People don’t drown by falling into the ocean.  They drown by not getting help quickly enough.  Save yourself a lot of time, stress, and money by beginning mediation immediately.

While mediation isn’t right for every dispute, Joe Castagnola commonly recommends attempting mediation before taking legal action.  This is largely because mediation involves looking into the future… something has occurred; now it's time to think about tomorrow.  Whereas in court proceedings, the entire process involves recreating the past and deciding who is to blame.  Further, nothing bad happens in mediation.  In mediation, the parties have absolute control, they decide the terms upon which their dispute will be resolved, and when an agreement is reached, it is because both parties chose to come to an agreement.

In addition to being licensed as an attorney in California and Wisconsin, Castagnola began working as a real estate agent, mortgage broker, property and casualty/life insurance broker in 2006 and is still licensed in these industries.  His experience in these industries has lead him to specializing in working with parties to develop effective solutions that are appropriate for their unique disputes related to: business, commercial transactions, insurance, landlord/tenant, evictions, personal injury, real estate, and uninsured motorist.

Castagnola has received advanced mediation training and is listed on the panel of mediators published by the California Association of Realtors.  He is a fee arbitrator, an arbitrator panelist for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and is a former judge pro tem for the Superior Court.  He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Appointments are available only on weekends/holidays via Zoom.

As it relates to mediation, he likes to say that, “minds are like parachutes… they work best when open.”

Hourly Rate: $200.00 per hour (first two hours) & $400.00 per hour thereafter