I bring a unique blend of experience, skills, and sensibility to my work helping people resolve disputes and reach agreements.
I have been in practice as a lawyer since 1989 and as a mediator since 2010. After 18 years as a litigator with law firms in Los Angeles and San Francisco, representing clients in a broad range of business and personal matters, in 2010 I opened my own law and mediation practice to help people resolve disputes in a better way – more cooperative, less combative; more transparent, less deceptive; more efficient, less costly; more healing, less harmful.
My focus as a mediator is on cases that involve ongoing relationships: divorce and family matters, partnership and small business disputes, and organizational, community and school-based conflicts. Along with my expertise in law and negotiation, I offer my clients my understanding of relationship, conflict, and communication.
What drives my work is my passion for helping people confront, come to terms with, and get through difficult times in their lives.
Education, Relevant Personal Details & Professional Associations
I graduated from Stanford University with a BA in English and Economics in 1986, and from the University of California Hastings College of the Law with a JD in 1989. I have completed numerous mediation and negotiation trainings and in 2010 received certification in mediation from the Strauss Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law.
I am a certified restorative justice facilitator and trainer since 2013, as well as a certified trainer in the Way of Council. I am the co-founder and director of Circle Ways, an organization dedicated to bringing circle dialogue practices and restorative justice to schools and other learning organizations.
I have maintained a yoga and meditation practice for more than 20 years. I am a father, a divorcee, and a husband.
I am a member of the State Bar of California, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Southern California Mediation Association, and Mediators Beyond Borders.