Weber Dispute Resolution: Family Law, Mediation & Collaborative Divorce - Solana Beach, California

Bryce Prodanovich

Shawn was awesome, very patient, very understanding, I'm not sure how he's able to do what he does and keep his head on straight. Considering my situation and people involved, I was very impressed with his ability to move things forward and get things done in high conflict situations.

Nicole Williams

I am really disappointed to have to post this, as my referral to Shawn could not have been more positive. I was very excited to work with Shawn. I had a lot of trust in Shawn, and still have a high respect of him. However, there were some major flaws in communication. Whenever My child’s father or I would reach out to Shawn, or Karie, it took DAYS for either of them to reply. There were several examples of this. There were consistently gaps of 3-5 days between emails. 90% of the time, I often had to follow up with an additional email, and if that didn’t work, an additional phone call in order to have very simple questions answered, or meetings to be scheduled/ rescheduled. Often times if I would reach out via phone call, the call went to voicemail and was hardly ever returned. Even if I requested via email to please receive a phone call. I’m not asking for immediate responses from Shawn or his team, but I think it’s completely reasonable to expect responses within 48 hours of reaching out. Like I said, often responses from Shawn and Katie took several days and often were because I would send a follow up message. I want to make sure that it’s known, the first time I scheduled mediation, my child’s father did not show up, so there was some time that was wasted, I feel very badly for this. My child’s father and I also rescheduled mediation twice as we both had not had an opportunity to complete the paperwork. But we did let Shawn know more than 24 hours in advance both times. My child’s father and I only had one meeting with Shawn, and had both paid his retainer fee of 5000. When you invest so much money into a business to receive these services, it really doesn’t feel good to not feel like your time is valued, or that you are not valued as clients. It doesn’t feel good to have to beg for a response. Mediation was becoming a drag, it was exhausting, and was starting to cause anxiety, not due to the mediation itself, but the communication issues with Shawn and Karie. When I told Karie that my child’s father and I were starting to feel apprehensive about moving forward due to lack of response, she didn’t offer much explanation, nor was she apologetic. She offered to find alternate referrals for the two of us. Ultimately, We decided to cut our losses and move on from Weber and associates. We both lost about $311 each Of our $2500, in total, 622 of our 5000. Which, in the grand scheme of things, could have been worse. I really wanted to work with Shawn. As stated, I heard AMAZING things about Shawn. I’m not sure why communication was so poor.
Unfortunately, in the end, it resulted in us losing some money, and a loss of business on their end. Our experience is definitely something to consider if you are wanting mediation services here.

Real Topics

Divorce is an awful thing to go through as it is. My experience with weber disputes was terrible. They were unresponsive, bias, and didn’t provide clear communication. In the end I believe they cost me thousands of dollars and were a mill house in facilitating divorce.

Update 3/8/24 - In response to Weber's comment to my review made a year ago. Sadly I was client and directly told Weber and team what was lacking in their commission of services. Nothing good came of it instead, they were even more unresponsive, they just wanted to get paid. They definitely sided with my ex after he relinquished control giving his sister power of attorney (whom worked for the judiciary system). They blind sided me and cornered me to have to go through mediation with his sister instead of my ex. This is my personal experience that I'm writing about. Very much like their office to imply that this review nor I did not exist as a client.

Lane Pedersen

I was referred to Shawn Weber for mediation with the comment that he was good with high-conflict and contentious divorce situations. I was a self-represented petitioner having to negotiate with my ex-wife and her attorney. We had two four hour meditation sessions scheduled with Shawn Weber and I had hoped to get the majority resolved in the first session. The pace of the first mediation meeting was very slow and casual which works to the advantage of both the opposing attorney and the mediator as they are compensated by the hour. There was not a systematic approach to dealing with the issues presented. At the completion of that first session there was essentially agreement on 2 of the 11 issues brought by my ex-wife's attorney to be decided. I hired representation for the next session. My attorney came completely prepared with our positions and supporting documentation and the opposing attorney showed up with her purse and Starbucks coffee and nothing else. An agreement was reached and we went over the allotted time of 4 hours while the two attorneys drafted the agreement for signatures. Shawn had supposedly managed the process of making it clear to both sides what had been decided upon and I was told that upon signing the draft Marriage Settlement Agreement it was legally binding. I assumed that with his experience and expertise in facilitating the process he would be making sure the agreement was communicated crystal clear to each party so that there was not question as to what had been decided and that it truly would be legally binding. Within a few days the opposing side said they would not honor the agreement and accused my attorney and I of trying to manipulate the division of one of the assets in question. I did nothing of the sort. I stood in the room while both attorneys and Shawn went back and forth drawing up the handwritten agreement and covering the details. All figures were entered by them. All the details of the agreement had originally been notated (or at least I assumed or what is he getting $400/hr to do) by Shawn. All the while they are talking, joking and eating all the snacks on the table. They encouraged me to have some of the snacks as they put it, "you're paying for them". I ultimately had to pay several thousand more dollars for an "Equalization Payment" to my ex-wife and my attorneys time to renegotiate the agreement that had occurred under Shawn's watchful eye in order to get it agreed to and enrolled with the court. The alternative was to fight their lack of complying with the signed agreement through the courts and I could have ended up back at the beginning of the whole process if I lost. It was beyond frustrating as I had given much more in assets than I needed to give up already because I just wanted the process to end. My expectation of Shawn was that he would have controlled the process and made sure that the agreement between both parties was airtight and unquestionable before anyone left his office. He cost me several thousand dollars in addition to what was agreed upon that day in his office. But I'm sure that doesn't matter to him, he got paid already upfront.

Lastly, because we had gone over our allotted time in the second session there was an additional charge that was to be billed to both myself and my ex-wife as we were jointly responsible for the cost of the mediation. I know my ex-wife well, and if she sees my name on a bill along with hers she will not pay her portion assuming I will eventually be stuck paying it. Knowing this I made the simple request to split bill it. Shawn said he just couldn't do that. I paid my portion immediately and then, as I knew it would happen, my ex-wife's portion went unpaid for over six months. Each month I got a collection-past due email and phone call from his office, I think his daughter handles the billing, and I had to repeatedly explain that I had paid my portion and to leave me alone. Shawn is a likable and affable person but it was beyond frustrating dealing with Weber Dispute Resolution.

Jennifer Prodanovich

I do believe he has a very kind heart. But if you have any PTSD, or have trouble speaking because of any type of abuse, this is not the person you need to see.

Solana Beach Chamber of Commerce

The Solana Beach Chamber of Commerce is proud to have Weber Dispute Resolution as a member and appreciate all they do for the community!

Sharone Oren

Shawn is very patient and honest

David Whittle