Mediator Sonya D. Goodwin transitioned from employment litigator to full-time neutral, using her experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants to help parties resolve disputes and move forward.
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Mediator Sonya D. Goodwin knew early in her career that she wanted to focus on resolving disputes.
"I was probably a first-year or early second-year attorney, working on the plaintiff side at an employment firm," Goodwin said, describing the opening moments of a mediation in which she was representing a client.
"The mediator was giving his spiel, ... talking about how hopefully this would help my client move on with her life and put an end to the stress," Goodwin recalled. "And something clicked in me. It was like a lightbulb went off, and I thought, 'I want to do that. I want to help people move on with their lives and help businesses move on with running their business. I don't want to be part of the fight.'"
A 2011 UCLA School of Law graduate, Goodwin spent her first few years as an attorney representing plaintiffs in employment disputes. She later shifted her focus, however, to defending employers in part because she believed the move would eventually benefit her as a private neutral.
"Always with being a mediator in the back of my mind, I thought that it would probably be best if I was in both rooms at some point in my career," Goodwin explained.
An aspiring human rights attorney when she enrolled at UCLA, Goodwin said her interest...
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