MS. LAWHON IS A FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY & MEDIATOR IN SAN FRANCISCO
Paula M. Lawhon is a private mediator, providing confidential services in the convenience of her own on-site mediation facilities. She serves as a mediator for the Mediation Services of the Bar Association of San Francisco, which is administered in cooperation with the San Francisco Superior Court and she serves as a Settlement Conference Judge for the San Francisco Unified Family Law Courts. She also serves as an Arbitrator with the California State Bar and the San Francisco Bar Association for attorney-client fee disputes.
Ms. Lawhon worked as a civil and criminal defense Private Investigator from 1990 until 2000 and then as a civil litigation attorney, practicing in several San Francisco defense law firms before starting her own practice in San Francisco. In addition to her years of Family Law experience, Ms. Lawhon has litigation, counseling and mediation experience in Employment, Personal Injury, Product Liability, General Liability, Insurance Coverage, Insurance Defense, Property and Real Estate cases as well as Estate Planning and Probate matters, including Guardianships and Conservatorships.
Ms. Lawhon was admitted to the California bar in December 1999. She received her law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 1999, graduating as a Public Interest Scholar and with a Public Interest Concentration. She received her Bachelor's degree in Criminology, Law and Society from the School of Social Ecology at the University of California, Irvine in 1996, graduating cum laude and phi beta kappa.
FAMILY LAW
Private Divorce and Family Mediation: Ms. Lawhon provides confidential and private mediation services to couples who wish to resolve their disputes in a more collaborative and less hostile forum than court litigation. Ms. Lawhon mediates disputes at many different stages of a dissolution and also serves as a Settlement Conference Judge for the court as a last effort at informal resolution before a case goes to trial. However, in her experience, the earlier a couple engages in mediation, the stronger chance there is of coming to a mutually satisfying and beneficial result. This is often based on the contentious and emotional fight that can take place when children, the family home and other important assets and interests are at stake. Litigation can be lengthy and costly and often serves only to increase the level of negative feelings between a divorcing couple. Ms. Lawhon is typically able to save a couple thousands of dollars in fees by keeping the case out of court and by working collaboratively with the parties and in other cases with their attorneys as well.
Mediation empowers couples to work together collaboratively to control the decisions that are being made about important issues that will affect the family for many years, to obtain faster resolution of all issues and to move the case more quickly toward final resolution. There are many benefits of mediating all types of case; family-related matters are particularly well-suited for mediation because of the personal nature of the issues in dispute. A confidential mediation allows the parties to work to find solutions without public court hearings and trials and allows the parties to retain more of their community estate because they are not paying their respective lawyers to fight each issue in court.
Legal Representation in Family Law Matters: Ms. Lawhon works with husbands, wives, mothers and fathers to provide legal advice to ensure that the best possible result is reached in a divorce or other family law matter. Ms. Lawhon is experienced in providing the following Family Law services: Pre-Nuptial Agreements (also known as Pre-Marital Agreements or Ante-Nuptial Agreements), Post-Marital Agreements(or Postnuptial Agreements), Marital Settlement Agreements and other Property Agreements, Dissolutions of Marriages (Divorce), Parentage Actions, Domestic Partnerships, Legal Separations and Inter-State Custody and Child Support issues.
Ms. Lawhon is a volunteer Family Law attorney with the Bar Association of San Francisco's Volunteer Legal Services Program, which provides pro bono representation to low-income families in the Bay Area for dissolutions of marriage, custody and child and spousal support matters. If you believe you may qualify for pro bono services, please contact the Bar Association of San Francisco at www.sfbar.org.
MEDIATION & ARBITRATION TRAINING
Ms. Lawhon has participated in well over 130 hours of mediation skills training including:
- Community Boards, San Francisco, "The Basics of Mediation"
- University of California, Berkeley, "Commercial Mediation & Conflict Resolution"
- Northern California Mediation Center, "Civil and Family Law Mediation"
- San Francisco Superior Court Family Law Self-Help, "FLASH Mediation"
- San Francisco Bar Association, Mediation Section ongoing seminars
Ms. Lawhon has also received arbitration skills trainings through the San Francisco Bar Association's Mandatory Fee Dispute Arbitration Program
ASSOCIATIONS Association for Conflict Resolution Member
Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California
Member
San Francisco Bar Association
Mediator, Mediation Services of BASF, through SF Superior Court
Fee Arbitrator
Volunteer Legal Services Program, Family Law Volunteer Attorney
Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, Mediation Committee Member
Family Law Section Member
Pro Bono Section, Committee Member
Day in Court & Lawyers in the Schools
State Bar of California Active Member
Fee Arbitrator
Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center- Workers' Rights Clinic
Volunteer Supervising Attorney
Community-Based Mediation Associations
Community Boards, Panel mediator and Board of Directors Office of Citizen Complaints, Panel mediator
AWARDS Outstanding Volunteer in Public Service Award (2005) Bar Association of San Francisco's Volunteer Legal Services Program
Certificate of Appreciation for Public Service Award (2006)
California State Bar Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program
Honored Member (2006-2007)
Cambridge Who's Who Registry of Executives and Professionals
PUBLICATIONS Mediation web log:
www.sfmediation.com,
San Francisco Mediation: A Better Solution, 2006 (author)
Crafting an Enforceable Settlement Agreement Plaintiff Magazine, Alternative Dispute Resolution Issue, 2007 (author)
Disability Management: Implications of the ADA and FMLA Minnesota State Bar Association, 2004 (co-author)
Significant Recent Developments in Employment Law U.S. Law Network, 2004 (co-author)
Death Penalty Defense Manual Supplement
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, 2000 (co-author and co-editor)
Death Penalty Defense Manual
California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, 1998 (co-author)
BAR ADMISSIONS California State Bar
UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATION University of California, Irvine, cum laude, phi beta kappa
LAW SCHOOL University of California, Hastings College of the Law, Public Interest Scholar, Public Interest Concentration