About Arizona Mediators Alona M. Gottfried and Jared C. Simmons

Alona M. Gottfried is an experienced mediator (20 years) and attorney (27 years) in Arizona. She enjoys a high success rate in resolving disputes. Alona, a native of Arizona, obtained her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Arizona State University (Summa Cum Laude) and her law degree from the College of Law at Arizona State University (Cum Laude). She received advanced mediation training at the prestigious Pepperdine School of Law, and she has taught mediation to new and experienced mediators across the state of Arizona. Alona served as the Chair of the State Bar of Arizona Alternative Dispute Resolution Executive Council in 2021.  She also previously served as an executive officer of the Arizona Dispute Resolution Association and is trained in Collaborative Divorce Law.  She also helps resolve legal actions as a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Pro Tem.

Alona developed an interest in mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution after witnessing the effect litigation had on her clients. Litigation is expensive, emotionally exhausting, and time consuming. Ultimately, parties place their fate in the hands of third parties, and good results in Court are never guaranteed. Although litigation is necessary in some circumstances, mediation is almost always a better method to resolve issues.  Mediation allows parties to settle disputes on their terms, which results in better outcomes for all involved. Alona primarily mediates in the areas of family and real estate, but she is trained to mediate a wide range of issues.

Jared C. Simmons is licensed to practice before the Arizona, Texas and Federal courts. Mr. Simmons is an experienced attorney whose practice focuses on representing individuals and businesses in the following areas: forming business entities, contract drafting and review, transactional, family law and all phases of litigation.

Jared Simmons’ experience covers a broad range of business v. business disputes, individual v. business disputes and business v. individual disputes.  Mr. Simmons routinely and confidently mediates matters in the following categories:  Contract dispute mediation; Derivative action mediation; Employment dispute mediation; Compensation dispute mediation; Mergers and acquisitions dispute mediation; Business dissolution dispute mediation; Intellectual property dispute mediation; Business torts mediation; and Business formation mediation.  He has also helped resolve legal actions as a Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Pro Tem.

Alona and Jared are partners at  Simmons & Gottfried, PLLC (8160 E. Butherus Dr., Suite #7  Scottsdale, AZ 85260; Phone: 480-998-1500; Fax:  480-998-6074).

“I had learnt the true practice of law. I had learnt to find the better side of human nature and to enter men’s hearts. I realized the true function of a lawyer was to unite parties riven asunder. The lesson was so indelibly burnt into me, that a large part of my time during the twenty years of my practice as a lawyer was occupied in bringing about private compromises of hundreds of cases. I lost nothing thereby – not even money, certainly not my soul.”
―Mahatma Gandhi, 1927.