MEET THE BOARD OF LACFLA!

Frederick J. Glassman, J.D. is the President of the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association.  Fred has authored local and national articles and taught courses for the UCLA Extension Department of Legal Programs on Collaborative Practice and Mediation.  He has appeared on Time Warner Public Television shows on Collaborative Practice.  He is a frequent speaker and panel member of the American Bar Association Family Law and Dispute Resolution Sections as well as for Collaborative Practice California (CPCal) and, the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals annual forums.  Fred is an official registered observer for the Uniform Law Commission Drafting Committee on The Uniform Collaborative Law Act.  Fred serves on the Board of Directors for the California Dispute Resolution Council.  He has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America and Southern California's Best Lawyers.  Fred is listed in Martindale Hubbell's Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers with their highest AV-rating in legal ability and ethical standards.  He is a recipient of the State of California Collaborative Practice Eureka Award for Distinguished Service, and published "A Way to Resolve with Respect: Exploring the Benefits and Opportunities of Collaborative Family Law in California" and "Understanding Collaborative Family Law" for Thomson-Reuters.  

Fred's goal continues to be acting as the conduit to enhance the talent that each and every Board Member brings to LACFLA.  His vision includes not only spreading the good word throughout the Southern California community for Collaborative Practice as a sensible, sensitive and safe process option for families experiencing marital discord, but to also secure Collaborative Practice's place in the mainstream.  He remains dedicated and disciplined to involving the "next-generation" of lawyers to Collaborative Practice and welcomes them to LACFLA.

Kathleen M. O'Connor, Law Offices of Kathleen M. O'Connor. 

I value you and your family. As a trained collaborative professional, I seek to provide you with the support and protection you need during this important legal and yet emotional process. Your divorce is an opportunity for you to grow emotionally, to focus your attention on the needs of your children and to set your financial goals. A team of trained financial professionals assist you to identify your goals and to formulate a plan.

Does a litigated divorce meet the needs of the 21st century family™ Parents today understand the divorce is often a reality; but, the process of divorce does not need to hurt children, fester years of anger, and create economic havoc. Divorce is not about winning. It is not about loosing your family. Divorce is about reorganizing your relationships and priorities. It is an opportunity for change. Collaborative process will help you and your family reach these goals.

Dawn Strachan is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA™), Certified Estate Advisor (CEA®) and Financial Advisor. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, Dawn is experienced in working with clients helping them identify and understand the financial issues of divorce. She is instrumental in assisting her clients in arriving at a settlement that is beneficial for all by empowering them with the financial information that is often overlooked in the divorce process. What appears to be an equitable settlement today may not be fair tomorrow. Through software specifically designed to handle the financial aspects of divorce, Ms. Strachan generates sophisticated financial projections addressing the long-term effects of dividing property, integrating into her analysis tax issues, pension plan issues, earnings capabilities, spousal and child support options, liquidity concerns, inflation rates, rates of return on investments, and other financial issues related to separation agreements. The graphic reports generated by Ms. Strachan encourage dialogue between the divorcing parties and facilitates settlement, keeping everyone out of court, which dramatically reduces the cost of divorce.

As a financial advisor Dawn takes a life plan approach to financial planning incorporating all areas such as retirement and estate planning, risk management, college funding and wealth management. This experience helps her bring a unique perspective to the divorce planning process.

Warren R. Sacks is a Partner with the accounting and litigation consulting firm of White, Zuckerman, Warsavsky, Luna, Wolf & Hunt, LLP. Mr. Sacks is a Certified Public Accountant, practicing since 1981; with experience in the preparation of business valuations, perquisite analysis, standard of living reports, community property balance sheets, reports on the gross cash flow available for support, and the analysis of financial statements and tax returns. Mr. Sacks has testified in the Superior Court of California as an expert witness in family law matters.

Prior to joining White, Zuckerman, Warsavsky, Luna, Wolf & Hunt, LLP, Mr. Sacks was a staff accountant with the accounting and litigation firm of Stein & Cohen where he performed litigation consulting services primarily related to marital dissolution.

Mr. Sacks received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting Theory and Practice from California State University, Northridge. He is a member in good standing of the AICPA.

Mr. Sacks has passed all four exams in business valuation toward becoming an Accredited Senior Appraiser of the American Society of Appraisers.

Steven B. Garelick, CPA/ABV/CFF, CVA, CFS. 

I am pleased to announce an exciting new chapter in my life.  After over 20 years with Miod and Company LLP CPA's, I am venturing out on my own.  My new company name is Steven B. Garelick CPA.  I continue to specialize in Collaboration and Mediation, and also perform Litigation and Consulting forensic accounting services.  I can now be reached as follows:

Steven B. Garelick CPA

8387 Sausalito Avenue

West Hills, California 91304

(818) 601-4707 (Cell)

(818) 884-2641 (Fax

E-mail SBGarelickCPA@gmail.com

I specialize in litigation support and forensic accounting. I work with the legal community as a mediator and collaborative family law consultant. As a financial specialist, I aide divorcing couples in the financial process by helping them gather, prepare, and share their monetary documents in a thorough, yet gentle manner. I assist legal counsel with child and spousal support calculations while taking into account the parties' budgetary constraints, needs and wants. In addition, I prepare marital business appraisals. With confidence and compassion, I offer creative solutions in alliance with the collaborative team that enables the divorcing couple to reach a dignified successful financial settlement.

Jena Stara Law and Mediation Offices of Heidi S. Tuffias

Diana L. Martinez, founder of West Coast Mediation, provides “no-court” divorce and conflict resolution services, including collaborative divorce and divorce mediation services, in San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange counties. She is an active member of the Los Angeles County Superior Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Panel and a board member for the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association.

In every divorce case I handle, my goals are to help protect the children, empower my clients to keep control of their situation, and to keep them all out of court. Nothing good happens in a court battle... even if you “win”. Relationships are destroyed, families and friends are divided, funds exhausted, and everyone suffers. You know your needs and the needs of your children better than anyone else, especially a judge, who knows only a small fraction of your story, what is “legally relevant”. Your future should be based on more than what the legislature has deemed “legally relevant” for couples and families in general. One size does not fit all. Everyone is unique. You deserve an agreement that meets your unique needs and that comes from those who know your needs and goals best... YOU.

Ellyn J. Stein, Attorney at Law. 

Ellyn J. Stein is a solo practitioner whose Beverly Hills-based practice is limited to family law matters.  Ms. Stein represents clients in litigated cases and well as in mediation (attending mediations with her clients and as a consulting attorney) and in the Collaborative Divorce process.  She provides pre-divorce counseling to individuals uncertain whether they wish to remain in their marriages, offering information about the range of legal outcomes to assist them in their decision-making process and referrals to allied professionals who can assist them in overcoming the difficulties in their marriages if they elect that path.
 
Ms. Stein is a graduate of the New York University School of Law and Stanford University (A.B. in International Relations) and has over 25 years of litigation experience.  In addition to family law, Ms. Stein has practiced in the areas of aviation litigation (products liability), redevelopment law and general civil practice.  Ms. Stein chairs LACFLA’s Diversity Committee and coordinates LACFLA’s annual Diversity Workshop.  She serves on the Family Law Executive Committee of the Beverly Hills Bar Association, is a member of the International Association of Collaborative Professionals and participates in numerous professional study groups as a member and speaker.
 
Ms. Stein takes an eclectic approach to family law practice, mixing and matching process options as is warranted by the needs and dynamics of each case.  She believes parties and counsel can be cooperative and proceed with kindness and integrity in any process and, similarly, that any process can be abused.
 
Ms. Stein appreciates the interdisciplinary professionals she has met through LACFLA and the expanded resources she is now able to offer her clients and their families due to her participation in LACFLA.  She encourages litigators and non-litigators alike to join LACFLA to increase the range of options and resources they can provide and to enrich their practices.

Ron Rosenfeld  graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a degree in engineering before receiving his law degree from the University of Southern California. His practice involves divorce proceedings, prenuptial and post nuptial agreements, cohabitation agreements, arbitration, mediation and litigation of family law matters, as well as collaborative law.

Mr. Rosenfeld is a fellow of the American and International Academies of Matrimonial Lawyers. In addition, Mr. Rosenfeld is listed in The Best Lawyers in America in family law, and Martindale Hubbell's Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, AV rated. From 1996 through 1998, Mr. Rosenfeld served on the Family and Juvenile Law Standing Advisory Committee to the Judicial Council of California. Mr. Rosenfeld is also listed among the Top 100 "Super Lawyers" in Southern California, Los Angeles Magazine/Law & Politics.

Mr. Rosenfeld is a member of the California Bar Association and served on its Family Law Section Executive Committee from 1992 through 1995, and 1999 through 2002. He is also a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and served on its Family Law Section Executive Committee from 1989 through 1992. In addition, Mr. Rosenfeld is a member of the Beverly Hills Bar Association. Mr. Rosenfeld also as a Mediator in the Los Angeles County Superior Court Family Law Mediation Program. 

Carol Hirshfield, Ph.D. I am a Licensed Psychologist with a clinical practice in West LA.  I see mostly kids and families, and work a lot of kids with special needs.  I have a strong background in Child Development.  I have raised three kids, who are not adults, and I have also been divorced. 

I have Social Skills groups for kids ages 8 - 10, kids in middle school, and I also have a teen psychotherapy group.  We have parent groups for the younger kids at the same time.  In the divorce part of my practice, I do custody mediation, co-parenting counseling, co-parenting classes (called COPE, Co-parenting with Your Ex), and I act as a collaborative divorce coach and child specialist on collaborative divorce cases. 

I enjoy being a part of LACFLA because it has given me a new skill set (collaborative divorce coaching), an opportunity to get to know and work closely with attorneys and financial specialists, and a chance to give back to the community. 

Vi Ballard

As a Marriage Family Therapist, I have the opportunity to help many different types of people; couples, whose families, Kids, and Individuals that may be going through difficult times.  When people are under stress such as divorce, they need to have hope that tomorrow will be better, and guidance to help them create a better tomorrow.  Being on the LACFLA Board has allowed me to meet great people dedicated to helping others while they go through this stressful time called divorce.  You may or may not know that I have a passion for helping children and the dedicated members of LACFLA, I believe, also share my passion.  Helping families resolve conflict during a divorce in a collaborative way, gives people hope for a better life after divorce and allows one to maintain their self worth.  I'm proud to be a Board Member of an organization that supports families during this difficult time. 

Judith C. Nesburn, Esq.

I feel so fortunate to have a career which allows me to blend the values and skills from my two careers, first as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and, for the past 24 years as a Family Law attorney.  Collaborative Law offers the perfect opportunity to help families in transition while preserving and strengthening parent-child and co-parenting bonds which will continue in the years after parties divorce.  As a Board Member of the Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association, I am fortunate to serve with a group of dedicated, hard working Collaborative Divorce professionals whose mission is to educate the public about this wonderful option and to educate our family law community about the skills essential to serving on a collaborative divorce team. 

Looking back, my career path has intersected with my personal life in a seamless way.  After graduating UCLA, I received my Master's Degree in Social Work from Columbia University and worked with children and families while raising my 2 young children.  After going though a difficult divorce, while in Law School, I elected to enter the practice of family law.  Within a few years, however, it became clear that the traditional model of family law practice so often resulted in the devastation of family resources and relationships.  We generally failed in helping families develop the tools to define healthy new roles and relationships for the years following the divorce.  To address that challenge, I received training as a mediator and, within several years, limited my practice to Alternative Dispute Resolution ("ADR") services (now, aptly referred to as Consensual Dispute Resolution ("CDR").  The advent of Collaborative Divorce practice allowed me to add a vital tool to my "toolbox" for serving families in transition. 

During my law career, I have served actively in the family law professional community and have written and lectured extensively on family law mediation and collaborative divorce topics locally and throughout the country. I have served as a chair of the State Bar of California Family Law Section Stan ding Committee on Adoptions, the State Bar of California Family Law Section Standing Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution, and the State Bar of California Family Law Executive Committee.  I welcome the opportunity, as a Board Member of LACFLA to continue this service to our professional community and to the families we serve during their challenging time of transition. 

Fern Topas Salka:

Ms. Salka is a Certified Family Law Specialist and fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. She is the former Chair of the Family Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar and has taught and written extensively about mediation and other alternate dispute processes. She has been named SuperLawyer for the past three years by Los Angeles Magazine, an honor reflecting the respect of her peers, and is a founding member of Los Angeles Collaborative Family Law Association, an association formed to advance the practice of collaborative family law.

After more than 30 years of experience as a family law attorney, Ms. Salka today favors dispute resolution options that avoid courtroom intervention.  Ms. Salka keeps the future of the family in the forefront. Her extensive legal experience and research indicate that children do the best when parents do not go to war over them.

Ms. Salka has an excellent track record for resolving family disputes in high-profile, high-asset and high-income celebrity cases as well as more modest cases. In each case, she emphasizes quick results and private, practical, and progressive solutions. She is straight-forward about what a client can reasonably expect and highly knowledgeable about and sensitive to child-related issues.

Brian Don Levy:

I have been representing family law litigation clients since 1973.   I have been providing mediation services since 1978, and have been actively practicing in the collaborative full team discipline as an attorney & mediator since 2003.  I presently serve on the Board of Directors for LACFLA and Collaborative Divorce Solutions Orange County.  I am also a delegate to CPCAL.  I am a proud member of the Collaborative Divorce Education Institute Training Team and have trained other collaborative professionals for LACFLA, Collaborative Divorce Solutions Orange County, Collaborative Divorce Professionals Inland Empire, Coalition of Collaborative Divorce, Collaborative Divorce Solutions Coachella Valley & CPCAL.  I have also served as a shadow trainer for Woody Mosten in his new 3 Day Collaborative Training, and have been trained as a trainer by invitation from the prestigious Collaborative Divorce Training Team.  I am committed to using my peacemaking and training skills to help raise up a new generation of peacemakers.  My main area of focus in the LACFLA Board is Web Site Development and Marketing. 

Jeffrey S. Jacobson, Esq. - Jacobson Scully Shebby, LLP

I am a Certified Family Law Specialist and have practiced exclusively family law for my entire career.  While I continue to offer litigation as a process alternative for clients, my practice focuses primarily on Consensual Dispute Resolution (including Collaborative Law and Mediation).

I am honored to be a member of the LACFLA Board and I am committed to the growth of Collaborative Law in Los Angeles.  I believe that many families benefit greatly from this process as a result of the resources and support it provides.  As a professional, I enjoy being part of an Interdisciplinary team and working with clients on generating solutions that focus on the future of a family. 

Jill Cohen, Esq.

Jill Cohen is a family mediator and collaborative attorney located in Beverly Hills.  Jill is passionate about the benefits of a collaborative approach to dispute resolution, and seeks to apply a collaborative approach to resolving conflicts in her personal life in addition to her professional work. 

After earning her JD/MBA from Columbia University in 1994, Jill began her career in New York, practicing corporate law  at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison and then in-house, and then working as a Vice President for Business Development at Citigroup.  When negotiating corporate transactions, she always sought to understand the needs and interests of her own client and the other party, and sought to find creative solutions that worked for both parties. 

Eight years ago, Jill transitioned from corporate work to family work to family work because she was passionate about helping families resolve conflict in a way that could heal misunderstandings and would honor their relationships.  She is skilled at understanding both parties in a dispute, and with that understanding can help the parties find common ground. 

Jill has received extensive training in mediation and collaborative law.  She served on the Board of the Family and Divorce Mediation Council of Greater New York, and taught Divorce Mediation and Cardozo Law School.  In addition to serving on the LACFLA Board, Jill is on the California State Bar Family Law ADR/CDR Subcommittee, and is a member of the Women's Lawyer's Association of Los Angeles. 

Kevin J. Chroman, Esq.

I have always believed that reason can prevail, if given the proper opportunities and resources.  On rate occasions issues are absolute.  More typically there are shades of gray, as in Family Law where legal and financial issues are emotionally and psychologically charged. 

My interest in conflict resolution began while attending Loyola Law School when I was chosen to participate on the Mediation team.  Competing against Pepperdine and USC, our team won the Regional Mediation Tournament, and advanced to the Nationals.  As an associate at the law firm of Wolf, Rifkin and Shapiro, I practiced Real Estate Law.  Later, in private practice, I transitioned into Family Law where I immediately recognized the need for a resolution-based process. 

As a member of LACFLA's Board of Directors, I look forward to raising the public's awareness of, and accessibility to, collaborative law. 

Michelle Daneshrad, Esq.

Michelle Daneshrad, Esq. is a dedicated Collaborative attorney and Mediator.
She is the founder of San Fernando Valley Collaborative Professionals
consisting of 20 reputable and reliable collaborative lawyers, mental health
professionals, and financial experts.  Graduated from Southwestern
University School of Law in 2001, she was a recipient of CALI Excellence for
The Future in Family Law in 1999.  She was a member of Southwestern
University Law Review.  Michelle's effective mediation and collaborative
skills and her calm and powerful way of being makes her one of Southern
California's most respected and valuable mediators and collaborative
professionals.

Michelle has participated in Woody Mosten's mediation and collaborative
trainings, Center for Youth Services mediation training with advanced
trainings in Families Able to Resolve Situations and advanced trainings in
Victim Offender Restitution Services.
She has been trained in educational training programs at Landmark Education
for the past seven years in areas of communication and leadership.

Michelle is dedicated to transforming the role of lawyers from being
competitive and adversarial to collaborative wise counselors at law,
providing a more sensible process to address what the parties are dealing
with and what they really care about.

Michelle Daneshrad, Esq.
5850 Canoga Avenue, Suite 400
Woodland Hills, California 91367
www.completionlawfirm.com completionlawfirm@yahoo.com>
Tel:  (818) 991-0519
Fax: (818) 475-5336

Joseph P. Spirito, Jr.

Joe has been managing family law cases for over 29 years and is a founding partner of McGaughey & Spirito in Redondo Beach California. He has continuously maintained an AV rating in Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, as well as the National Register’s Who’s Who in Executives and Professionals.

Joe has chaired the Family Law Section of the South Bay Bar Association for several years and is Past President of the South Bay Bar Association.  He is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Family Law Section, and is a faculty member of the Los Angeles Collaborative Law Association’s interdisciplinary training programs.

Joe is a founding member of A Better Divorce, a collaborative law divorce group in the South Bay, and has handled over 100 collaborative law cases. In 2001, as Chair of the Family Law Section of the South Bay Bar Association, Joe co-initiated a program with L.A. County Supervising Family Law Judge, Aviva Bobb, utilizing her courtroom to put on a program with Pauline Tesler and Nancy Ross. The program introduced the collaborative divorce model to approximately 100 attorneys, judges and mental health professionals in the county.

Joe has served as Judge Pro-Tem and Mediator in the Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Joe has also been named a Southern California Super Lawyer for 2005 -2011. Only 5% of the Southern California lawyers are selected for this honor.

He is a member of LACFLA; A Better Divorce; CP Cal & IACP.