![\"Helping](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/georgi-and-rich.jpg\")
After earning his law degree, he worked on the East Coast as a general practitioner in a small firm, doing all types of law. \u201cBasically, I was a country lawyer and took any case that walked in the door: bankruptcies, criminal, real estate, business, and family law. I fought hard for my clients but came to hate being an advocate. Taking sides just wasn\u2019t in my nature,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As a traditional divorce lawyer, Gordon saw the damage done by in-fighting, animosity, and pettiness; heartsick to see how it impacted children\u2019s lives, parental relations with their kids, and even general family-of-origin dynamics.<\/p>\n
It became clear to him that battling for position, struggling for victory day in and day out, was taking a toll on him professionally and personally. It was time for a change, and mediation seemed logical, methodical, kinder and gentler.<\/p>\n
So he dove into extensive mediation training at the University of Connecticut, where he learned to work through the process efficiently and with equanimity.<\/p>\n
Gordon migrated from the East Coast in hopes of a change in 1998 with his second wife, both believing that a change of scenery would help their own failing marriage. It didn\u2019t. But he stayed around and has been working and living Downtown for nearly a quarter of a century.<\/p>\n
A pioneer in divorce mediation in San Diego, Gordon opened A Fair Way Mediation Center 20 years ago. He helps people in all kinds of marriages divorce each other with speedy and workable settlements, with no attorneys and for a lot less money. These marriages include some of the most complicated, including military, long-distance, and LGBTQ.<\/p>\n \u201cDivorce doesn\u2019t have to be the legal and emotional war that society tends to make it out to be,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s entirely possible to have a civil and even amicable marriage dissolution through such recourses as mediation.\u201d<\/p>\n And there are lots of marriages that need help. Fifty percent of first marriages and 75 percent of second marriages fail. Infidelity, financial problems, child abuse, and substance or gambling addictions are some of the most common reasons why people divorce.<\/p>\n Being a huge believer in marriage, Gordon spends the first half hour of counseling, asking his clients if they are sure about splitting.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to get people to reconcile rather than divorce, and it\u2019s tough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Gordon considers himself the fulcrum in the teeter-totter, as a neutral third party, he balances the opposing sides. Instead, of telling either spouse what to do, he levels the playing field, keeps communications going, brainstorms possibilities, offers options, and guides the divorcing couple to mutually agree on outstanding issues.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t make decisions for them. If they can make choices, people tend to respond to mediation more favorably than advocacy,\u201d he said. \u201cI love what I do because I\u2019m more helpful than I would be as an advocate. And mediation is a lot less costly.\u201d<\/p>\n He knows of one couple who spent $1,000,000 on divorce lawyers with no resolution.<\/p>\n People in mediation never step foot in the courthouse. They and their negotiations are private and confidential. They meet where they can look at each other eye to eye. And if this is a long-distance divorce, as military often are, Gordon will conduct the mediation process on Skype or Facetime.<\/p>\n \u201cWith modern technology, we can have a three-way conversation with one spouse in Afghanistan, another in Oceanside and me in my Downtown office,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Gordon, a frequent blogger and radio interviewee, was discovered by an author doing his second volume of \u201cStress Free Divorce Volume 2 Conversation with Leading Divorce Professionals.\u201d The author asked Gordon to write a chapter for the book, \u201cHelping Couples Break Up Nicely.\u201d<\/p>\n The book, available on Amazon, is a compilation of several viewpoints from folks around the country who work in the field of divorce.<\/p>\n \u201cThe whole point is to avoid advocacy \u2014 mediation and collaboration are far more civil and productive.\u201d<\/p>\n Gordon has seen hundreds of clients from all economic strata.<\/p>\n \u201cSome people love me, and I guess some people equally hate me,\u201d he said. \u201cDivorce, no matter how efficient and calm we try to be, is not fun. Most of our work is well received, but there are those who are too angry to work things out civilly.\u201d<\/p>\n For those rare cases, Gordon has a network of lawyers who are prepared to go for the jugular, if necessary.<\/p>\n Gordon has also had his own marriage issues. His first two marriages lasted seven years each, ending in divorce. He\u2019s been married to his third wife, Georgi Bohrod, for 11 years.<\/p>\n \u201cI really like my wife. I love her, y<\/em> I really like her,\u201d he said with a big smile. \u201cThird time\u2019s the charm.\u201d<\/p>\n Georgi is equally supportive of her husband and his work.<\/p>\n \u201cRich helps people break up nicely,\u201d she said. \u201cHis real talent is that he really is warm and congenial and is able to put his clients at ease. And he has a great sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n Rich and Georgi love living Downtown for many reasons including being able to walk to work, having a variety of great restaurants and knowing many of the restaurateurs. An avid cyclist, Rich is grateful for San Diego\u2019s numerous bike paths, and not being stuck in traffic.<\/p>\n The couple are huge baseball fans. They are especially happy that they can leave a Padres game at the end of the seventh inning and be home at CityFront Terrace before the first pitch of the eighth inning.<\/p>\n Proximity to the airport is a huge perk for Georgi who travels extensively on business for GBC and Associates Inc., her home-based boutique branding, marketing, and public relations firm.<\/p>\n The Gordons are cat people. Currently, they have Fido, who is imminently calm when she sits on Georgi\u2019s lap during her daily meditation. And Farrah who likes sitting on the balcony, gazing at the view and communicating with the visiting hummingbirds.<\/p>\n The Gordons and their \u201cfur babies\u201d make the most of Downtown San Diego and its exceptional environment for living, working and playing.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I contemplate retirement,\u201d Rich said, \u201cI ask myself, \u2018Why?\u2019 I\u2019ve got it all right here, right now.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Helping](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Rich-Black-and-White.jpg\")