Faith and Family Mediation Clinic Update

The Faith and Family Mediation Clinic is meeting remotely this semester with seminars meeting via Zoom and almost all client meetings being conducted via Zoom. Under the direction of 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, students are practicing at the intersection of California family law,  Jewish religious law and practice, and alternative dispute resolution.

Students are currently involved in 6 active divorce mediations and are working hands-on, directly with clients. Our clinic has seen a huge uptick in divorces with many of the cases having new layers of issues stemming from the pandemic. Our students this semester have been extremely diligent and have gracefully, empathically and effectively mediated many issues on their own with oversight from the Professors. One example of an issue that we are working on in a case is whether it is in the best interests of an only child to physically go to preschool or to stay home with a parent. The law is uncertain in this area and students are seeing law in motion as they mediate during the COVID pandemic. The two students assigned to the case have successfully explained to the parents that they cannot "split that baby" and as such have been working creatively to define and create protocols that are sufficient to enable the child to go to school safely and also to create opportunities for him when he is not in school, to protect his mental and psychological well-being.

For more information, visit: https://law.pepperdine.edu/experiential-learning/clinical-education/clinics/jewish-divorce-mediation/