EXPERIENCED:When selecting the right mediator for you, there is no substitute for real legal experience. Having begun my Family Law career in the panhandle of Florida with the Levin firm in 1986, I quickly realized that Family Law allowed me to interact intimately with individuals and interface with almost all other areas of the law. From the beginning, my career has been concentrated in this legal specialty for which I am passionate. I immediately became active in the Family Law Section of the Florida Bar and continue to be a frequent speaker on matters of Family Law.
I have successfully tried and negotiated thousands of cases along the entire spectrum of Family Law - spanning cases where assets totaled in the millions as well as those with insufficient resources to pay the parties’ existing bills. I pride myself on successfully negotiating complicated parenting conflicts involving many novel and different issues.
In 1996, I obtained statewide mediation certification from the Florida Supreme Court and after eighteen years in Family Law, including eight years of a combined practice, I retired from active law practice to concentrate solely on mediation. I am committed to my role as a Mediator to help define the issues and assist the parties in reaching a negotiated resolution of their dispute.
CREATIVE:
My own experience in Family Law as well as my experience as a Family Law Mediator enables me to work effectively with attorneys and their clients to evaluate positions, explore options, question perceptions, use logic and stimulate negotiations to create solutions that are mutually acceptable to both parties. I am also skilled at working with pro se litigants (party representing them self) and am willing to mediate with or without attorneys and prior to a lawsuit being filed. I am creative in my approach to resolving disputes and resourceful in my ability to push past impasse to encourage resolution by the parties.
DEDICATED:
The process of mediation is one of self determination and empowerment which leaves parties in control of their own destiny. Research shows that disputes resolved through mediation are more likely to produce satisfactory results and higher levels of long-term compliance verses litigated outcomes. I am dedicated to the process of mediation, to remaining impartial and neutral throughout, and to stimulating negotiation between the parties. I have witnesses the emotional and financial complications of litigation and strongly believe that family matters are best resolved by the family members themselves. My objectives are to help settle disputes between parties and leave everyone satisfied with the outcome.