A little about me...

---

For years, I practiced family law in the traditional sense — representing clients in litigation, standing beside them in courtrooms, and witnessing the emotional and financial toll that often extended beyond the legal dispute itself. Divorce and parenting conflicts are among the most painful experiences a person can endure, and I began to believe that the adversarial court system, while sometimes necessary, rarely offered the best path to achieving a lasting resolution.

This belief shifted the trajectory of my career. In 2003, I began my training as a mediator and Collaborative attorney, restructuring my practice around a simple yet powerful idea: families experiencing divorce or parenting disputes deserve the opportunity to resolve their conflicts with dignity, respect, and control over their own outcomes — rather than relying on a process imposed by the court.

Since then, my practice has been focused solely on providing peaceful divorce and family law solutions. I work with clients to achieve durable resolutions to divorce, parenting disputes, and post-judgment modifications. I have over a 1,000 hours of working with clients in mediation and 100's of hours of Mediation and Collaborative training.

I am a Certified Advanced Practitioner with the Academy of Professional Family Mediators and a Certified Mediator with Mediate.com. My approach is further enriched by extensive training in the Understanding Method of Conflict Resolution from the Center for Understanding in Conflict, and I serve as a senior facilitator in Reflective Debrief®, trained by the Reflective Practice Institute International. These trainings shape how I listen, assist individuals in navigating conflict, and guide families toward lasting resolutions that endure in practice, not just on paper.

My goal is straightforward: to help clients navigate one of life's most challenging transitions with less conflict, greater clarity, and an outcome they actively participated in creating.

I was admitted in 1993 to law practice in California and in 1994 in Arizona, I earned my J.D. from Southwestern Law School in 1993 and B.A. from U.C. Santa Cruz in 1988.

I am a member of the State Bar of California, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, where I served as Chair of the Family Law Section from 2000 to 2010.  I chaired the Pasadena Collaborative Divorce from 2008 to 2011. My professional memberships also include the International Association of Collaborative Professionals and the Academy of Professional Family Mediators, and Reflective Practice Institute International. With a focus on out of court resolutions, my goal is to provide families with constructive paths to divorce and family law issues.