Susan E. Guthrie, Esq.

 Susan Guthrie, Esq. is a divorce innovation specialist, an online mediation expert and has been helping people transition through divorce for nearly 30 years. Using her many years of experience as a top family law litigator, she focuses her efforts and experience on helping people to break free from the difficulties of divorce by providing them with insights and innovative tools to move forward and start their new life in a better way.  

Susan Guthrie, a top 10% family law attorney and mediator for almost 30 years, is licensed to practice law in both California and Connecticut and was recently recognized as among the top 10% of family law and mediation attorneys in the United States by Lawyers of Distinction. Throughout her many years of family law practice, she has worked with thousands of individuals and families, helping them to navigate their way through the difficult process of divorce in order to move forward with their lives in the best way possible. For more than 10 years she was court appointed as a Special Master in the Connecticut Superior Courts to conduct settlement conferences with parties on the eve of trial and was known for her success in helping to resolve even the most difficult of cases. 

After more than 20 years as a name partner in her law firm, Gentile, Chiota & Guthrie, LLC, where she headed the firm’s family law practice, Susan broke off in 2012 to establish her own boutique matrimonial law firm with an emphasis on the non-adversarial approaches to divorce. Upon her relocation to California in 2016, she founded both La Jolla Mediation and CT Family Law Online in order to continue a bi-coastal practice and she continues to work with select clients in both California and Connecticut by special appointment. She utilizes her years of experience and training to advise her clients and assist them in finalizing their divorce process in a healthy and holistic manner, and to move past the limbo of the dissolution process. 

Susan, along with Terri Breer, Esq., is a founding member of Breer Guthrie Law Group, which provides legal support services to non-attorney family law mediators. Susan also works with mediators and other professionals, individually and in groups, to train them in how to best provide professional services to their clients using online platforms in a responsible and ethical manner through her business Train to Mediate Online.

In addition to her business endeavors, Susan is the on the Board of Directors of the Southern California Mediation Association (SCMA) and serves as Chairman of the Communications Committee and as a member of the Planning Committee for the SCMA’s Family Mediation Institute. In addition, Susan is an editor of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Dispute Resolution’s E-Magazine “Just Resolutions” and is on the Planning Committee and Faculty for the ABA 16th Annual Advanced Mediation & Advocacy Skills Institute. She regularly presents at legal industry events and works with fellow family law professionals to enhance their negotiation and settlement skills through workshops and presentations.

Susan is a frequent contributor to several divorce publications including her latest articles “3 Ways a Consulting Attorney is Worth the Expense in Divorce Mediation” and “Three Common Misconceptions about Divorce Mediation” in DivorceMag.com. She was recently featured in My Business Magazine's article "Susan Guthrie of La Jolla Mediation - Provides a Better Way to Divorce."  

As an additional way to assist those going through divorce, Susan recently created the Top 10 iTunes Podcast, Breaking Free: A Modern Divorce Podcast with Rebecca Zung, Esq. another top tier divorce attorney.  Join them on Mondays at 9:00 a.m. EST for current information and topics to help you Divorce in a Better Way.