Forrest "Woody" Steven Mosten (born April 18, 1947 in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

) is an American

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solici ...

and author. Mosten has been practicing law in Los Angeles since 1972, additionally serves clients in San Diego and Orange County, and accepts mediation engagement throughout the world online. A former litigator, he is a full-time peacemaker and never takes a case to court, often working in an interdisciplinary team with a triage approach. Mosten has spoken at conferences and trains lawyers and litigators, and he is an adjunct professor at the

UCLA School of Law The UCLA School of Law is one of 12 professional schools at the University of California, Los Angeles. UCLA Law has been consistently ranked by '' U.S. News & World Report'' as one of the top 20 law schools in the United States since the inception ...

, where he has been teaching since 2002.

Early life and education

Mosten grew up in Los Angeles, where he attended Alexander Hamilton High School. Mosten attended the

University of California, Riverside The University of California, Riverside (UCR or UC Riverside) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Riverside, California. It is one of the ten campuses of the University of California system. Th ...

, graduating in 1969. He graduated with a

Juris Doctor degree The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1972 from the UCLA School of Law, University of California. He has continually trained and studied with leading scholars as both a mediator and a lawyer.

Career

Mosten began his legal career in 1972 as a founding partner of Jacoby and Meyers. He left that practice in 1976 to serve as assistant professor of law and director of clinical education at the

Mercer University School of Law Mercer University School of Law (historically Walter F. George School of Law) is the professional law school of Mercer University. Founded in 1873, it is one of the oldest law schools in the United States; the first law school accredited by the ...

in Macon, Georgia, and in 1978 served as assistant regional director for consumer protection at the Federal Trade Commission. He opened a private law and mediation practice in 1979 with a storefront office near the Los Angeles International Airport. Mosten has since focused exclusively on peace-making. Instead of going to court, he relies on mediation strategies,

unbundled legal services Unbundled legal services, also known as limited scope representation and discrete task representation, is a method of legal representation in which an attorney and client agree to limit the scope of the attorney’s involvement in a lawsuit or oth ...

, principles of

collaborative law Collaborative law, also known as collaborative practice, divorce or family law, is a legal process enabling couples who have decided to separate or end their marriage to work with their collaborative professionals including collaboratively train ...

, and preventive legal wellness focused on client-centered decision making in order to resolve disputes. Mosten is the creator of

Unbundled legal services Unbundled legal services, also known as limited scope representation and discrete task representation, is a method of legal representation in which an attorney and client agree to limit the scope of the attorney’s involvement in a lawsuit or oth ...

, which he developed in order to expand legal access to the underserved who otherwise represent themselves. Mosten has been an innovator in the creation of the client library as an educational resource for informed consent, of Confidential Mini-Evaluation, and in training family law professionals to be financially self-sufficient in their peacemaking practices. Mosten is a founding member of the Southern California Mediation Association and was named by the SCMA as Peacemaker of the Year (1999) and is the recipient of the 2017 SCMA President’s Award. In 2020, the SCMA established the Forrest S. Mosten Star Award for Excellence and Innovation in Mediation and awarded him the Inaugural Award. Mosten has taught at the

(2002–present), where he is an adjunct professor of law teaching mediation, family law practice, a non-litigation approach, lawyer as peacemaker, lawyer-client relationship. He has presented at mediation and law conferences throughout the world. In 2020, Mosten was appointed chair of the Mediate.com Online Mediation Training Taskforce.

Personal life

Mosten lives with his wife, Jody, a retired clinical psychologist, near the University of California San Diego.

Books

* ''Building A Successful Collaborative Family Law Practice'' (with Adam B. Cordover) (2018) published by

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...

, *''Unbundled Legal Services: A Family Lawyer's Guide'' (with Elizabeth Potter Scully) (2017) published by American Bar Association, *''The Complete Guide to Mediation'' (with Elizabeth Potter Scully) (2nd Edition, 2015) published by

. *''Collaborative Divorce Handbook'' (2009) published by

Jossey-Bass John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in ...

. *''The Complete Guide to Mediation: The Cutting-Edge Approach to Family Law Practice''. ABA Book Publishing (2003). *''Mediation Career Guide'' (2001) published by

. *''Unbundling Legal Services'' (2000) published by

Awards and honors

* 2020 Southern California Mediation Association, Inaugural Recipient of SCMA Star Award for Excellence and Innovation of Family Mediation * 2019 Academy of Professional Family Mediators, Lifetime Career Achievement Award * 2017 Southern California Mediation Association, President's Award * 2015 New York Council of Divorce Mediators, Lifetime Career Achievement Award * 2015 Allegheny Bar Association, Recipient of Judge Lawrence Kaplan Award for Mediation * 2004 American Bar Association Standing Committee for Delivery of Legal Services Lifetime Legal Access Award. * 2004

Lawyer Section on Dispute Resolution Problem Solver Award. * 1997 American Bar Association, Meritorious Recognition, Legal Access Award * 1996 Los Angeles County Bar Association Conflict Prevention Award * 1996 Beverly Hills Bar Special Service Award for Contributions in Mediation * 1999 Peacemaker of the Year, Southern California Mediation Association * In 1984, Mosten was named Chair of the ABA Client Counseling Competition. Since 1989, he has been Executive Chair of the Brown Mosten International Client Consultation Competition, a law school competition involving 22 countries that now bears his name along with his mentor,

Louis M. Brown Louis M. Brown ( – ) was an American attorney and pioneer of the field of preventive law, which focuses on avoiding litigation. Brown was the author of the 1950 textbook ''Preventive Law'' and the 1984 book ''Lawyering Through Life: The Ori ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mosten, Forrest S. California lawyers University of California, Riverside alumni 1947 births Living people UCLA School of Law alumni Mercer University faculty USC Gould School of Law faculty University of San Diego faculty Whittier College faculty Pepperdine University faculty Hamline University faculty University of Idaho faculty UCLA School of Law faculty