Zuzana is a lawyer, mediator, and a divorce coach. She found her way to mediation after years of legal practice at the Legal Aid Centre, where she began her career after graduating from the Faculty of Law at the Comenius University in Bratislava. She still remembers the feeling of fulfillment when she achieved a positive outcome for a client, one that had an immediate impact on his/her real life (for example, securing child support for a mother, reclaiming ownership of a property, facilitating a parental agreement, or filing for a bankruptcy, among others). As a legal representative, Zuzana participated in over 150 court hearings, has several years of mediation experience, and provided countless hours of legal advisory and consultations. In addition, she is a graduate of the Gestalt Coaching program and certified Crisis Intervention trainings.
Zuzana lived in Vancouver, Canada, for nearly five years, where she studied English, basic law, and fundamentals of psychology. She also learned how to react when you encounter a black bear in the wild – by standing as tall as possible, looking the bear directly in the eyes and making noise. However, if you come across a grizzly bear, you should never look him in the eyes. Interestingly, she has found these lessons useful, even though she never actually encountered a bear in Canada. Sometimes, these "survival" rules from nature apply to human interactions as well – for example, it may not be recommended to look directly into the eyes of someone in a fit of anger. In mediation, she finds the same principle applies – you never know which proposal the other side might accept or how the situation will ultimately be resolved. It’s always worth giving a chance to dialogue.