[UPDATE: RESPONSE TO THE OWNER'S REPLY] The owner's response is contradicted by the written record: 1. The Privacy Lie: The owner claims they "never require clients to disclose private medical records." Read Clause 13a below. They literally drafted a binding court order forcing me to disclose my psychiatric treatment and any doctor changes directly to my ex-husband. 2. The "Therapist" Misdirection: Peace Talks' website advertises a "team approach" with a therapist to ensure a "neutral environment" and help "process your emotions." I relied on this to navigate a high-conflict, argumentative situation. Yet, when I made suicidal comments during mediation and disclosed spousal abuse, the therapist offered no support and failed to maintain neutrality. Peace Talks now defends this by claiming the role is "not clinical." It is a deceptive business practice to use the "Therapist" title to sell clients a false sense of emotional safety, only to dodge all professional accountability when those promised protections completely fail. 3. The "Independent Counsel" Excuse: Claiming clients should "seek outside counsel" is just how they excuse charging premium rates while forcing you to sign as "Self-Represented" to escape their own malpractice liability. Do not fall for their polite PR spin. The legal documents they drafted speak for themselves. ORIGINAL REVIEW: I hired Peace Talks Mediation Services believing their 'Team Mediation' approach would be safer than litigation. Instead, it was a systemic failure that stripped me of legal protections. Potential clients should be aware of the specific individuals and dangerous clauses involved in this process: - The 'Medical' Mandate: The drafting team, including Attorney Mediator Barbara Tyson, included a clause in my divorce judgment (Clause 13a) that mandated I take psychiatric medication and waived my HIPAA rights. The text of Clause 13a stated: "Elizabeth stipulates and agrees to continue treatment with a medical professional on a schedule and with medication as recommended by said medical professional. In the event Elizabeth ceases psychiatric treatment, she shall notify [Ex-husband] in writing of same." This violation of my privacy and civil liberties was approved by Ms. Tyson and the firm without proper legal oversight. - The 'Ghostwriting' Clause: Although I paid premium rates for legal drafting, their retainer (Page 5, Section 11) required me to file my judgment as 'Petitioner in Pro Per' (Self-Represented). This shielded the firm from liability for the defective orders they wrote, while leaving me with a judgment that failed to protect my assets. When I filed a complaint, the State Bar confirmed exactly how this liability loophole works. In their dismissal letter regarding Ms. Tyson, they stated: ​"You do not have a contract with Ms. Tyson... You contracted with Peace Talks, a mediation firm, not a law firm." ​This is the trap. You believe you are hiring a team of attorneys to protect you. In reality, the State Bar views them as a generic "firm," and because you sign as "Self-Represented," the individual lawyers have no direct contractual duty to you. You are paying for a lawyer's rates but getting none of a lawyer's accountability. read more

Peace Talks Mediation Services - Screenshot of the mental health orders approved by Barbara Tyson, the Attorney Mediator - Divorce & Family Law Near Me - Playa Del Rey, California

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After doing some research after the ex agreed to divorce mediation instead of pay ridiculous lawyer fees I came across Peace Talks which seemed to have good reviews. After I spoke to Stephanie Maloney she seemed experienced and competent. Boy was I wrong! Her firm and staff are the most incompetent bunch. I figured out the business model, conduct endless amount of mediation at the tune of $650/hour and never settle anything. Stephanie, her divorce attorney and psychologist are only there to keep billing you with mediation meeting that accomplish nothing except setting up more meetings. I wasted over $6,500 before I fired them. The assistant, Julia Shaw disclosed my financial disclosure to my ex before the ex completed hers. How stupid is that? I would have expected that the financial disclosure would be disclosed to each party at the same time. Run for the hills when considering Peace Talks. They run a scam and you are better off spending your money on a good divorce attorney. read more

Thank you so much, We ended our marriage in 3 hours, Then went to lunch together. My ex husband & I are good friends. I'm so grateful. read more

Peace Talks Mediation Services - Divorce & Family Law Near Me - Playa Del Rey, California

I can't say enough positive things about this company, concept, and the people that work here. Peace talks handled my divorce with experienced professionals who were knowledgeable about complex situations. They were able to navigate the emotional rollercoaster and focus on the legal separation of our assets in a fair and calm way. I have recommended them several times to friends and will continue to. The cost was reasonable and comparable to having only a lawyer represent us. I will always recommend mediation services after my experience with Peace Talks. read more

I can not stress enough how helpful the folks at Peace Talks were to me and my ex-wife. While our divorce was thankfully not marred by any excessive acrimony it was still a very tense time for both of us. Diana walked us through the process in a kind and helpful fashion that made it very easy for us to get our "ducks in a row" and we saved a ton of cash that would normally have gone to a third party. If you and your spouse can stand talking to each other than you owe it to yourselves to go the way of a mediated settlement.. You will be happy you did when all is said and done and the dust settles. read more

Ahem... So writing this review is difficult for me because, well it brings public discussion of my divorce up for everyone's eyes. However, I care about my yelp community and candid opinions are the ones that usually give me the most insight. So here goes. There's two part to mediation: 1) The process (paperwork and filing) 2) The negotiation So the process part. 5 stars. Stephanie and Janae did a great job prepping our paperwork and running our scenarios and filing our petitions, etc etc etc. Its the type of stuff that you would expect to go off without a hitch, and I'm grateful that it has been a non-issue. Additionally, its the type of thing that would be miserable to have to figure out on your own or even painful to have to deal with longer than absolutely necessary. I'm truly grateful for having all the guidance while filling the forms out and knowing what to expect. Now for the negotiation. I'm pretty unhappy about how everything went down. My ex and I started this meeting with, "I don't know what would take us 3 hours to get through, this really should just be an hour." It was explained to me that there's a lot of things to go through, and indeed there was. HOWEVER, I feel like Stephanie neglected to ask us what we wanted to accomplish in mediation and just went through their process. Rather than addressing the things that my ex and I needed help with, we went though all of our asses, ALL OF THEM. We even spent almost half an hour trying to figure out the history of a checking account with 3 people trying to figure it out, none of who were the account holder. Basically it went from 1 hour of helping us figure out the couple things we needed help with, it became 8 hours of going through all the things we didn't want help with. In the end, it began to feel like my best interests were not being considered and we were just being pushed to come to a decision. The whole point of us going to Peace Talks was that they had a finance person, a therapist, and a lawyer all in the same room to provide guidance, information, and facilitate communication and negotiation. What it ended up being was too many people talking too much and people participating outside of their expertise. This was so evident that my ex and I ended up having to do the final negotiations outside of the office because we didn't want to have to deal with 3 other people making things more stressful and difficult for us. So I can't say that Peace Talks did a bad job, it just wasn't for me. If you do go, I suggest that you have them do your filing and paperwork for you, but tell them EXACTLY what you need help deciding on, do not just give them free range. We aren't quite done, but we're pretty close to $10k at $675/hour for the 3 person negotiations and the other costs coming from paperwork. I'm grateful to have had their help, but unhappy with the process and how it affected the end result. If you're reading this, I wish you the best of luck. Everything will be just fine. read more

I know divorce can be a difficult event but Peace Talks can make it easier. I met Diana through the amazing Stephanie Maloney and I should have known she would be awesome too. We came into the office for a consultation and left with an agreement. Her compassion, integrity and humor made a difficult process a lot more bearable then expected. Go talk to her you will immediately begin to see the light at the end of this often ugly tunnel. With her great assistant Janae and the financial specialist it was a good experience. read more

Update on my review: Since posting, the following has taken place. I received my unused filing fee back from Peace Talks. Thank you. 4 months after my review, I received an email from Eileen Shaw. (See Below). I wrote back asking for clarification on the last sentence of the email asking me to remove my review. (From Peace Talks: "I'm requesting that you remove the review so that no public response by our firm or further action on our part is required.") Instead of removing my truthful and honest review, I have opted to update my review. Also, please note that I have never interacted with Eileen (as far as I know), and that several items in her email are not factual and are contradictory to the events that occurred. For example; Peace talks was hired to prepare 1 court document, which was prepared for me. It was not filed and the refund due to me was for the filing fees. I am unaware of any other documents prepared on my behalf. I terminated my relationship and opted NOT to hire them due to poor communication and lack of follow through/customer service. Time was definitely spent by myself and Peace Talks. I was prepared to pay them for their time and I did pay when asked for fees. I believe that I would have retained their services if they would have shown that calls and emails could be returned. Received on June 12, 2017 from Peace Talks Good Morning Revi,   I am responsible for reviewing the social media accounts for Peace Talks Mediation Services and Stephanie Maloney.  I am writing to address the anonymous disparaging review you posted on Yelp under the fictitious name of "RZ Beverly Hills".   Because you never signed the mediation contract with our firm, you and Randolf were technically not clients of Stephanie Maloney or Peace Talks Mediation Services.  Therefore, the scope of work we were authorized to do for your case was severely limited.  The mediation contract clearly spells out the costs for services our firm offers and the terms of our working relationship.  There were multiple legal documents drafted for you and Randolf by the firm, as well as meetings for which you were not charged the customary fees.    I'm sorry we were unable to move forward with your case.  I believe the court filing fees you paid to our firm, which you addressed in your review, have been refunded to you. I'm requesting that you remove the review so that no public response by our firm or further action on our part is required.   Sincerely,   Eileen Shaw Peace Talks Mediation Services 8055 W. Manchester Avenue, Suite 201 Playa del Rey, CA 90293 (310) 301-2100 www.peace-talks.com read more

I am in the final stages of a divorce between my wife of 18 years... a marriage that brought us three wonderful children who are now 13, 15 and 17 years old. It came as a surprise to me and I was completely blindsided. Given the horrible circumstances I was facing in my personal crisis, I needed to find expert help and support in order to make it through this very tough time. I reached out to Diana Mercer at Peace Talks and was able to find a way to navigate through all of the mess that I would be facing in the coming months. She recommended that I read a book that she coauthored called, "Making Divorce Work". I strongly recommend this to anyone who is going through or has recently divorced. That helped prepare me to go through the process in a constructive way and it ensured that this change of life event had minimal impact on my three children as well as me. Diana / Peace Talks assisted in the review and redlining of the Marriage Settlement agreement and closed up gaps that existed in the original draft. Looking back on things, it could not have gone any smoother than it did...I attribute that to Diana, her book and to Peace Talks. FE read more

Last September I was really struggling with the thought of losing my child to my ex. . I wasn't going to pay someone who didn't give me some fighting hope of saving me from losing custody. When I finally found Peace Talks they did more than I could ever ask. They helped my ex-wife (sadly) and I work out our differences and make some hard, but needed decisions about our son. I came from a divorced home and never want my child to go through drama that it put me through as a child. I highly recommend them for the sole reason that they turned our anger and bitterness into a resolution that left both of us willing to repair what the divorce has done in our and our child's lives. I get to see him every weekend and I couldn't imagine my life without him! read more

Thank you Peace Talks for assisting in finding a clear pathway to the last entanglement of post-divorce support puzzle that I was experiencing. The whole mediation process was painful and expensive, but I am glad its behind me now and forever it will remain further behind ! Kudos to Diane and all the staff. read more

Thank God for Peace Talks. My divorce was extremely complicated and confusing and I never thought I could get through it without endless court dates and astronomical attorney's fees. Peace Talks was able to sort through the issues and keep me focused on the big picture. Their caring and practical approach saved me from the divorce burnout and hostility that friends have gone through. I am sure that my children benefitted as well; with Peace Talks' guidance my ex and I hammered out a reasonable co-parenting agreement without resorting to an angry tug-of-war that would certainly have caused damaging psychological fallout for the kids. I have gotten through my divorce whole, something I surely wouldn't be able to say had we gone the more adversarial Court route. I wholeheartedly recommend Peace Talks for anyone facing the break-up of a marriage or partnership. read more

I didn't know the first thing about mediation when my spouse told me about Peace Talks. The mediators there were really great. In fact, the whole staff was great. I liked that they offered a free first appointment so I could meet them before committing to the process. They helped us get organized for our first actual mediation appointment, which went pretty smoothly given the fact that we were splitting up and pretty upset. They patiently explained all of the confusing court paperwork and were really up front about how much it would cost and how we could save money. You don't see many lawyers doing that! I liked that they gave us 2 mediators in each session--a lawyer for the legal stuff and a therapist for the emotional divorce stuff. They worked together really well to help us through all of the stumbling blocks. I was concerned that since I didn't have a lawyer that I'd get taken advantage of, but they answered all of our questions and even provided legal documentation and backup. Some of our discussions got pretty heavy, but I'm glad we sorted it out with the help of someone trained to help us so we didn't have to keep fighting about the same stuff over and over again. We didn't have to go to court and all our paperwork was processed without our having to do much of anything except reach an agreement and sign. Much less stressful than going to court or fighting with lawyers. read more

Stephanie Maloney and the staff at Peace Talks were able to come in at the 11th hour and take an extremely complicated and convoluted (botched) divorce agreement and put it back on track! We had gone to another mediator a year before we found Peace Talks and the experience there was horrible (they didn't know the law; were terrible at communicating; made no attempt at impartiality and, the agreement they ultimately drafted was riddled with both factual and mathematical errors). The folks at Peace Talks were the complete opposite: Stephanie talked us through the law and explained all the necessary changes and requirements, when things began to get emotionally tense, she had an almost magical ability to reset and redirect the conversation. Stephanie was obviously interested in maintaining transparency and fairness throughout our discussions--which went a long way toward restoring communication between my ex and I. Stephanie is a wonder! I cannot offer a more emphatic endorsement for Stephanie and the folks at Peace Talks; they are brilliant, compassionate, extremely efficient and very reasonable in terms of their fees. read more

your comment about my review mentions trauma over and over. let me be clear, the vast majority of the trauma in my divorce was caused by Peace Talks, not solved by Peace Talks. You did nothing to help, you only exacerbated a difficult situation. For me at least, you did a terrible, incompetent job. read more

Called them for a very unique situation regarding son who is marrying someone from South America, how and if it his pension is impacted. Received definitive and immediate answers made clear, simple and easy to understand. Highly recommend.... read more

Thank God for Peace Talks. My divorce was extremely complicated and confusing; I never thought I could get through it without endless court dates and astronomical attorney's fees. Peace Talks was able to sort through the issues and keep me focused on the big picture. Their caring and practical approach saved me from the divorce court burnout and hostility that friends have gone through. I am sure that my children benefitted as well; with Peace Talks' guidance my ex and I hammered out a reasonable parenting plan without resorting to an angry tug-of-war that would certainly have caused damaging psychological fallout for the kids. I have gotten through my divorce whole, something I surely wouldn't be able to say had we gone the more adversarial Court route. I wholeheartedly recommend Peace Talks for anyone facing the break-up of a marriage or partnership! read more

I thought that Peace Talks would live up to their name but I was wrong. They have a mediator/financial advisor, social worker, and attorney present of which you pay for but they do absolutely nothing. The social worker was the most helpful of them all. They supposedly gave us a discounted rate, we ended up spending thousands of dollars only to leave them because the only thing we got out of it was a date of separation. They are not neutral as mediators are supposed to be. They actually created more disharmony than peace between my ex husband and I. They dragged out our meetings , covering the "hot topic" last so we would have to return again........our money ran out so we had to leave not even finalizing anything. I would thoroughly research other options, and do not just go by their name and the illusion they present for you. If you chose dare go with them, hold them accountable......I wish I had, instead I trusted them, and they made alot of $ . (mine) read more

I recently got divorced using peace talks mediation. And I must say that I was very disappointed with the outcome. the reason I am still giving them 3 stars is because the people are professional and cordial and knowledgeable. The whole Family lawyer-therapist combo delivers less than one would hope and feels somewhat gimmicky. The therapist isn't there to offer therapeutic advice of any kind but really just to offer an ear in a private room when either party loses it. I don't know if it's worth the premium one pays for the privilege. That said, my primary beef is that I don't feel as though true neutrality was observed when I look at my deal. Yes I signed, yes I had a chance to review the agreement, yes no one forced the agreement on me, but the dollar numbers that were put down were unconscionable given my income and particular situation (on paper I owed next to nothing to my wife, just child support) Those numbers should have been red flags to the mediator who should have never allowed them to be considered -- without bringing the problem to my attention. read more

I can't thank Diana Mercer and her staff enough for helping me and my ex-husband through the scary process of divorce in a way that was warm, productive, efficient, and kind-spirited. Peace Talks is aptly named. What we feared was going to be an endless and painful struggle was, thanks to Diana, over quickly and smoothly. She provided professional, seasoned advice; she really knows the law. Diana also has the ability to work things out so that both parties feel heard and their needs recognized. The agreement Diana helped us create allowed our divorce to go forward swiftly and without fighting, which is what we most wanted. She's got great experience and I really don't know how we would have gotten through the bewildering steps and paperwork without her. Plus, we were able to kept the costs way down compared to having sparring attorneys, which was crucial to us. Diana does not waste time. She facilitates results, and does so with great compassion for the difficulty of what each person in the room is facing. It was an awful time in my life and my ex-husband's, and we were under a lot of stress. However, the first time I spoke to Diana I knew that we had found the help we needed. She is now my go-to referral for any friend who needs divorce help. Peace Talks is a tremendous resource. read more

Peace Talks was the right choice for me and my ex-wife when we decided to dissolve our marriage. Diane and her team were very effective in helping us come to terms with divorce and develop a solid custody plan for our child. If you and your spouse are willing to communicate and compromise in order to end your marriage amicably, then mediation is definitely the way you should go. It is significantly less expensive than going the traditional route with opposing attornies who are usually out to get as many billable hours as they can. For us, Diane (who is of course an attorney) worked with an on-site therapist to help us figure our our divorce plan. It wasn't always pleasant, but she did a great job of keeping us on track. The atmosphere in the office is very professional yet compassionate as well. She also provided us with some excellent reference material to help us both adjust to ending our marriage, yet still remain partners-in-parenting for our child. I highly recommend this firm. read more