About Ariel
Ariel Winger earned a B.A. in psychology from Mills College in 1991 and a J.D. from New College of California in 1995. She was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1996 and has practiced in that jurisdiction since. Her academic background in psychology underpins a practice that often addresses personal as well as legal dimensions of family conflict.
She began her post-law school career in nonprofit practice. In 1999 she joined the Family Violence Law Center as a staff lawyer and later served as a senior staff lawyer. In that role she handled matters arising from domestic violence and related family law issues, providing direct legal services and advocacy for people navigating protective orders, custody questions, and safety planning.
In 2007 she moved into private practice and opened Winger Mediation & Family Law as a sole practitioner. That change shifted the emphasis of her day-to-day work toward mediation and collaborative approaches. She built a practice that offers alternatives to litigation, drawing on experience from both her nonprofit work and private casework.
Winger has been active in collaborative practice circles for many years. She joined Collaborative Practice East Bay in 2007 and has served on its Modest-Means Committee and Steering Committee in the past. She became a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals in 2008 and has maintained that affiliation. She is also a long-standing member of the Alameda County Bar Association Family Law Section and the State Bar of California.
Her body of work spans courtroom advocacy and out-of-court dispute resolution. Colleagues and clients describe her as practical and procedural in her approach. She handles family law matters that commonly include custody and visitation arrangements, support issues, and property division. She regularly conducts mediations and works with parties who want to use collaborative practice methods rather than pursue adversarial litigation.
Today she practices through Winger Mediation & Family Law, where she continues to provide mediation services and family law representation. Her current practice handles mediation and family law matters.
