Program Director

Thomas W. Cain 
Mr. Cain is an attorney who has practiced law since 1980 in the areas of civil litigation, business, real estate, estate litigation and probate. As an experienced mediator and trainer, he has taught scores of professionals to mediate under the requirements of the California Dispute Resolution Practices Act. He has served as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University School of Law and was a visiting scholar at Okayama National University, Japan for five years where he studied mediation, conciliation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution. Since 1991, he has been an adjunct professor at John F. Kennedy University where he currently teaches mediation skills.
CONTACT: tcain@jps.net, (925) 937-3008

Board of Directors

 Susan L. Aglietti
Ms. Aglietti established her law practice in 2002 when she founded the Law Office of Susan L. Aglietti in Orinda, California. She concentrates her law practice in the areas of probate conservatorships, guardianships and consumer advocacy. Though not a mediator herself, Ms. Aglietti is fully committed to the benefits of the mediation process, and she has participated in numerous mediations as an advocate. Prior to receiving her law degree from John F. Kennedy University, she completed her undergraduate studies in psychology at the University of Rochester. She also holds a masters degree in French from San Francisco State University and maintains her proficiency in the French language.
CONTACT:  jd2001@earthlink.net, (925) 253-9359
Kirsten Erath Barranti
Ms. Barranti is an attorney and principal of The Barranti Law Group. She is an experienced mediator who has developed programs promoting early conflict resolution in the workplace. Ms. Barranti’s law practice emphasizes business, labor and employment law. She is active in the community and has served as Past President of the Women’s Section of the Contra Costa County Bar Association and on the Board of Directors of both Tri-Valley Estate Planning and Hope Hospice.
CONTACT: kirsten@keblawgroup.com, (925) 474-0040
Anthony Blalock
Mr. Blalock is an attorney and principal with the law firm of Blalock & Associates in Walnut Creek, California. He was formerly a senior attorney with the San Francisco office of Cooley Manion Jones Hake Kurowski, LLP, and prior to that, he was an associate in the litigation and employment groups at Burnham Brown in Oakland, California. Mr. Blalock also served as the Assistant General Counsel & Director of Human Resources at United States Communications Corporation in Petaluma, California. He graduated from Michigan State University where he majored in criminal justice, and in 1995, he received his law degree from Golden Gate University in San Francisco, California.
CONTACT:  ablalock@blalockandassociates.com, (925) 465-5188
Deborah Jay Levy
Ms. Levy is an experienced mediator and trainer with an extensive background in elder care issues, including aging, health and long term care. She received her law degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Law in Pleasant Hill, California in 2007 and earned a masters degree in social welfare from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1993. In addition, she received a Masters in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in 1989. Ms. Levy also founded Coach Toward Success, a transitions and life management coaching practice which focuses on elder issues.
CONTACT: debbylevy@hotmail.com, (925) 899-5466
WEBSITE: www.coachtowardsuccess.com
Cynthia L. Remmers
Ms. Remmers is an attorney, experienced mediator and trainer who received her law degree from Boalt Hall in 1980. She began her legal career as an associate with Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe in San Francisco in 1981 and became a partner at Orrick in 1987. In 2000, she joined Intel Corporation where she served as, among other things, the Greater Asia Region HR Legal Manager. In 2008, Ms. Remmers founded Remmers Global where she has a mediation practice and serves as an internal investigator in workplace, ethics and compliance matters.
CONTACT:  cynthia@RemmersGlobal.com, (510) 379-5298
Kenneth P. Strongman
Mr. Strongman is an attorney, mediator and mediation trainer providing mediation services for business, construction, real estate, insurance technology/IP, employment, environmental, energy, trusts & estates and other disputes. He has conducted over 500 mediations. He has served as an adjunct professor at the John F. Kennedy School of Law in Pleasant Hill, California where he has taught courses in legal ethics and professional responsibility. For the Congress of Neutrals, he currently supervises both unlawful detainer and civil harassment mediations, and he is a mediation trainer in the Mediation Mentoring Program (MMP).
CONTACT: kpst@kpstrongman.com, (925) 945-7244
Howard Thomas
Mr. Thomas is an attorney and mediator who received his law degree from John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, California. His practice emphasizes mediation, estate planning, finance, technology, real estate and construction law. Mr. Thomas is a graduate of University of California, Santa Barbara where he received his degree in Mechanical Engineering, and in addition, he has a Masters in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach.
CONTACT: hmthomas@msn.com, (925) 274-0432

Panelists

Janet C. Absher
Ms. Absher is an attorney and mediator who received her law degree from the University of Santa Clara in 1985. She was a litigation associate for nine years with Crosby, Heafey, Roach and May in Oakland, California where she practiced in the areas of environmental law, medical malpractice and insurance defense. She also served as in-house counsel for a large department store chain. She is currently a mediation supervisor and the Executive Director for The Congress of Neutrals.
CONTACT:  jsurpoint@aol.com, (925) 330-0714
Donna Bratton-Kearns
Ms Bratton-Kearns is an experienced mediator and trainer who is proficient in all types of dispute resolution. Her previous professional activities focused on risk management and conflict resolution in the health care arena. She received her undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 1976, a Masters degree in Public Health from UCLA in 1980 and her law degree from John F. Kennedy School of Law in 1995. She is proficient in Spanish and provides mediation, volunteer mediation supervision, mentor training and orientation for a number of mediator-trainees in The Congress of Neutrals’ Mediation Mentoring Program (MMP).
CONTACT:  dlb-k@comcast.net, (925) 890-9425
Dudley E. Braun
Mr. Braun is an experienced mediator and mediation mentor in The Congress of Neutrals’ Mediation Mentoring Program (MMP). He received his undergraduate degree from Stanford University and has a Masters in Business Administration from Columbia University. 
  Terence M. Bresnahan
Mr. Bresnahan is an attorney, mediator and arbitrator who brings a wealth of alternative dispute resolution experience to The Congress of Neutrals. Having practiced law for more than 20 years, first as a partner with Marcus, Lohstroh & Bresnahan and later as a sole practitioner, he is experienced in all aspects of civil litigation as well as family and criminal law matters. He currently mediates civil harassment, unlawful detainer and small claims cases and is a supervisor and mentor with The Congress of Neutrals’ Mediation Mentoring Program (MMP).
Ben Davis
 Mr. Davis was formerly with AC Transit where he had a career which spanned a total of 35 years. During his 33-year tenure as a manager with AC Transit, he served as Superintendent and Chief Superintendent and received his initial training in conflict management and labor relations. Since his retirement, Mr. Davis has been instrumental in the success of The Congress of Neutrals' telephone mediation program for small claims cases, and in 2009, he was named by The Congress as its "Mediator of the Year." He has been very active in his church where he served as Chairperson of the Council on Ministries and played a major role on the Administrative Board, all of which has enriched his experience in handling conflict. Mr. Davis has also served on the Drug and Alcohol Board of West Contra Costa County.
CONTACT:  bdantiochsfs@aol.com, (925) 777-0797
Carol Kingsley
Carol M. Kingsley is an attorney mediator with over 25 years of experience. Her firm, Kingsley Mediation Services (www.kingsleymediations.com), specializes in resolving contract and business disputes, as well as real estate/construction and estate/trust conflicts. Carol brings to mediation her substantial experience as a business and tax lawyer, negotiating business transactions, facilitating the formation of business entities, mergers, acquisitions, and dissolutions, estate planning and creating trusts, handling real estate and construction matters, and advising on general corporate, partnership, securities, consumer, intellectual property and employment law. Ms. Kingsley earned a JD with MBA in Taxation and a National Association of Securities Dealers License. She has had an AV rating, the highest rating for lawyers, from Martindale Hubbell for more than 25 years. Carol has mediated hundreds of cases and has approximately 250 hours of mediation training. In addition to her private practice as an independent mediator, Ms. Kingsley mediates cases for nonprofit and government entities including, Congress of Neutrals where she supervises mediators, Contra Costa Courts, Bar Association of San Francisco, and Marin Mediation Services. Ms. Kingsley was recently appointed by Mayor Newsom to the SF Police Commission.
CONTACT:  ckingsley@kingsleymediations.com, (415) 681-4329
WEBSITE: www.kingsleymediations.com
Ronald A. Nelson
Mr. Nelson is a professional mediator and owner of Discovery Mediation. He earned his JD degree from the University of Florida in 1975 and received an LLM from the University of Florida in 1976. He has held legal, management and executive positions for the federal government and the University of California and currently serves as the Executive Director for Contracts and Administration at the University of California Office of the President. He mediates in a variety of areas, including business, employment, community, civil harassment and small claims disputes.
CONTACT: nel727@comcast.net, (925) 234-2978
Gail Seidman
Ms. Seidman is an experienced mediator, mediation supervisor and mentor with The Congress of Neutrals’ Mediation Mentoring Program (MMP). She is a licensed engineer with expertise in construction, engineering and architecture. Proficient in Spanish, Ms. Seidman is particularly adept in the area of family and neighbor disputes.
CONTACT:  gailseidman@sbcglobal.net, (925) 330-4727 
Robert Simmons
Mr. Simmons is a former attorney for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and now serves as a mediator with The Congress of Neutrals, where he specializes in mediating civil harassment cases. He hikes all over the world and enjoys volunteering for the Walnut Creek Open Space Foundation. Bob is a Walnut Creek City Council member, having been elected to office in 2008. Bob also enjoys gardening and became a Master Gardener in 2010.
CONTACT:  robertsimmons@astound.net, (925) 932-8591
Benjamin Slomoff
Mr. Slomoff has a wealth of experience in mediation and alternative dispute resolution, having mediated more than 400 cases in his career. He has been a mediator in Contra Costa County since 2000. Mr. Slomoff received a Masters degree from the University of Massachusetts, McCormick Institute of Public Policy in 1997 and has served as a mediator and arbitrator for FINRA (NY Stock Exchange) since 1997.
CONTACT:  slomoff@sbcglobal.net, (925) 932-6222
  Steve Sonaty
 Mr. Sonaty is an experienced mediator, attorney and the founder of The Sonaty Law Firm in Walnut Creek, California. He earned his law degree from the University of California at Los Angeles where he also received his undergraduate degree in Communication Studies and Political Science. He has mediated dozens of cases in a variety of subject areas and has served as a mediator with The Congress of Neutrals since 2007. Mr Sonaty has volunteered on multiple occasions with The Congress’ Lawyers in the Library program to help self-represented litigants in Contra Costa County find the resources they need.
CONTACT:  thesonatylawfirm@sbcglobal.net, (925) 937-7777

Photos courtesy of Esther Matheus