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Diana is the co-author of Making Divorce Work: 8 Essential Keys to Resolving Conflict and Rebuilding Your Life (Penguin 2010) and Your Divorce Advisor: A Lawyer and a Psychologist Guide You Through the Legal and Emotional Landscape of Divorce (Simon & Schuster 2001), currently in its 15th printing.

Diana Mercer, Esq. is an Attorney-Mediator and the founder of Peace Talks Mediation Services in Los Angeles, California (www.peace-talks.com). A veteran litigator, she now devotes her practice solely to mediation. Outgoing and down-to-earth, she makes clients and attorneys feel at ease in solving family and divorce disputes. She is the co-author of Making Divorce Work (Penguin 2010) and Your Divorce Advisor (Simon & Schuster 2001).

Diana is a graduate of the Indiana University School of Law (J.D. 1988). She’s an Advanced Practitioner Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) and is admitted to practice law in California, New York, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and before the Supreme Court of the United States.

Taking the sting out of divorce-and preventing divorce-are the focus of Diana’s favorite talk topics:

Premarital Boot Camp: Engaged? Newly married? You may have picked out the party favors or enjoyed the honeymoon but have you talked about your money styles, student loans, and savings? What about where you’ll spend the holidays and who is responsible for having dinner on the table? Diana’s lively, interactive learning experience teaches the newly-committed how to communicate as a couple, handle conflict, and create a successful future together.

Peaceful Families: Learn to turn family feuds into agreements and resolutions with Diana’s 8 Keys to Resolving Conflict Everywhere, All the Time. Her strategies are easy to understand and implement immediately for conflict resolution within families.

Divorce Without War: With 8 simple keys, Diana can show you how to get divorced without losing your shirt or your sanity. Her conflict resolution tips will help you negotiate a fair deal for yourself and still get along with your ex.

"Sometimes you find the best things in life in the most unlikely of places," said Diana Mercer. For the Indianapolis native, an ambitious millennial resolution came to fruition, sparking the beginning of a new and evolving career. On Jan. 1, 2000, Mercer founded Peace Talks Mediation Services, Inc., which "teams lawyers and therapists as mediators to help couples resolve divorce and custody issues in a sane, sensible, and fair way at a reasonable cost."

Working as a divorce lawyer for 12 years wasn’t the perfect fit for Mercer because, as she explains, "the court is a one-note solution to a symphony of problems." What became increasingly evident to Mercer over the years was the lack of attention given to the emotional aspects of divorce during the litigation process. "Clients would beg me to do things that the gladiator lawyer wants to do, but is not ultimately in the client’s best interest," she said. "The client is not thinking rationally, strategically, or long-term."

Co-author of Making Divorce Work: 8 Essential Keys to Resolving Conflict and Rebuilding Your Life (Penguin 2010) and Your Divorce Advisor: A Lawyer and a Psychologist Guide You Through the Legal and Emotional Landscape of Divorce (Simon & Schuster 2001), Mercer now assists families in resolving disputes in a constructive, informed, and proactive manner. "Mediation works better for the couples and their children," she said. "We try to provide peace of mind during a very difficult time in their lives."

In June 2006, Count Me In for Women’s Economic Independence honored Mercer with the Make Mine a Million $ Award, a program which provides funding, mentoring, and marketing tools to help female entrepreneurs grow their businesses to a $1 million and beyond.

Media Appearances: Fox News, CBS TV, Dr. Toni Grant Show, USA Radio Network, American Urban Network, Focus on Women, Tom Pope Show, WSB Atlanta, Ladies’ Home Journal, Consumer Reports Money Adviser, American Bar Association Journal, Business Week Online, Los Angeles Times

"Making Divorce Work is an absolutely essential work. This is the book everyone getting divorced needs to get through the difficulties of breaking up and going on with your life. Divorce clears the way for a new beginning, but it is too often a bad beginning unless people make use of the wise and practical advice this book contains. And this book is especially a must read for people with children. I am thrilled to be able to recommend this book to people who need it."
Mira Kirshenbaum, author of ten books including Too Good to Leave, Too Bad to Stay and When Good People Have Affairs


More About Your Divorce Advisor:

"YOUR DIVORCE ADVISOR is a gem of a guidebook that empowers divorcing adults to take control of their own divorce – legally, financially, and emotionally…All of this is presented in a manner that is compassionate, sensible, and most comforting."
Janet Johnston, Ph.D., Executive Director, Judith Wallerstein Center for the
Family in Transition and author of In the Name of the Child.

Divorce is a complex, stressful, and life-changing experience for both adults and children. 1.4 million American families will be affected by a divorce each year. YOUR DIVORCE ADVISOR: A Lawyer and a Psychologist Guide You Through the Legal and Emotional Landscape of Divorce (A Fireside Original/A Simon & Schuster Trade Paperback February 13, 2001 $14.00 0-684-87068-1) written by Diana Mercer, J.D., and Marsha Kline Pruett, Ph.D., M.S.L., is the first book to create a comprehensive divorce strategy that unites both the legal and emotional processes of dissolving a marriage. Attorney Mercer, a prominent specialist in divorce mediation, and Dr. Pruett, an expert researcher in how divorce affects families, have found that putting long-term emotional interests first is also the best legal strategy for divorce. Their findings replace the old-fashioned notion of divorce strategy with its "take no prisoners" tactics, a strategy that benefited lawyers, but not families and individuals.

Interweaving vital legal information and sound psychological advice, it takes readers chronologically through the divorce process and explains how to manage every step without losing emotional control, traumatizing young children, or jeopardizing the goal of reaching an agreement that will stand the test of time. YOUR DIVORCE ADVISOR covers all the legal and psychological aspects of divorce, including:

• Understanding your legal options and starting the legal process
• Preparing your family for what’s ahead
• Negotiating with your spouse without hurting yourself or your children
• Preparing for a trial
• Dealing with the inevitable emotional conflicts among family members

YOUR DIVORCE ADVISOR takes you along the entire journey of divorce as it unfolds from pre-divorce decision making and planning through the final settlement or trial. It addresses the simplest to the most complicated legal issues in divorce, as well as the emotional tugs that weave their way through each and every legal issue. Taking care of yourself and your family is the way to "win" your divorce.
YOUR DIVORCE ADVISOR reduces the anger and pain that so many American families face each year and sets them on a path to a positive future.