California's Top Mediators
SEPTEMBER 8, 2003 | ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTIONS
You like potato and I like potahto. Let's call the whole thing off.If it were only that easy. Couples calling it quits are usually far less pragmatic, far more emotional than Mr. Gershwin suggests. Simple things like divvying up the good china or deciding who picks up little Johnny from school on Tuesdays can get quite complicated when matters of the heart are involved. That's where a skilled and sympathetic mediator comes in handy. A good mediator deftly navigates the tears and tirades that often accompany divorce, steering husband and wife (and other family members) toward an arrangement that everyone can live with. But not every Tom, Dick or Harry who calls himself a family law neutral has a knack for settling property division, spousal support or child custody disputes before they boil over into a courtroom. That's why we decided to compile a list of some of the most sought-after family law mediators in the state. We consulted those in the know: the divorce lawyers
Joan Patsy Ostroy
A former divorce litigator, Joan Patsy Ostroy ended her busy litigation practice some years ago to launch a full-time career in mediation. "I feel more productive about my work life, that I'm helping to solve problems rather than exacerbate problems; I prefer the role of peacemaker to warrior," Ostroy says of her role as a mediator.
Ostroy, is a Brentwood-based neutral who offers her services independent of large alternative dispute resolution providers like JAMS. Her success as a family-law mediator comes from 30 years in the specialty and prior time spent in social work before law school. She received her law degree from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles in l977.
Ostroy opened her own family-law shop in Los Angeles in 1980. That same year, she handled her first mediation after her former law-school professor asked her to mediate a custody dispute. She was immediately hooked on the process. Ostroy says she always has preferred resolving a family's troubles without resorting to the courts.
"It allows people to have much greater input into the decisions that affect their lives," she says, "rather than leave it to a third party who knows very little about their lives and who make those decisions for them.""
