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Tim Elliott

Founder, Onward Mediation

During my nearly 20 years of litigation and transactional practice both in law firms and within legal departments of Fortune 500 companies, I have seen time, money, and people resources consumed by litigation. Trial can be appropriate for some cases, but most cases should—and do—resolve well before trial. Mediation offers a way to resolve conflict with confidentiality, creativity, mutual respect, and a much higher level of control over the process and the outcome versus litigation, and at far less cost.

I believe strongly in the self-determination of parties, since they are each ultimately best suited to know best both how to work through their dispute and what they might be agreeable to. From the outset, I work to earn trust and to create an atmosphere conducive to agreement. I work diligently to facilitate enhanced communication between the parties by exploring and probing issues, clarifying and narrowing details, and reality testing outcomes desired or proposed by the parties. I take a pragmatic, flexible approach designed to meet the needs of the parties. Although I may give feedback on particular discrete issues of a case, I generally avoid giving an evaluation of a party’s claim or defense and do not attempt to project outcomes if a dispute were to proceed to trial.

 

 

Master of Law (LL.M.) in Dispute Resolution from Straus Institute at Pepperdine Law School, J.D. from Loyola Law School, B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles. 

 

Accredited by Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), internationally recognized as the standard of excellence in mediator qualification. 

 

Trained with Mosten Mediation in Family Mediation, led by Woody Mosten, internationally-known author of Collaborative Divorce Handbook and The Complete Guide to Mediation:
The Cutting-Edge Approach to Family Law Practice. 

 

Regular continuing education courses relating to mediation through the San Francisco Bar Association and the American Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section.

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