“I am proud to have served as a mentor to Leyla Balakhane and witness her development. I am pleased that she has chosen family mediation as her occupation; she is wonderful addition to those practicing in that field. I believe she will expertly guide families through their difficulties.
– Dixon Q. Dern, P.C.
Attorney, Mediator, Arbitrator
“I am a family law attorney and I refer cases to Leyla to mediate. She is a very effective mediator and the clients I refer to her always tell me how satisfied they are with her mediation style and the mediation results she achieves. I would say that Leyla is extremely insightful and kind. She helps the clients express the most difficult issues and creatively helps establish options that suits the client needs. What I see is that she truly cares about her clients and goes that extra mile to do anything for them. Her ability to listen and use all the tools she has to help them is very valuable. I highly recommend Leyla as a family law mediator.”
– Linda Kouy-Ghadosh, Esq.
“Leyla has an outstanding abilities as a mediator. She achieves rapport with the parties utilizing empathic listening, then helps them find solutions to their issues. She has demonstrated excellence in helping parties resolve their financial issues but is also sensitive to the emotional health of children. She is tenuous, indefatigable, hard-working and creative when it comes to achieving a settlement between the parties, who are well-served when Leyla works on their case.”
– John K. Mitchell, Esq.
“Leyla is one of the most natural and emotionally intelligent mediators I have come across. She sincerely cares about her clients’ needs and is dedicated to finding them meaningful solutions. She goes beyond the call of duty to help her clients. What sets her apart is her ability to think outside the box to help conflicting parties find common interests and goals. She has the unique ability to humanize each case and settle the most difficult and challenging cases. In conducting her mediations, Leyla considers every member of the family to ensure that each person’s needs are addressed and communicated.
Leyla has the ability to help people overcome their anger in order to focus on resolving the issues at hand through open dialogue. She is fair-minded but firm and direct when needed. Ultimately, she exceeds the necessary traits of a natural mediator.
Leyla is one of the best mediators I’ve worked with. I would not hesitate to recommend her.”
– Ruben Fuentes, Family Law Attorney
“Leyla Balakhane embodies the principles of client-centered mediation. She has a true gift of dealing with the issues at hand while empathizing with her clients needs and feelings. Leyla is a strong advocate for children, and she has the ability to carve out resolutions to serve their best interests. She also incorporates a major component in mediation – emotions. Many couples find it difficult to share their feelings for so many reasons. Leyla encourages clients to express their feelings, which for the most part can make the process easier and is a step towards resolution. She is creative in her techniques, hard working, and a highly effective mediator.”
– Punam Kumar, Esq.
“I would like to express my sincere appreciation, both on my behalf and that of my client for (Leyla’s) superb and highly professional services in resolving an otherwise difficult case. The atmosphere in our case was charged and emotions ran high. (She) commanded the day, and the outcome. I have had substantial experience with mediation in over 43 years of practice, even before it was known as ‘mediation’. I believe (Leyla is) a credit to the Los Angeles Superior Court and applaud (her) services.”
-Barry P. King, attorney
