In this episode, we interview Monica Mazzei, a top family law attorney in California with almost 20 years of experience. She will give us the ins and outs of mediation - and how it can be a great tool to resolve even the most complex divorces. To reach Monica directly, here is her contact information:

 

Monica Mazzei

Sideman & Bancroft

415.392.1960

mmazzei@sideman.com

https://www.sideman.com/professionals/monica-mazzei/

San Francisco, CA

 

Find the full transcript of the episode below.

Shawn Leamon: In this episode, I get to interview Monica Mazzei. And she is one of the top family lawyers in California. She's worked on dozens if not hundreds of really impressive cases with some super successful people in California. And in our episode, she is going to talk to us all about mediation, the ins and outs, how it works, how to make sure it's a good fit for you, how to get the most out of it. And why mediation may be really useful for your situation and why it's something that you should consider, particularly in a world in which many courts are still closed, or at least are extra slow in a pandemic world.

And mediation may be one of the only ways you can get your divorce resolved in a reasonable timeframe. And it's a much faster process. It is a more private process and Monica is going to walk us through all of the details of that. And for you listeners in California as well, as an added bonus she may be a good fit for you. So just something to think about. Without further ado here's my interview with Monica. So today on the show I have with me Monica Mazzei. An attorney and partner at Simon and Bancroft based in San Francisco. Monica, welcome to the show.

Monica Mazzei: Why thank you. Happy to be here.

Shawn Leamon: Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, where you are, where you're from, your legal background, before we get into the meat of today's episode which is all about mediation.

Monica Mazzei: So my name is Monica Mazzei. I have been practicing family law exclusively for nearly 20 years. I started practicing family law in Beverly Hills. And for the last 15 years my practice has been in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. I handle the financial part of the divorce, but I don't handle any child custody. So I have a pretty unusual practice in that way. And being in the Bay Area as you can imagine, I work with a lot of technology companies, high net worth clients, and really enjoy practicing family law.

Shawn Leamon: And I want to get into mediation in a moment, but is mediation the focus of your practice or have you done other things in the past? I just want to get a feel and set the audience up for a little bit of your legal background and expertise.

Monica Mazzei: So my practice over the last year has been transitioning from representing clients in a traditional way in the divorce, representing one party either in settlement conferences or in litigation. Now transitioning to serving as a mediator. So I work with both parties to help facilitate an agreement. Those parties usually have their own independent attorneys that they consult with. But I'm there as a neutral third party to tell them what the law is, identify the issues, brainstorm ideas, and help them work out an agreement outside the court system.

Shawn Leamon: So let's talk about the mechanics of that. And I think it's very useful to have had the background from the traditional perspective that now you get to work with both sides and come with creative solutions. Why don't you tell us a little bit more of just what is mediation and how does it work? And it's a topic that everyone knows about in concept, but a lot of people don't really know the details of what is mediation like. You said you're the neutral person, but you also mentioned something about people also have their own attorneys. So can you kind of set up the background on the basics of mediation for us?

Monica Mazzei: Sure. So traditional mediation is when two parties meet with the mediator, nowadays it's all by Zoom. In the pre-COVID world it was in-person with just husband and wife and the mediator in the room. And the mediator doesn't represent either person. The mediator's job is to tell you what the law is, identify the issues and give you some ideas about how you could come to a compromise that will work for both people. That's a traditional mediation. Another version of mediation is where the parties show up and they each have an attorney with them. And so it's kind of a group effort, a group mediation. And that you see in cases where there might be more complicated issues or very high net worth estates. Might be more of a group mediation with the attorneys. But I would say the most common and the traditional way is just the parties and the mediator, the three people.

Shawn Leamon: What you see most of the time it sounds like so they show up for a session and you're the neutral person. And then it's the two people talking it out. Can you tell us just what a session is like? You said it's by Zoom, but kind of paint the picture. So are there breakout rooms or is everyone on the same Zoom these days? Just give us the mechanics of that.

Monica Mazzei: Sure. So typically we'll start out with everyone in the same Zoom room and talk about what the issues are to discuss that day, how the day is going to work. And then typically we will be in breakout rooms. So each person will have their own Zoom room and I will shuttle back and forth in between. Really depending on the couple, sometimes we convene throughout the day the three of us again. But a lot of people really like having their own space, their own Zoom rooms feel freer to say what they want to say or ask questions. So I find that I think the most productive way is for people to at least part of the day have some space in their own Zoom rooms. Sometimes a mediation will last from 9:00 AM to five, six, seven, 8:00 PM and we're able to resolve everything in one day. In other cases it might take two or three mediation sessions that maybe don't go quite as long to reach an agreement.

So really depends on what the issues are. Mediation takes two people that are at least willing to come to the table and have a discussion and a compromise. I think mediation has become very, very popular in family law over the last decade. But with COVID and the courts being enclosed I think I'm seeing a flood of new mediation cases. People realizing that the courts might not even be accessible and this might be the most efficient way to get their divorce resolved or their premarital agreement. I don't always just mediate divorces but premarital agreements as well. And I think people are really recognizing the value in mediation. Not only the cost savings but the emotional toll that a long strung out litigated divorce could take. And are just becoming more conscious of how they're handling the unwinding of the relationship in general.

Shawn Leamon: Yeah. Let's talk about some of those last points. We don't need to get into all the details of the cost and what that may look like, but can you compare why it may be less expensive than the traditional route?

Monica Mazzei: Well, in mediation you're paying the mediators hourly rate one typically the mediator is an attorney. If going the non-mediation route, you're each paying separate attorneys. You're litigating which is expensive. It's a very slow process because the courts are so backlogged. They are not very accessible. Even in pre-COVID days, you may have to wait months to get in front of a judge if you have an issue that you need heard. It's just really not an efficient way to handle a divorce. And I think that many, many more people are going to be turning to mediation in the next couple of years.

Shawn Leamon: Well, let's talk about the speed issue because that's a very important one because we all know that divorces can drag on a year or seven sometimes depending upon the situation. Hopefully not that long, but it certainly does happen. If someone is in a situation and I know lots of people who are listening are in the preparation phase and they're trying to figure out a lot of things, but one of them is how do I go about this process? And cost is always a consideration, time to get everything resolved is a consideration. But if someone's just starting the process and they think they can go the mediation route with their spouse, how long does it take assuming they can work through their issues in a few sessions? Kind of start to finish what does that look like for someone and walk us all the way through?

Monica Mazzei: Sure. I mean I think generally if there's not overly complicated financial issues, I think three to four months is a fair timeline in a mediation. You have to choose your mediator and that entails both people agreeing on the mediator to use. So as y