California has historically been home to the country's most notorious divorce cases based on the connection to Hollywood. Those cases offer all the drama corporate media devours. As Silicon Valley took root in the San Francisco and San Jose Areas, the divorce industry exploded, giving rise to a criminal organization that operates in the high-rise offices of lawyers and private judges who have publicists and PR folks on the payroll before legal researchers. 

Today's divorce is more about war over children, home equity and mental health as those are the topics that incite fear, and desperation that provides for splitting spouses to open the flood gates for attorney fees and costs in a divorce, 

On the premise that divorce cases could be secreted from the public and media, Christopher Melcher, Jack Trotter, Thomas Girardi, Jim Towery, Walter Lack hatched one of the largest Ponzi Schemes in the state's history, all centered around a divorce.  The scam evolved over 20 years without attracting any media attention, but a media request was made in the Marriage of Brooks and the scammers had to change., 

In the Brooks case, there were three private judges/ referees and Special Masters Evan Brooks' attorney, Brad Baugh, assured to connect his Northern California's enterprise with Christopher Melcher and Laura Wasser in Southern California. Baugh was known to Melcher for secret work and the scheme that connected to Neil Young's Divorce.  Baugh had protection from Jim Towery, a key figure at the state bar who assured Thomas Girardi a free pass on discipline for decades following shady dealings in the Dole Food case. 

For two decades these lawyers learned to rig high asset and middle- class cases where they looted billions from community property to feed increased profits to themselves and a network of custody evaluators, CPAs, vocational examiners, therapists and real estate scammers. The scammers set their sights on family home equity and child custody for the greatest outcomes and assured immunity. The criminality trickled down to middle class families as well. 

The Scheme came full circle when Melcher was retained by the wife in the Paul Mitchell Heir Divorce case at the same time Brad Baugh had the husband in the Marriage of Brooks, as Laura Wasser set her client, Britney Spears, up for loss of custody and conservatorship in her divorce from Kevin Federline. 

Over the next decade Baugh would rack in the money for the Northern Gang with private judge Catherine Gallagher, Jim Towery, District Attorney Jeff Rosen, and George Gascon, Then Gascon moved to the Southern Gang with court clerk David Yamasaki.

Once in the south, Yakamaski  set up shop with private judges through GDI, JAMS and ADR. Laura Wasser became the Brad Baugh of the south and added former Appeal Justice Shelia Sonenshine, David Weinberg, Nancy Stock, and John Ourderkick ,to the enterprise's portfolio, which she cashed in on in the Jolie v. Pitt case in 2016.  

To explain the worst possible outcomes that can happen to a family involved in a modern divorce case in California  is to explain what happened in Hollywood divorce cases, as money flowed in from the north from the divorce cases connected to Facebook, Google, Paypal, Apple and other Silicon Valley executives.

An infusion of cash, cryptocurrency and stock options from the north coupled with the flurry mainstream media could drum up in the south, created the perfect criminal enterprise that would be ignored by district attorneys, the federal g0overment and law enforcement for decades. Then along came the #freebritney movement bringing attention to Britney Spears' 13-year conservatorship and how that was that funneled money into the family courts in an unprecedented manner.  

In 2022 this blog will follow the divorce cases of the heir to Paul Mitchell Hair Care Products fortune,  Evan Brooks, founder of DigiDesigns and the Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt case, along with the Briney Spears v, Kevin Federline Divorce and the case involving Intero Real Estate Chairman Robert Moles. Mr. Moles  is the subject of federal lawsuits along with Intero, court Settlement Officer Sharon Roper and the Santa Clara County District Attorney, Jeff Rosen.

Intero's unlicensed agents helped a private judge mafia convert billions in home and business equity to a small group of lawyers, private judges and custody experts as seen with Catherine Gallagher who appears to be running the case rigging scam in a manner similar to what her husband, Judge William Danser had done when rigging traffic cases with the Los Gatos Police back in 2003. 

Investigation into Thomas Girardi and protections Jim Towery gave at the state bar may reveal even more victims when the investigation is complete. 

In 2007 when Gavin Newsom was running for re- election as San Francisco's mayor, he had an affair with his campaign manager, Alex Tourk's , wife, Ruby Rippey- Tourk. When the affair became public, his marriage to Kimberly Guilfoyle ended and  Newsom did what any high profile politican would do. He  hired a private judge and made sure his divorce case was on a secret docket. 
More than four young women have reported that in addition ot Ruby, Gavin was known as sex addict who was not only cheating on his wife with Ruby, but preyed on any woman working on his campaigns while he hunted older women including Karyn Sinunu Towery, a prosecutor in Silicon Valley running a honey pot operation through a DV charity known as Women SV.  Sinunu Towery also helped wealthy pedophiles, volunteering for the Northern California's Innocence Project from the Santa Clara University campus where she  runs an organization preying on young children connected with children taken from their parents in family law cases, where her husband, Jim Towery, is a judge. 

California's Open Proceeding Laws do not provide for cases to be conducted in secret, even before a private judge.  California law provides for splitting spouses to hire an private judge to handle their case. These appointments are made under CCP 638 and the person acting as a private judge need not be an attorney, as folks are often told. 

Trusted friends or therapists even a local teacher could act as a private judge in a divorce case to help folks settle up a dipute. Fews people understand that a divorce can be worked out at the kitchen table for a gift card and a thank you , if the spouses agree. 

Over the past 20 years middle class families have been getting sucked into private judge cases, where they are vastly misinformed that the private judge must be a lawyer. This generates as much as $1500 / hour to even discuss settling up a divorce. In California's wealthiest counties, divorce lawyers charge $500/ hour and so does the private judge. Spouses are often told private judging will be cheaper and faster than family court it is not. 

No longer is private judging for the wealthy and powerful. Middle class families are getting dragged into these cases  where they can drag on for years. Once spouses agree to use an attorney as a private judge, that attorney has immunity and his bills will be ordered paid, either voluntarily or by the attorney's own orders. 

Hundreds of private judge cases have been investigated throughout the state. Some of the wealthies community estates see private judge cases make it to appeal , which can often cost each spouse $100,000 - 200,000 to pay the attorneys fees and costs on appeal. But of all the cases audited, none appeared on the private judge docket that must be posted in every courthouse in the state. 

In San Francisco where Newsom's divorce took place, there is no private judge list posted, and the docket for these cases has been effectively secreted from the public. 

In her comments to reporters at the Sacramento News and Review, former Court of Appeal Justice Shelia Sonenshine specifically stated that she and attorney Saul Gelbart had calculated that public court costs parties $96,000 , while private judging costs only $69,000. 

This is misinformation and false advertising for the private judge scam. Sonenshine, who now is contracted with JAMS , charges $650 per hour for her private judge services. In leaked bills and invoices leaked by fomer JAMS employees and contractors, Sonenshine, like other attorneys working as private judges often make $1 million in fees from a case. These fees are only partially billed as payments are also reportedly paid in Bitcoin and property transfers paid by the lawyers whose clients benefit from rigged private judging cases where they get favorable orders. 

For middle class families, real estate equity is being used to pay the fees for the private judge. Once a private judge gets appointed in a case, their job is not to preserve the family home, it is to convert the equity to attorney fees for themselves and the lawyers participating in what clearly has become a criminal enterprise acting under the color of law in the family courts.