Chavi F. Hertz Faith and Family Mediation Clinic
Our Work
This Chavi F. Hertz Faith and Family Mediation Clinic's practice is at the intersection of California family law, interfaith and intercultural work, Jewish law and practice, and alternative dispute resolution and mediation. Clinic faculty and students provide mediation services to families in civil and religious courts.
For divorcing Jewish couples, parties often must receive a religious divorce in addition to a civil divorce. The Clinic collaborates with the Jewish Divorce Assistance Center of Los Angeles (JDAC), a non-profit organization focused on reaching amicable resolutions to civil and Jewish divorces through mediation and other supportive techniques.
Student Experience
The Chavi F. Hertz Faith and Family Mediation Clinic is open to students of all faiths and no faith. The course is interdisciplinary with a parallel focus on California divorce law and the history and evolution of Jewish divorce law as well as divorce in the context of other religions. Jewish religious divorce practices and procedures provide students with an additional framework to deepen their understanding of the mediation process.
Using case law and clinical experience covering all aspects of negotiating and filing California state divorce settlement agreements, students learn to draft proposed settlement agreements and prepare and file divorce papers, including parenting arrangements, child support, asset division, spousal maintenance, and agreement clauses relating to religious practices. Students also learn how to effectuate Jewish divorce decrees and will observe Jewish divorce ceremonies in religious courts. Students observe and participate in real-life formal mediation under the supervision of the professor of the course.
Faculty
Sarah Nissel, Executive Director
Sarah M. Nissel serves as the Director of the Chavi F. Hertz Faith and Family Mediation Clinic and Adjunct Clinical Professor of Law.
Professor Nissel is the Executive Director of the Jewish Divorce Assistance Center
of Los Angeles (JDAC), a nonprofit organization that provides pro-bono services to
individuals and couples navigating dual civil and religious processes of divorce.
Under Professor Nissel's leadership, JDAC mediates all aspects of clients' divorce
proceedings and provides other non-legal wraparound services – including access to
psychologists, social workers and financial planners – with the goal of finding amicable,
timely and cost-efficient resolutions both in civil and Jewish religious courts. Students
in the Faith and Family Mediation Clinic work in the field with JDAC.
Professor Nissel's research and work focuses on mediation, family law and law and religion. In August 2019, Professor Nissel, along with her colleagues at JDAC and in partnership with Community Legal Aid SoCal, was awarded a three-year Cutting Edge Grant from the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles to extend services to Jewish survivors of domestic abuse and their families under the Safe and Healthy Jewish Families Project.
Prior to joining JDAC, Professor Nissel worked in private practice in the areas of white-collar criminal defense and complex civil litigation at Bird, Marella, et al., a Los Angeles-based boutique litigation firm and prior to that, at Morvillo, Abramowitz, et al., in New York City.
In law school, Professor Nissel served as a fellow at the Innocence Project, where she gained experience working on criminal proceedings at the state level and represented clients in various stages of post-conviction litigation. She also worked as a legal intern with federal prosecutors at the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and for the Honorable Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Professor Nissel graduated with honors from Yale University in 2003 where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Comparative Literature. She received her J.D. from New York University School of Law in 2008 where she was a Dean's Scholar. Professor Nissel is admitted to practice in California State, New York State and in the District Court for the Southern District of New York
sarah.nissel@pepperdine.edu
Yona Elishis, Visiting Professor, Pepperdine Law School
Yona Elishis joined Pepperdine Law School as Visiting Professor Clinical Professor of Law in 2018 where she serves as a mediator in the Faith and Family Mediation clinic.
Professor Elishis has been with the Jewish Divorce Assistance Center of Los Angeles (JDAC) as a mediation consultant since 2015. JDAC functions as a non-profit organization that provides pro-bono services to individuals and couples navigating dual civil and religious process of divorce, with the goal of finding amicable, timely and cost efficient resolutions. Students in Pepperdine’s Faith and Family Mediation clinic work in the field with JDAC to complete their requirements.
Professor Elishis obtained her law degree in 2004 from Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto and completed her final year of schooling in New York City at Columbia Law School. Professor Elishis went on to obtain her Masters in Law (LL.M) from NYU Law School with a focus on Mediation and Alternative Dispute Resolution.
Professor Elishis practiced family law at the firm of McCarthy Tetrault in Toronto where she trained with many of Canada's highest profile divorce attorneys and worked diligently to help families resolve their legal disputes effectively and equitably. Prior to this, Professor Elishis practiced corporate law at the firm Paul Weiss in New York City.
In addition to her work at JDAC, Professor Elishis has started several creative venture’s including a successful children's clothing business where she is able to channel her artistic energies. She is also involved in various community projects and boards and most importantly raising her five children.
yona.elishis@pepperdine.edu
The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles is a Founding Community Partner of the Chavi F. Hertz Faith and Family Mediation Clinic.