14years
mediating

Hello.
I'm Lia.

Founder · Lead Mediator

I founded Your Business in 2016 after eleven years as a family-law attorney. I started litigating because I thought a good attorney was someone who fought hard for their client; I left litigation because I came to understand that the system itself was producing most of the harm I was being paid to manage.

Mediation, done well, is not a softer kind of advocacy. It is a different skill entirely — the skill of holding a difficult room steady while two people who love each other less than they used to find a way to part with their dignity intact and their kids unharmed.

That is the work I do now. I am calm in difficult rooms. I do not take sides. And I will tell you honestly when mediation is not the right path for you.

— Lia Korhonen

Background

Training, credentials, & practice.

— Education & Licensure —

Juris Doctor, family law concentration

UC Berkeley · 2005

Mediator Training, 60-hour basic

Northwest Mediation · 2015

Advanced Family Mediation

Eddy & Tesler · 2017

Collaborative Practice Training

IACP · 2018

State Bar Admission

OR · WA · CA

Court-Approved Mediator

3 jurisdictions

— Practice & Experience —

Years as family-law attorney

11 (2005 – 2016)

Years as full-time mediator

10 (2016 – present)

Mediations completed

600+

Resolution rate (no court)

94%

Languages

English · Finnish

Office

208 Linden Avenue

How I Hold The Room

Three things I have learned about this work.

Most fights are about being heard, not about the thing.

The argument over the family vacation home is rarely about the vacation home. It is about a decade of unspoken resentment looking for somewhere to land. My job, in the early sessions, is to slow the conversation down enough for both partners to say what is actually underneath.

Once each person feels heard — really heard — the negotiation that follows tends to be remarkably civil. The work is in the listening, not the bargaining.

ii.

The parenting plan is the most consequential document.

Of every document we draft together, the parenting plan is the one your family will actually live inside. It will be the thing that determines how your children experience their childhood. We spend more time on it than on any other section, and we write it to scale across years — not to optimize the moment of signing.

I have seen too many parenting plans fail at year three. Mine are written to hold up at year ten.

iii.

Saying "this isn't right for you" is part of the work.

About one in eight couples who book a discovery session leaves with my recommendation that they do not proceed with mediation. It is the most important sentence I say in this practice — and the one I have learned to say without flinching.

When mediation is not the right structure, it is not a kinder option. It is a worse option. Knowing the difference is the foundation of every honest mediation practice.

The Practice

The people who hold the room with me.

Sina Ofahengaue

Associate Mediator

Joined the practice in 2021. Trained in family-systems mediation and parenting coordination, with particular strength in plans involving teenage children and blended-family dynamics.

Aram Bakalian

Financial Neutral

Certified Divorce Financial Analyst. Joins joint sessions when financial complexity warrants — small businesses, real-estate portfolios, retirement-account divisions, or significant tax implications.

Mira Petersen

Client Coordinator

The first voice you hear when you call. Holds the calendar, manages the intake process, and follows up after every session. Twelve years in family-law practice administration.

Hello.I'm Lia.