team assets

Eric Piety, MA

Certified Divorce Mediator

After his own difficult divorce, Eric Piety, developed his very successful mediation practice in the South Bay, specializing solely in divorce and family law matters.

Divorce and child custody issues often require high levels of therapeutic skill to find agreement. Utilizing his experience as a therapist, Eric is highly effective in mediating divorce and custody issues. Eric has guided more than 600 clients to resolution and settlement in the last 15 years.

Eric earned his mediation training at Loyola Law School-Center for Conflict Resolution in Los Angeles. He is currently the CEO and Primary Mediator at South Bay Mediation. Eric was trained as a behavior therapist and earned his Master’s in Psychology from Cal State Northridge. He has over 40 years of experience in intervening in disputes and de-escalating conflict. He has worked with over 600 clients to help them reach an agreement for their divorce.

Dawn Strachan, CDFA, CEA

Dawn Strachan is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst (CDFA), Certified Estate Advisor (CEA) and Financial Advisor. As a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst, Dawn is experienced in working with clients helping them identify and understand the financial issues of divorce. She is instrumental in assisting her clients in arriving at a settlement that is beneficial for all by empowering them with the financial information that is often overlooked in the divorce process. What appears to bean equitable settlement today, may not be fair tomorrow. Through software specifically designed to handle the financial aspects of divorce, Ms. Strachan generates sophisticated financial projections addressing the long-term effects of dividing property, integrating into her analysis tax issues, pension plan issues, earnings capabilities, spousal and child support options, liquidity concerns, inflation rates, rates of return on investments, and other financial issues related to separation agreements. The graphic reports generated by Ms. Strachan encourage dialogue between the divorcing parties and facilitates settlement, keeping everyone out of court, which dramatically reduces the cost of divorce.

Karen Horwitz, M.A., M.F.T.

Karen Horwitz is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She has a private practice in which she specializes in working with families going through divorce, co-parenting, and parent alienation. In addition, she has had specific training in child custody mediation and in negotiating parenting plans that are best for the children based on their developmental needs. She is also trained as a Collaborative Coach and Child Specialist for Collaborative Divorce cases.

As part of your South Bay Mediation Team, attorneys may be called upon to:

• Provide legal insights where questions may exist regarding legal standards pertaining to a particular issue being decided.
• Review and clarify details of your Marital Settlement Agreement
• Serve as Legal Advisor to one or the other parties involved during mediation