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Daniel Riviera is a lawyer and mediator, practicing exclusively in the area of family law.
Mr. Riviera's practice involves the resolution of family conflict, including divorce, legal separation, and dissolution of domestic partnership; and the negotiation of the many issues arising in such major life transitions, including the division of assets and the allocation of debt; child custody and support; spousal support; and parenting arrangements. Mr. Rivera also negotiates and drafts premarital and marital (postnuptial) agreements, and the post-judgment modification of marital settlement agreements.
Family law is a complex area, with many different facets. Mr. Riviera enjoys working within the full range of issues, from complex financial cases to cases involving high interpersonal conflict, including domestic violence.
Prior to transitioning to family law, Mr. Riviera was a high-level transactional attorney in Los Angeles and San Francisco in entertainment, intellectual property, and business. He brings that rich background in business enterprises and assets, including employment agreements and compensation of all kinds (relevant to asset valuation and division and support), and vast experience in negotiation, to his practice in family law.
Mr. Riviera came to family law through his work as a mediator, which he developed alongside his transactional practice many years ago. Family law is innovative in its employment of a variety of dispute-resolution processes, including consensual – mediation, interdisciplinary co-mediation, collaborative practice, and "settlement-minded" traditional representation – and non-consensual, i.e., litigation. Mr. Riviera works in all of the consensual processes, and, when consensual efforts fail, represents clients in court.
Mr. Riviera endeavors to provide his clients with legal and mediation services of the highest quality, in a cost-efficient manner, to assist his clients in successfully reordering their lives.
Mr. Riviera has employed his superb analytical, organizational, and communication skills, sensitive and empathetic personality, natural leadership qualities, and strong service ethic to settle more than one thousand disputes. He is known for his incisive, focused style, and his ability to guide to resolution, for a wide range of parties, entrenched conflicts involving complex factual, legal, and emotional elements, and high financial and personal stakes.
Mr. Riviera has always generously provided pro bono services to his communities. He currently serves as a settlement conference panelist in the Family Law Department of Marin County Superior Court, including the Interdisciplinary Settlement Conference in Family Law; and as a member of the mediator panel of the Arts Arbitration and Mediation Services of California Lawyers for the Arts. He is a Past President of Integrative Mediation Bay Area; a member of the board of directors of The Mediation Society; and a member of Collaborative Practice Golden Gate. In 2017, Mr. Riviera received a Pro Bono Award for his work in mediation from the Sonoma County Bar Association. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Georgetown University Law Center.