Demystifying Private Mediation The Do's and Don'ts

Retired Family Court Commissioner, Gretchen W. Taylor, employs a distinctive dispute resolution approach, combining vast professional expertise and legal knowledge in concert with an unparalleled compassion for what parties and lawyers are themselves experiencing.

Commissioner Taylor is trained in, and committed to, the understanding-based model of mediation whereby she assists parties and/or their lawyers to process the emotional, legal, and financial aspects of their dispute. This style of mediation is designed to encourage each side separately ,and together, brainstorm potential solutions to issues, with sensitive and expert guidance provided by the mediator. This allows previously unnoticed answers to reveal themselves, leading to agreement and satisfying lasting outcomes. Since mediation processes are not ‘one size fits all, Commissioner Taylor is comfortable working in a collaborative, consultative, advisory, or directive manner and may use any combination of these modalities within one mediation case.

Prior to her tenure on the Los Angeles Superior Court and the Riverside Superior Court, Hon. Gretchen W. Taylor, a Certified Family Law Specialist since 1991, was a successful Beverly Hills Family Law attorney for 18 years. As a Family Law bench officer, Commissioner Taylor presided over hundreds of matters each week. She resolved many thousands of Family Law disputes during her 12 years on the bench – mostly by settlements she supervised and managed. She is down to earth and believes in maintaining equality, integrity and dignity for each party and their lawyer. She is comfortable with complex balance sheet tracings, tax and valuation issues, support and cash available for support questions, disability concerns, domestic violence, mental health and brain disorders, alcohol and drug addiction, adolescent oppositional behavior and much more.

Commissioner Taylor is also equally skilled at providing Private Judge/Arbitrator services, serving in Special Master/Referee assignments as well as being a Parent Plan Co-Ordinator.

Hon. Jackson Lucky (Ret.) joined JAMS in 2021 following 13 years as a judge with the Riverside County Superior Court. During that time, he presided over thousands of family law and unlimited civil cases. He served as the supervising judge of the family law division for four years, where he developed multiple alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs, one of which settled 90% of its cases year after year. In his civil assignment, he was a member of the court’s ADR Committee, where he helped develop and participated in multiple settlement programs. He also settled hundreds of family and civil cases.

Hon. Susan Lopez-Giss (Ret.) joined ADR Services, Inc. in 2022 after 15 years of distinguished service as a Judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court.

After graduating from Loyola Law School, Judge Lopez-Giss joined the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office, where she served 30 years as a prosecutor and later Assistant City Attorney. She developed a groundbreaking domestic violence prosecution program that was implemented statewide, only one of such programs in the country at the time. She was instrumental in drafting a domestic violence prosecution manual, filing guidelines, and restraining order statutes, and helped train law enforcement and medical personnel across the country. Judge Lopez-Giss developed guidelines for the handling of child abuse and child sexual abuse and served on interagency councils that addressed child abuse and neglect that included training for mandatory reporting. She also reviewed and personally oversaw the prosecution of hundreds of such cases. For her pioneering work developing these programs, Judge Lopez-Giss was presented with a Resolution by the Mayor and the Los Angeles City Council.

Judge Gordon served on the Los Angeles Superior Court for 17 years and spent nine years in leadership positions as the Assistant Supervising and Supervising Judge of the Family Law and Criminal Divisions. He was appointed by the Chief Justice of California as a voting member on the Judicial Council of California, the policy-making body for the Judicial Branch. 
 
During his tenure in the Family Law Division, he handled thousands of cases, many of which were complex, high-profile business, sports and entertainment cases. He presided over trials and settled cases involving the most complex property, business, and child custody issues. 

Commissioner Kendra Thomas serves as a family law commissioner in the Los Angeles
Superior Court, specifically at the Chatsworth Courthouse in Department F58. Her role
involves presiding over various family law matters. She assumed this position on February 20,
2024, as part of a judicial reassignment aimed at enhancing courtroom operations at the
courthouse. Additionally, Commissioner Thomas has a background as a Certified Family Law
Specialist and previously practiced at Thomas Law Offices, a firm she founded in 2007.