Marcy Sharafian

Collaborative Attorney and Mediator

Welcome to the family law practice of Marcy Sharafian.

A separation or divorce can be an emotionally and financially trying process but as is often the case when facing challenges, there is also the opportunity for growth and learning.

As a mediator and collaborative attorney, I am here to help you through the separation process, to help you understand yourself and your partner better so that you can create meaningful agreements for your future, based not in anger and resentment, but in connection, compassion, and understanding.

I offer a variety of consensual dispute resolution options, such as mediation, collaborative practice, consultation for those in mediation, and cooperative negotiation.

If you are embarking on marriage and interested in a premarital agreement to strengthen your vows, I am here to help you clarify your options and identify your next steps.

I will help you through the separation process, so that you and your partner can create meaningful agreements for your futures.

MEdiation
Collaborative Practice
Family Law Consulting
Premarital Agreements
Cooperative Negotiation

​Services

My goal is to help you find the most appropriate path during this challenging time. I specialize in most matters related to family law:

  • Premarital Agreements
  • Dissolution of Marriage or Domestic Partnership
  • Legal Separation
  • Property and Retirement Division
  • Child Custody and Visitation
  • Child Support and Spousal Support.

Getting started

Initial Phone Call or Zoom Meeting

I am happy to speak with prospective clients about the separation process for 30-minutes, free of charge. This call can be with both spouses/partners or just one. If I speak with one spouse initially, I am also happy to speak with the other spouse at a different time. 

Either way, I avoid discussing the stories behind the separation with either party individually. We are simply trying to figure out if mediation or collaborative negotiation will be a good fit for your family and if you feel comfortable working with me.

Schedule Phone Call or Zoom

First Meeting

If you and your spouse/partner do choose to work with me as your mediator, we would then set up hour-long individual meetings to help each of you prepare for the first mediation. I typically schedule two hours for the first mediation, so that we can go over the process and begin to address the substantive issues as well.

Schedule Mediation or meeting

My Ex and I used Marcy Sharafian to do our MSA for our divorce. I love her! She is calm, smart, steady, very funny and can ride through even the toughest mediation sessions. We had a very difficult contentious divorce and Marcy was able to calm us both down when things got very heated. She is also very fair and will show you both sides of each situation. She will tell you Ca Law and then give you options of how to handle in mediation.

The thing I loved the most about working with her is that she was very accessible I could call or text her late at night or on the weekends and she would always get back to me and be there to help. When you are going through a divorce quite often things come up after hours and Marcy will jump in in a pinch and help out. I could not have gotten through the process without her. She relates equally well to both men and women.

I have sent many of my friends to her and they all love working with her. I can’t say enough good about her and her wisdom.

I have come to know Marcy Sharafian as a supremely effective communicator. I hired her to represent me in my family law case. She is a mediator by profession, but was qualified to be my lawyer. I considered her my translator. She listened to me and understood my needs. She was able to communicate with my ex-husband when I could not. At a time when I doubted myself and felt totally ineffective in my own communicating, she affirmed for me that I had a voice, even if I needed her to help me communicate.

Her attention and care helped me know that I and my needs mattered, at a time when I most needed to know this. Through her listening, and through our relationship, I was able to clarify for myself exactly what I wanted from the case, and for myself personally.

Marcy truly cared about me. She was extremely effective at her work in representing me in my family law case. She understood the complexity of my particular case. She offered me perspective and helped me to understand it. Amidst her professionalism, I only ever saw her humanity, her kindness, and her commitment to treating me with the utmost respect and dignity.