Attorney Profile - Monica Vantoch, J.D.
Monica Vantoch is a family law attorney, who has specialized and dedicated her practice to family law and divorce mediation since 2005. She was a family law litigator and quickly saw the negative impact on families and children. She no longer litigates simply because she does not believe in it. Since then, she created an efficient divorce mediation method that has helped hundreds of parties reach resolution outside of court.
With this method, she founded and directed a divorce mediation program being implemented throughout California. She has been a Divorce Mediation Trainer for attorneys and an Adjunct Law Professor in mediation. For Monica, mediation has been more than a business, but rather her life’s work.
She has been a pro-bono mediator for various community mediation programs including the teen-parent mediation program and and the victim-offender mediation program through the District Attorney’s Office at the Santa Monica Vantoch is a family law attorney, who has specialized and dedicated her practice to family law and divorce mediation since 2005.
She was a family law litigator and quickly saw the negative impact on families and children. She no longer litigates simply because she does not believe in it. Since then, she created an efficient divorce mediation method that has helped hundreds of parties reach resolution outside of court. With this method, she founded and directed a divorce mediation program being implemented throughout California. She has been a Divorce Mediation Trainer for attorneys and an Adjunct Law Professor in mediation. For Monica, mediation has been more than a business, but rather her life’s work.
She has been a pro-bono mediator for various community mediation programs including the teen-parent mediation program and and the victim-offender mediation program through the District Attorney’s Office at the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. She has served as a pro bono attorney with the Family Law Facilitator in the Santa Cruz County Courthouse. Monica has also worked in various mediation roles internationally, including Latin America and Europe. She speaks Spanish fluently and conversational German.
In her free time, Monica can be found in flashmobs, Bollywood dance, or sitting in silence. Monica, as well as other mediators, have spoken about the link between the two practices, and how meditation can enhance a mediator’s practice.
Education
- Northeastern University School of Law, Juris Doctor (J.D.), 2004
- Smith College, Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology, B.A., 1998
Memberships
- The State Bar of California
- The Santa Cruz County Bar Association
- The Family Law Bar Association of Santa Cruz
- Santa Clara ADR Provider Panel
Continuing Education
- Collaborative Law Training; Collaborative Divorce Vancouver
- Divorce Mediation Training; Northern California Mediation Center
- Divorce Mediation Training; The Center for Mediation in Law
Trainings/Presentations
- Trainer/Director; Family-Law Affordable Mediation Project; Conflict Resolution Center
- Adjunct Professor/Trainer; Divorce Mediation Courses; Monterey College of Law, Mandell Gisnet Center for Conflict Management
- Presenter; Divorce Mediation Program; Statewide Conference on Self-Represented Litigants
- Guest Lecturer; Children and Divorce Seminar; University of California, Santa Cruz
- Presenter; Divorce Workshops; Superior Court of Santa Cruz County in collaboration with the Self-Help Center