Mediator and Attorney
Gail Jonas
PO Box 973
Healdsburg  CA 95448

SB #: 74601
Phone: 707-433-6845
Fax: 707-433-8314
E-mail
Directions

If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we would find sorrow and suffering enough to dispel all hostility                        --Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Mediation style

By working as a team, we can get more done in less time and at greatly reduced cost. I initiate the mediation process by sending you a worksheet so you can gather all of the information you need to negotiate a settlement. I encourage you to be creative, because mediation allows for parties to come up with something that works for them rather than being forced to use the “law model” utilized by the court.  I discuss your legal rights  so you will be informed before you reach an agreement. I also explain the “law model” so that all parties know what is likely to happen in court if you don’t reach an out-of-court settlement.

Summary of qualifications

• Attorney at Law in solo private practice since 1977; mediator since 1982
• Substantive areas include family law, estate planning, elder law, real estate, and small business law
• 138 hours mediation training

Professional experience

• Practiced family law since 1977, with emphasis on negotiated settlement
• Mediated hundreds of cases, mostly in the family law area
• Also mediate and arbitrate real estate disputes, elder law problems, contractual disputes and small personal injury cases
• Substantial concurrent estate planning practice

Professional activities

• First Appellate District Court of Appeals Mediator
• Domestic Settlement Conference and Alternate Dispute Resolution Case Management Conference Pro Tem Judge, Sonoma County Superior Court

• 2003 Outstanding Volunteer of the Year for volunteer work as Judge Pro Tem for the Sonoma County Superior Court

Professional associations

• Sonoma County Bar Association (SCBA)
• Member of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Section of the SCBA
• Member of Association for Conflict Resolution
• Panelist for Council On Aging Legal Referral Service since 1999
• State Bar of California Family Law Section
• State Bar of California Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law Section

Mediation references (all have indicated willingness to be contacted)

• Betsi Lewitter, Healdsburg: 707-434-4920
• Cathy Graves,  Healdsburg: 707-332-6373
• Peter Tracy, Santa Rosa: 707-539-6156

General Reference (willing to be contacted)

Scott O'Brien, Attorney and Mediator, Sebastopol: 707-829-0522

Education

• Hastings College of the Law, J.D., 1976
• University of Maryland, B.S., 1962