Gay G. Cox has practiced in the field of family law for over twenty-five years and has been Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization since 1984. In 1990, she changed the emphasis of her practice from litigation of child conservatorship disputes to family mediation. The impetus of this change was her recognition that the intense conflict of courtroom battles is ultimately harmful to families and children. She has mediated over 400 family law cases, over 275 of which have focused on parenting plans and the allocation of parental responsibilities. Over fifty of those mediations have involved Children's Protective Services cases of alleged abuse or neglect.In the year 2000, she expanded her uncontested family law practice to include collaborative family law. Since then, she has handled over thirty-five collaborative cases, while maintaining her family mediation practice. She is a champion of both processes as the preferred methods of problem-solving for most people who have the need to resolve family disputes in a legal context.
Gay is a frequent lecturer, trainer and author in both family mediation and collaborative family law. Married for over thirty years, she and her husband have a college-age son.
Her other publications include:
"Memo to Parents in the Collaborative Process," The Collaborative Review, the Journal of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, Vol. 5, Issue 3 (Fall 2003).
"Adapting the Collaborative Process to Manage High Conflict Cases," The Collaborative Review, Vol. 6, Issue 1 (Spring 2004).
"The Case for Collaborative Law," 11 Tex. Wesleyan L. Rev. 45 (2004) (with Robert J. Matlock).
"Mediation: A Vital Complement to the Collaborative Law Process," The Texas Mediator, a publication of the Texas Association of Mediators, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring 2005).
"Avoiding the Trauma of Courtroom Drama," The Journal of Oncology Practice, Vol. 2, Issue 4 (July 2006).
"Collaborative Practice Mediation: Are We Ready to Serve this Emerging Market?," Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Journal, Vol 6, No. 3 (2006) (with Hon. P. Oswin Chrisman and Petra Novotna).
