About the Mediators in our office
Adv. Vered Baruch, certified Lawyer, a member of the Israeli Bar Association, a specialist in Family laws & family legislation and Family Practice since 2004. She obtained both LL. B and LL.M degrees from Br-Ilan University. In addition, Vered is a certified Mediator and during the past 8 years she engaged in Family & Divorce Mediation.
Verd strongly believes that mediation is the best and most adequate way to end a marriage that run into difficulties and hit obstacles which inflict pain and misery. The Mediation Process is the quickest and most frugal alternative for achieving an honest and well-balanced Divorce Agreement or any other kind of legal family & couple agreements.
Beyond her professional knowledge and experience, Verd projects warmth, empathy, and encouragement. She would never retreat when facing hardships or obstacles. She would
always be determined to try creatively every possible path that leads to mutual understanding & agreement.
Vered's professional knowledge as well as her personal characteristics contribute to the successful desired outcome of the mediation in which she is involved.
Itzik Ben Shahak is an experienced knowledgeable social worker & mediator, who had been certified as specialist in field of family affaires. Itzik obtained a BSW (bachelor) and MSW (master) degrees from McGill University, Montreal Canada.
As a court social worker and supervisor he had drawn up reports and recommendations, submitted in accordance with court's orders, regarding child custody, child-stay arrangements, child needs, parent-child relationships and parental responsibilities. Since 1979 till 2013, Itzik served as the Director of the municipal social Services department in the city of Givaatayim.
In 2003 Itzik had completed the mediation training program. In addition he had completed training in Family Mediation – Separation & Divorce and a in Family Laws at the Law Faculty of Bar-Ilan University. Throughout the past 8 years Itzik has managed some 160 divorce mediation procedures with a considerable high success rate.
Military Service: (reserves) Mental Health Officer with the rank of Captain.
Memberships: the professional Mediating Family Teams in Rishon Lezion and Givaatayim, The Israeli Organization of Mediators
We Believe
In our long professional careers we often witnessed legal battles that were very destructive for everyone involved. We saw first-hand, the emotional, long-term damage, worst of all on the children. We also saw the financial devastation of families due to the huge sums spent on lawyers and court battles.
We knew there had to be a better way of resolving family disputes. Hence, we chose to become a family and divorce mediators. Mediation provides a safe, neutral, respectful environment in which family members can present their needs and grievances and arrive at a resolution that is acceptable to all.
As family and divorce mediators we are dedicated to being patient, empathetic and non-judgmental, and to listening with impartiality. In addition we constantly obtain up to date knowledge of the legal system and court rulings within the field of family law, as well as up-to-date mediation skills, with the result that most of our cases end up with signed and approved divorce agreements.
We are committed to empowering families to arrive at acceptable solutions for marriage dissolution, rather than to have those solutions imposed arbitrarily by the courts.
