NEUTRAL SERVICES OFFERED BY A RETIRED FAMILY COURT JUDGE
AND CERTIFIED FAMILY LAW SPECIALIST
The following list some of the services offered by the Hon. Gretchen W. Taylor, a retired Judge who sat in Family Law Court for twelve years in both Riverside and Los Angeles Counties. She is also a California State Bar Certified Family Law Specialist with over 18 years experience as a divorce and family law attorney in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills prior to her appointment to the bench. Judge Taylor provides these services in the greater Southern California area.
MEDIATION
Hon. Gretchen W. Taylor serves parties and their attorneys and their related litigation teams as a mediator. She is comfortable working with unrepresented parties or large teams as the case dictates. She believes that mediation and co-mediation is grounded in the needs and interests of separating couples, and that with the assistance of their attorneys the parties are always in the best position to decide their own solutions. She recognizes that people in conflict tend to get stuck, and so patiently and adeptly facilitates discussions that lead people beyond impasse to resolution and lasting agreements.
VOLUNTARY SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES AND EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATIONS
Judge Taylor will sit down with parties with or without representation and can assist you in appreciating the law that applies to your case and how it may be viewed by the Court your case is or will be assigned to. This is a directed form of mediation where she will if asked be willing to formulate likely outcomes for you so that you may settle your matter in the most fair manner given those probabilities.This opinion of one seasoned jurist can be helpful to form the background of your own method of seeking what is fair for all and can be use by you separately from mediation or in conjunction with mediation by her. Your resolution, no matter the approach you chose in utilizing Judge Taylor will be memorialized in a document that is Court ready so that you can be assured of finality. The law will soon dictate that Family Law cases be reviewed at early stages of litigation and you can avail yourself of this time and cost saving approach by asking for a confidential opinion as to how to move forward together as a team to solve your issues efficiently and without discord.
JUDGE PRO TEM APPOINTMENTS
Parties and their attorneys can stipulate to appoint Judge Taylor to hear their entire case, trial, or an Order to Show Cause or other motion or any bifurcated issue or proceeding, just as if it were being heard in their local Courthouse. The advantages of selecting this forum are quite compelling and efficient for the parties.
Private Judging allows for an economy of the action, which can be heard in either half days or full days. When you select a private judge, your case is uninterrupted by the busy calendars that plague California trial courts in today's economic climate.
These proceedings are held in our comfortable offices at Desert Family Mediation Services (DFMS). DFMS offers a level of privacy and control by the parties themselves which is different from the expensive formalities required of attorneys and parties in open public court. Decisions can be rendered rapidly. The savings reaped from opting out of family court divorce, with its limited time for quality hearings more than pays for the services of a Private Judge.
To initiate this type of service please contact DFMS and we will provide the appropriate form of pleading for your local County Court which, once signed by the parties and their Counsel, if any, will be filed in your proceedings and thereupon Judge Taylor will be appointed to hear your matter in all the particulars that you specify.
All decisions rendered in cases heard in this manner have the same legal effect as in the courthouse and are filed in your case file in Court by Judge Taylor and her staff, assuring you a complete record of all proceedings.
DISCOVERY REFEREE, CASE MANAGEMENT AND SPECIAL MASTER APPOINTMENTS
Discovery disputes can be a real drain on your financial resources. Often times a trial court does not have time to give these issues attention.
You can request that your discovery disputes or other thorny issues such as lengthy accountings or sensitive depositions be assigned to Judge Taylor as a discovery Referee. This can save quite significant sums and numerous Court appearances, including many attorney work hours, in resolving thorny issues such as the volume of production of documents, disputes over the adequacy of production of documents, and other concerns such as those relating to privilege and privacy.
Additionally, Judge Taylor can be appointed to sit in on Depositions to ensure correct rulings are issued right on the spot as well as to bring an air of formality and civility to otherwise contentious interrogations. Judge Taylor has been appointed to rule on Evidentiary Objections, to determine questions of fact underlying a complex dispute, as well as to determine under case management how to pay the litigation team and to budget family resources wisely to allow for a full and fair inquiry into the case but with constraints on the family financial resources to reach that goal.
PARENT PLAN COORDINATOR
The Parent Plan Coordinator (PPC) role is well developed in other States and Countries where it is available as a tool for Judges to order without the parties consent. Here in California it must be used only with the parents' agreement. It is a blend of mediation and decision making that is very helpful for high conflict custody cases or in situations where one parent suffers from addiction, mental health or other disabling conditions that could affect parenting. Judge Taylor is appointed to serve for a term, usually one year, as your PPC and you decide which decision making powers you will delegate to her, such as after school activities for your child. If after reasonable mediation efforts you are both at an impasse your PPC decides the issue. The PPC decisions are as binding as if they were made by your Judge in Court but can be swiftly implemented and short circuit the delay that is harmful to all especially your child.
Many forms and proposed Court orders are available for you to consider and use for any of these services. Just ask and we will be honored to send them to you in a form for you to rework to fit your case and situation.