Trilingual: Spanish and Portuguese

Cristina has spent her entire legal career in the field of Dispute Resolution. In nine years, she has mediated over 1,600 cases, working with over 300 attorneys and many hundreds of self-represented parties. She is certified by the Florida Supreme Court as a Mediator in the areas of Circuit Civil, Dependency and Family.

Cristina is a spouse, a parent, a step-parent, a lawyer and a mediator. She is passionate about helping people find their own solutions.

She has mediated challenging cases in the areas of: divorce, paternity, child support, alimony, child custody and modifications. Cristina has also mediated insurance, foreclosure, partnership and eldercare and probate matters. Each case, like each family, is unique. Cristina's mediation philosophy is to meet people where they are – in a difficult moment of their lives – and work with all sides to try to build a better way forward.

Cristina is also passionate about mediation education. She has helped train and mentor more than 100 new mediators.

Before becoming a lawyer and mediator, Cristina spent seven years as a Program Manager, administering a $22 million budget, a 15-person team of employees and contractors, two international field offices and field operations across nine countries. She played a key role in strategic planning, procurement, human resources management, contract administration, budget monitoring, and reporting results on multiple contracts and deliverables. The contracts she worked on provided regional technical assistance on labor, employment, and workplace safety policy and capacity building in Central America.

Cristina lives in Palm Beach County with her multi-generational, blended family. While based in her home county, Cristina has provided mediation services throughout South Florida, including Broward, Miami-Dade, St. Lucie, Martin, and Indian River counties.

Cristina speaks Spanish and Portuguese.

Professional Education and Qualifications

B.A. ~ Amherst College, magna cum laude (1998), Interdisciplinary Degree in International Development

M.Sc. ~ George Mason University Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution (2006), Conflict Resolution

J.D. ~ St. Thomas University School of Law (2010)

• Certified Florida Supreme Court Mediator, Circuit Civil, Family, and Dependency
• Florida Dispute Resolution Center Approved Primary Trainer, Family; Assistant Trainer, Dependency, and Circuit Civil
• Trained in Eldercare Mediation
• Trained in Collaborative Family Law

Membership, Professional and Civic Associations

• Member, The Florida Bar
  • Member, Family Section
  • Member, ADR Section
• Member, Craig S. Barnard Inns of Court
• Member, Palm Beach Hispanic Bar Association
• Member, League of Women Voters