Forootan makes resolution her client

After more than 15 years representing both employees and employers, Shirin Forootan has learned to look at disputes from more than one direction.

That perspective now shapes her work as a mediator.

"My experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in litigation, whether single-plaintiff, class-action or representative lawsuits, has shaped my multi-perspective approach," Forootan said. "I learned long ago to let go of tunnel vision."

Forootan, founder of Forootan ADR, has practiced for more than 18 years, focusing on employment matters including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, wage-and-hour disputes and PAGA actions.

Her interest in mediation dates to law school. While a rising second-year student at UCLA School of Law, Forootan externed for a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge known for settlement work. Years later, after opening her own firm, she volunteered for the court's Mediation Volunteer Panel and Resolve Law LA programs.

After years of watching litigation costs and attorney fees climb -- and seeing the emotional toll disputes took on clients -- mediation offered an appealing alternative.

Forootan said the transition from advocate to neutral required a fundamental change in perspective.

"As an advocate, my primary focus is on my client and their case strategy," she said. "Every chess move is an opportunity to advance the case in favor of my client's interests."

A mediator serves a different constituency.

"My client is neither party. Nor the Court," Forootan said. "My client is resolution."

Forootan conducts more than a dozen mediations annually for the court's volunteer panel, handling employment disputes as well as other civil matters. She said the work has strengthened her patience, empathy, listening skills and ability to find creative solutions.

Building trust starts early. Forootan introduces herself and her experience, looks for personal connections with litigants and tries to establish an atmosphere of optimism. Humor can help.

"A light-hearted joke here and there doesn't hurt either to help settle nerves and elicit a smile or laugh," she said.

When parties remain far apart, Forootan tries to identify what is driving the impasse -- posturing, negotiating strategy or genuine confidence in the case -- and keeps working.

She said mediation has also taught her that every dispute has "three sides to the story": the plaintiff's, the defendant's and the perspective of an independent third party. Helping litigants see that third perspective can move them toward compromise.

Forootan views settlement not as both parties losing something, but as both gaining certainty and control over the outcome.

"How can anyone not want to bring peace on Earth?" she said. "That is what motivates me. This work is so meaningful."