Gillian A. Brady

Attorney Mediator & Founder, Better Solutions Mediation, Owner, Finding Common Ground Mediation & Law Services®

Gillian Brady is an Attorney Mediator with over 600 hours of mediation training. She has been a licensed Attorney for 25 years. She founded Better Solutions Mediation in 2004 to give people an alternative to the high cost and stress of going to court. In 2016 she acquired Finding Common Ground Mediation & Law Services®.

Gillian saw how families going through a divorce could be devastated by the court system, which makes parents adversaries and puts children in the middle. She became a mediator to help parents navigate the divorce process peacefully and efficiently. She helps people focus on the future and find a path forward. She has helped hundreds of clients to find “win-win” agreements that will last.

Gillian has successfully mediated hundreds of cases and is an advanced mediator able to handle complex and high conflict cases.

Gillian Brady is Certified Advanced Practitioner by the Academy of Professional Family Mediators

Melinda Levy

Attorney Mediator, Finding Common Ground Mediation & Law Services®

Melinda brings a wealth of professional and personal experience to her role as an Attorney Mediator with Finding Common Ground Mediation & Law Services®.

After litigating with the Weintraub Tobin Law Firm, Melinda spent the next 15 years as in-house counsel for The Niello Company, often mediating employment matters.

Melinda decided to join Finding Common Ground because she experienced the superiority of our structured mediation process when she mediated her own divorce. She knows first-hand what it feels like to stand in our clients’ shoes. She believes in the Finding Common Ground mediation process so much that she refocused her entire career to mediate divorces and family law matters. 

Co-parenting matters are of particular interest to Melinda because she has two boys and is a co-parent.  In support of her interests, Melinda completed Co-Parenting Specialist training with Christina McGhee, MSW and AFCC’s Fundamentals of Parenting Coordination Training. In addition to our 2-year intensive Finding Common Ground training, Melinda has also completed additional mediation training with Stephen Rosenberg, Clare Fowler, Woody Mosten and Susan Guthrie.

Melinda can often work with our clients who need to schedule time in the evenings and on weekends.

Melinda is a member of the Academy of Professional Family Mediators and participates on its training verification committee. She holds professional certifications in Human Resources Management (SHRM and HRCI) and Corporate Compliance and Ethics.

An attorney mediator mediates with an understanding of the law and can provide the parties with information on how the current status of the law applies to their situation. The mediator, or neutral expert, helps the parties fashion their own agreement. This agreement may follow the law or be a creative alternative which meets the parties underlying interests.

Benefits of Mediation

• The attorney mediator is neutral and does not represent or advocate for the interests of either party.
• The mediator makes sure all of the issues are addressed, especially the needs of the children.
• The mediator also ensures that both Parties are mediating in good faith and that there is a balanced exchange between the Parties.
• No determination of fault as parties work towards a mutually agreeable solution.
• Relationships are preserved.
• Mediated agreements are legally enforceable in a court of law, just as are agreements reached through litigation.

Mediation Training and Experience

All of our Attorney Mediators have extensive training and experience. Although, in California, there is currently no licensing or regulation of mediators, it is important you hire a mediator with experience in the field, and one who has knowledge of the topic at hand. Make sure that your mediator has enough training and experience to mediate your particular case properly and professionally.