome. The mediator facilitates communication, promotes understanding, focuses the parties on their interests and seeks creative solutions to problems that enable the parties to reach their own agreements.

Now retired, Patrick Campbell offers mediation services through Mainspring Mediation Group, LLC. Mediation services are available for all family law matters, including child custody, visitation, and property division. Mediation is also offered for a variety of civil actions, including personal injury, employment actions, and business litigation disputes.

Mainspring is a flat steel spring coiled within mechanical watches as early as the 1500’s. As the timepiece is wound, great tension is placed on the mainspring. As this tension is slowly released, the mechanical time keeping functions of the watch operates. The more the watch is wound, the more tension is placed on the mainspring, the longer time elapses to release the tension.

In more than 16 years on the bench, Judge Campbell observed many parties subject to enormous tension as a result of litigation. This stress manifested itself in visible physical and emotional symptoms. Prolonged litigation also exhausted many litigants’ financial resources. Similar to the tension placed on a mainspring within a watch, this stress continuously grew as pressure increased, requiring an exorbitant length of time to release the pressure. Mainspring Mediation Group, LLC seeks to begin the process of reducing the tension involved in litigation, relieving the stress and allowing the parties to unwind.