Thomas D. Wright has over 37 years of family law experience in mediating and, if necessary, litigating, all manner of family law issues for clients in Sonoma County and the North Bay.
Since the end of the recent pandemic (2023), Tom has focused his practice solely as a family law mediator and private judge, continuing as a panelist for the Arbitration and Mediation Center, Santa Rosa, California. (panelist for thirty years).
Tom has been dedicated to helping attorney represented individuals resolve complex family law legal matters with respect and empathy in a mediation setting. As a State Bar Board-Certified Family Law Specialist for 24 years of his 40+ years of practice, he has facilitated well over a hundred plus private mediations and Judge pro-tem court settlement conferences. During his full practice, Tom tried at least fifty family law court trials to verdict (from one day to seventeen days in length.) From that varied career experience, Tom brings a deep understanding to a broad range of issues challenging family law clients including the initial "risk assessment issues", procedural issues, complex custody, support, property issues and including issues of a community and separate business property interest that may arise in a marriage.
Tom has completed a broad range of mediation training including; training at the Gary Friedman Center for Understanding Conflict (Basic and Advanced Courses: 80 hours, Collaborative Law Training, and the Harvard Negotiation Program "Getting to Yes"at t h e US District Court in San Francisco. Tom has also attended numerous private mediation trainings with other experienced mediators in Sonoma County over the years. Tom's family law legal practice has been distinguished by his selection by Martindale Hubbell as an "AV Preeminent" Family law attorney from 2016 through 2026, inclusive, and by his selection as a California "Super Lawyer" in family law from 2007 through 2015 inclusive.
Tom maintains his knowledge o f family law current by teaching Community Property Law (2022 through 2025 - five semesters) at the now University of Monterey (Empire College) School of Law, Santa Rosa, CA, by attending and providing monthly continuing education through the Richard Sangster American Inns of Court (member, since October, 2001) and by providing continuing education courses to the local bar "Civility in the Practice of Family Law" to the Sonoma County Bar September 16, 2025).
Tom's approach to mediation begins by first establishing every one of the parties' current positions, concerns, and priorities, discussing inherent and obvious "risk" issues, and then attempting to facilitate the couple's choices in "self- direction", providing a professional and compassionate environment, attempting to minimize conflict and foster collaborative solutions. Tom's primary focus is to emphasize practical solutions that prioritize the long term well-being for both the parties and family members.
For further information, please visit thomasdwright.law. For scheduling, contact AMC.