Family Law Mock Trial: Using Zoom

Kristine Cirby

Cirby Family Law

Prior to opening her private family law practice, Kirstine Fowler Cirby was the Executive Director at the Family and Children’s Law Center for 20 years.
She currently serve on the Marin County Bar Association Board of Directors as well as on the Board of Trustees for the Marin County Law Library. She served as a member of the Marin Women's Commission for 10 years (2006-2016), and served as Chair for two terms. She co-founded the Marin Teen Girl Conference which she co-chaired for 7 years (2011-2017).

EDUCATION
University of San Francisco School of Law, Juris Doctor - Member, Law Review
University of California, Santa Barbara, BA, Law & Society

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
California State Bar
Marin County Bar Association
Marin County Women Lawyers

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John Brekhus

Brekhus Family Law

John Cuerva

Allingham Cuerva LLP

John Cuerva’s practice focuses on family law, estate planning, and civil litigation involving breaches of contract. As a family law attorney, Mr. Cuerva represents clients in dissolutions, custody and support disputes, and adoptions. As an estate planner, Mr. Cuerva drafts estate plans for middle class families and individuals.

Prior to founding Allingham & Cuerva, Mr. Cuerva worked at Aaron & Wilson, a San Francisco civil litigation firm and clerked for the Office of the Marin County Counsel. At the University of San Francisco School of Law, he participated in advance moot court competitions and served as a law clerk at Devito & Associates, a San Francisco employment law firm, and at the Legal Affairs Office for the United States Coast Guard in Alameda, California.

Mr. Cuerva has a B.A. from Stanford University and a Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Mr. Cuerva taught high school English and social studies for many years in Palo Alto, Napa, and Rome, Italy. He is a fan of Shakespeare, Steinbeck, and grammar.

Mr. Cuerva is currently co-chair of the MCBA Family Law Section.

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Alex Wei

Shareholder, Mah Wei Law LLP

Alexander Wei is an associate attorney and mediator at Mah Wei Law LLP. He graduated from Loyola Marymount University in 2006 and was the Valedictorian of Empire Law School for the class of 2012. Alexander enjoys volunteering his time assisting self-represented litigants at the Marin Superior Court Pro Per Calendar.

When not practicing family law, Alexander enjoys traveling, exercising, cooking and the outdoors.

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Marie Barnes

Barnes Family Law

In the area of Family Law Marie has focused on issues of domestic violence and how it affects either divorce or child custody. She has represented both sides in disputes involving domestic violence, representing both the aggressor and the victim(s). Marie prides herself on working collaboratively with all parties involved in an effort to reduce the litigation without compromising the outcome for her clients.

Marie was born in San Francisco and is fluent in Spanish. She received her Bachelors degree from Sonoma State University in Political Science and Psychology and received her Juris Doctorate from Western Michigan University, Thomas Cooley Law School. In her spare time she volunteers for various organizations that provide legal services to the community. In addition, she serves on the Marin County Board of Directors.

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Hon. Lynn O'Malley Taylor (Ret.)

Neutral panelist, JAMS

Hon. Lynn O’Malley Taylor (Ret.) joins JAMS as a full-time neutral, bringing over 35 years’ experience as a trial court judge. In 1982, Judge Taylor was the first woman elected to the court in Marin County. She has served three times as presiding judge. In addition, Judge Taylor has served in Contra Costa, Sonoma, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, and Orange counties and for the last seven years in the San Francisco Superior Court as part of the Judicial Council’s Assigned Judges Program.

As supervising civil law judge in Marin County, Judge Taylor eliminated the court’s civil backlog by settling old cases and managing the remaining cases on realistic time schedules. She encouraged mediation and required settlement conferences for all cases that did not settle in mediation. She settled hundreds of cases in partnership with mediation trained attorneys and experts. While serving in San Francisco, she settled numerous cases assigned to her at the request of other judges.

Treating all with dignity and kindness, Judge Taylor has well-deserved respect from the lawyers and litigants who have appeared before her. She approaches each matter that comes before her with optimism and persistence.

Judge Taylor continues to share her expertise serving as faculty in judicial/legal education programs, including Stanford University Law School, University of San Francisco Law School and the California Judicial College. Most recently she taught a course on Advanced Settlement Conferences at the Center for Judicial Education and Research.

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