A Conversation with Bryan Bergman

Today I am meeting with Bryan Bergman, a business attorney in Agoura Hills, Ca; but, with Zoom we can work with clients all over California. I limit my practice to family law in California, while Bryan may be willing to extend his legal representation to clients outside of California, provided local counsel is involved.

My mediation and litigation practice involves participants and clients who are often small to medium sized business owners, or have .certain investment assets that involve issues beyond just their divorce. Because these issues are broader than just their divorce, they require that I bring into the mediation room (or as consulting attorneys) additional professionals. With close to 20 years of experience in combined family law and business transactional legal matters, Bryan is a great resource to bring into either setting. 

Here are ten ways that he has assisted in these matters and can assist both in the mediation and litigation setting going forward:

  1. Review and advise the parties on what the business agreements actually provide and what rights and procedures the parties have for dividing those interests.

  2. Creative solutions for dividing an interest when a simple buyout or division in kind just won’t work.

  3. Re-structuring a business interest. This may be re-titling or changing the nature of the parties relationship for the business or investment asset at any time whether pre or post-separation and divorce. 

  4. Helping couples “navigate the fear of leaving the known.” This involves advising the couple on how to confidently plan for or finalize the separation of their business or investment.

  5. Co-mediate or act as un-bundled counsel for a business issue.

  6. Help draft bespoke orders, agreements or judgments to ensure the business is protected in carrying out the parties division wishes.

  7. Although I do not offer prenuptial or postnuptial agreement services in my practice, Bryan can assist with certain complex provisions about business or investment interests in these agreements.

  8. Assist with targeted discovery requests and review surrounding the business or investment asset.

  9. Assist with preparation for deposition or examination of issues surrounding the business or investment.

  10. Because Bryan is a seasoned litigator and transactional attorney, but also a mediator, he brings a unique combination of skills and empathy to communicate through difficult situations.

Bryan and I met in multiple Mosten Guthrie Family & Divorce Mediation trainings.

Bryan Bergman is an innovative and forward-thinking business and deal making attorney based out of Agoura Hills, California. Bryan thrives at solving complex business problems. Leaning on nearly two decades of strategic experience and legal expertise, Bryan supports businesses and individuals at all stages of their journey. He offers creative deal making and win-win solutions to challenging conflicts, growth inflection points, and asset and business divisions. Whether helping small startups monetize their services, mature businesses protect their large operations, or divorcing couples navigate the business complexities of their dissolution, Bryan excels at delivering tailored solutions to meet his clients’ needs. In his spare time, he is an active parent of two small children and an avid golfer and traveler.

Ashley Andrews has practiced exclusively family law for close to 20 years. Her firm is set apart because she handles high-conflict and complex child custody matters, divorce cases with business owners, high-asset divorce cases, and domestic violence cases. She has an in-house forensic accountant who works on all her cases in some capacity. She has litigated family law cases all over California, including multi-week trials in the following counties: Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Orange County, and Riverside. While still taking the litigated family law cases, she is optimizing her practice by adding in mediation and collaborative divorce, a shift that she finds harder for the family law practitioner but better overall for the participants and their families. In her spare time, she is learning tennis, growing orchids, walking her Yorkshire terrier, frequenting the Norton Simon, and attending every Mosten Guthrie class she can fit into her schedule.

This material is provided for educational purposes only. Providing this information does not establish an attorney/client relationship. None of the information contained in this post should be acted upon without first consulting with an experienced family law mediator and attorney. Should you have questions about the content of this post, please arrange to discuss via a consultation.


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Children and Divorce: Ensuring Their Well-Being Amidst Change