Cheryll Diane Russell

Cheryll forms opinions about people very quickly and fails to use any data to change her opinion. If you meet her after your ex-partner, she's likely coming in with her mind made up that the one-sided facts are true and will not even listen to your own thoughts. My lawyer and I came in prepared with ...data but she failed to even look at it despite it being offered. She made up her mind. As an aside, she's also just very horrible to talk to. She constantly interrupts people, and is very disrespectful when addressing you. What was also annoying was the time she wasted self-congratulating herself. She would talk about judges she knows, and how she passed the CA bar, etc. These things do not matter to me or my situation but only waste time (I think at least $100 of my money went to me hearing about how great she thinks she is). She also fails to understand the working world. I worked at a high tech company for 10 years and she couldn't believe I quit my job for a better longer term opportunity worth much more than my previous employer. What she fails to understand is that a career at a high-tech company is usually 3 years and 10 can be career suicide. She just couldn't understand this, but then again, she's doesn't seem grounded on the realities of the world which I think is something one would want in someone possibly making decisions that can impact you. Lastly, she failed after 2 1/2 days sessions to even get one thing agreed up between my ex-wife and I. Nothing. Zero movement. Her solution... Let's do another full day. Her comment felt like an IQ test for a 4 year old. I decided to not move forward.

I haven't even used this mediator, yet her assistant has already caused problems in my life. My ex contacted this office to mediate our problem. I had no choice in it - I assumed we were adults and could solve it on our own. My ex was the only one to be able to stop the process. After a while, my... ex and I did solve it. Ms. Russell's assistant e-mailed both of us, asking us if we still needed help. I responded to the assistant (intentionally not including my ex in the e-mail). Apparently (and unknown to me) their policy is to make sure each party is aware of what the other party is saying to their office. Had I known this, I never would have sent the e-mail. It was forwarded to my ex, who then turned around and attacked me. Had Ms. Russell's assistant (or anyone at that office) told me of that policy, I never would have sent it. If you're going to use them, beware.

We did our best to make this settlement as fair to each of us and our children as possible. We had some pre-conceived ideas. Cheryll helped us, through our lawyers, modify those ideas to conform to the law and form a solid structure for our new lives apart but still as parents. We paid this person... to give us her opinions and guidance as well as help us understand what we could hope to achieve (or not achieve) in trial. We spent 10 hours with her and the lawyers. My lawyer and I were in one room and my ex-wife and her lawyer were in another room. Is Cheryll opinionated? Yes. But that's what we expected from a judicial officer or mediator. The people who object to her being biased are missing the point. You should want someone with an opinion. How elese are you going to get a handle on reality?