Collaborative Practice Family Law
Collaborative Practice Statewide
Administrative
Hearing Officer
and Judge Pro Tem
Administrative Hearing Officer and Judge Pro Tem
Stephania is an experienced practicing Santa Cruz/Bay Area attorney and statewide neutral, for individuals, cities and other forms of municipal government. Stephania very much enjoys infusing her arbitrations and mediations with Collaborative Practice tools and approaches to resolving disputes respectfully. Stephania has devoted many years of practice conducting administrative hearings both as a litigant and as a neutral. Currently, she serves when called as a Judge Pro Tem for the Santa Cruz Superior Court.
Since the beginning of this decade Stephania has also presided over mobile home park disputes locally and throughout the state, having been called upon to interpret the various local ordinances and apply them to the facts presented. Stephania served as a law clerk to the San Francisco Superior Court while she was attending UC Hastings College of the Law. Upon graduation she was hired as a staff attorney to the San Francisco Superior Court.
Some highlights of Stephania’s legal experience as a neutral include:
- Appointed and served as a Judge Pro Tem for the Santa Cruz Superior Court Small Claims and Traffic, 2002 to date
- Hearing Officer for the Mobile Home Rent/Sales Stabilization Ordinance for the City of Santa Cruz, 2001—2004;
- Appointed and served for one year as a Mobile Home Hearing Officer, City of San Juan Capistrano 2004
- Awarded Certificate of Appreciation by Judge Ellis, PJ of the San Mateo Superior Court, for Alternative Dispute Resolution services, 1999
- Selected to serve on the first panel of San Mateo County’s Pilot ADR program, and served from 1997 until 2000
- Created and managed the Landlord/Tenant Hotline for Northern California 1995-1998;
- Arbitrator for Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center, 1995—1996;
- Mediation Training and Certificate from Foothill College, Mountain View, 1995
- Mediation Training and Certificate from Attorneys Mediation Services, 1996
- Published landlord/tenant analysis of new legislation for The Docket, a monthly professional publication, for San Mateo County, 1993;
- Arbitrator for the San Mateo County Bar Association’s Attorney Fee Dispute Program from 1989 until 1999
- Appointed and served as an arbitrator for San Mateo County Superior Court, 1991—1999
- Appointed and served as a Judge Pro Tem for the San Francisco Municipal Court, 1987—1991
- Law Clerk and Staff Attorney for the San Francisco Superior Court, Civil and Probate Departments, and Appellate Departments for three years during law school and after graduation.
As you can see, Stephania has devoted many years serving as an arbitrator, as a mediator and as a and neutral. Besides her legal experience, she offers maturity in the exercise of sound judgment. Moreover, she understands and appreciates social decorum and confidentiality in the context of working as a hearing officer, as a Judge Pro Tem for the county, or as a neutral for governmental agencies or private concerns.
If you or your governmental or private agency would like to review professional references or additional information, please feel free to contact Stephania Francone at 831 684-1077 directly.