Susan W. Miller, M.A.

Susan W. Miller, M.A. is a National Certified Career Counselor (NCCC), a Master Career Counselor, (NCDA) and a Certified Vocational Evaluation Specialist (CVE).  In addition, she holds Diplomate status in the American Board of Vocational Experts (ABVE).  Ms. Miller received her Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology from University of California, Berkeley.             

She works as a forensic vocational expert in family law and wrongful termination cases and has qualified as an expert in Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and Santa Clara counties. Ms. Miller has prepared Vocational Examination reports in over 1,950 cases and has testified in over 210 cases.

Ms. Miller has also authored several published articles, including chapters for CEB Family Law materials and for the Reference Books prepared for Family Law Symposiums sponsored by the Los Angeles County or Beverly Hills Bar Associations. Further, Ms. Miller has been writing columns on jobs and career issues for latimes.com.

Ms. Miller was awarded the Career Development Practitioner of the Year Award for 2002-03 by The California Career Development Association. Her company, California Career Services, has a website at californiacareerservices.com.

Sandra Schuster

For more than 25 years, Sandra Schuster has worked in the San Francisco Bay Area in the private sector as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor.  In addition to managing her own full caseload, Ms. Schuster has directed and supervised a staff of Vocational Counselors and Job Developers providing vocational rehabilitation services including vocational analyses, testing, research, counseling, plan development, and placement.  Since 1981, Ms. Schuster has been a consultant and vocational expert in family law, workers' compensation and personal injury matters.

In addition, Ms. Schuster maintains a vocational rehabilitation practice serving injured federal employees, disabled teachers, and railroad employees. Ms. Schuster is a member of Bay Area Vocational Experts (BAVE) and, as such, adheres to the standards established in family law cases.  Ms. Schuster, M.P.A., is a Diplomate with the American Board of Vocational Experts, a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Certified Case Manager, and Certified by the U. S. Department of Labor as a Rehabilitation Counselor.  Ms. Schuster is a member of the Collaborative Practice San Mateo County, a multi-disciplinary association of professionals dedicated to resolving disputes without litigation.

 

 

 

 

 

Lisa Trustin, M.A.

Lisa Trustin, M.A., provides expert vocational evaluations and testimony about wage earning capacity and employability issues in litigation cases including marital dissolution, personal injury and employment discrimination, as well as in non-litigated collaborative family law matters. She administers assessment tests to help clarify work skills, interests and aptitudes, and conducts extensive labor market research about job availability, earnings, and training programs for re-entry into the workplace. Lisa also provides vocational planning and coaching to clarify career goals, research training programs, create job search strategies and identify potential barriers. With ten years of additional experience in business development, marketing, journalism, and community outreach, she brings a wide range of experience to her vocational counseling practice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Rachel Hawk

 Ms. Hawk has worked in both the public and private sectors for thirty years providing vocational analysis, research, training and job placement to adults, including those with disabilities.  For the past ten years, she has specialized as a vocational expert and consultant.  Her forensic work involves analysis of family law, workers compensation and employment law cases.  Ms. Hawk practices in Sonoma, Marin, San Francisco, Napa, Solano, Lake and Mendocino Counties.

As a member of Bay Area Vocational Experts (B.A.V.E.), Ms. Hawk helped establish standards used in family law cases.  This set of standards was reviewed by peers, attorneys and judges to insure it met the needs of all involved in family law cases.  Ms. Hawk is a Diplomate with The American Board of Vocational Experts, a member of International Association of Rehabilitation Professionals and active in The Collaborative Council of The Redwood Empire, an organization in the North San Francisco Bay Area devoted to divorce without court. She also provides pro bono work through On Your Feet Foundation in San Francisco.

 

 

 

 

 

Robert Cottle

Robert B. Cottle, Ed. D is a Diplomate in the American Board of Vocational Experts (ABVE) and a Certified Disability Management Specialist (CDMS). Dr. Cottle received his Doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco and his Masters Degree in Organizational Behavior/Communications from Brigham Young University.

Dr. Cottle has worked as a forensic vocational expert in personal injury, employment law, family law and workers’ compensation cases since 1983. He has qualified as an expert in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, San Jose, San Joaquin, Los Angeles, and Orange counties.

Additionally, Dr. Cottle has worked as a vocational rehabilitation counselor in workers’ compensation cases and with veterans’ through the Veterans Administration. He has conducted vocational feasibility studies, earning capacity evaluations, administered aptitude, achievement and interest inventories, written individualize vocational retraining plans and returned individuals’ with physical and psychiatric injuries back into the labor market in over 2500 cases. Dr. Cottle has testified more than 300 times in federal, superior, spousal support and workers’ compensation cases. 

 

Marlis Bruns

Marlis Bruns is a fellow in the American Board of Vocational Experts and a member of the California Association of Career Development. She earned her Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology from Golden Gate University in 2002 and participated in post-graduate course work in Career Development through John F. Kennedy University in 2004. 

Marlis has been a partner in the vocational consulting firm, Stevenson and Bruns, since October 2001. She specializes in family law and has qualified as an expert in Contra Costa, Solano, San Mateo and Alameda counties. In 2005, she co-authored the Standards of Practice for Vocational Evaluations in California Family Law. She has presented on topics related to vocational evaluations in family law cases to the Contra Costa County Bar Association/ Family Law Section, American Board of Vocational Experts, Collaborative Law Association of Contra Costa County, Association of Certified Family Law Specialists, Alameda County Family Lawyers Association and the State Bar of California.

 

 

 

 

Betty Kohlenberg

Betty Kohlenberg has been a vocational counselor and vocational expert in private practice in San Francisco since 1981.   Her forensic expertise includes vocational evaluations in litigation for family law, employment law, disability discrimination including ADA and FEHA, personal injury, and ERISA cases.  She has been acknowledged as an expert in the nine Bay area counties and in Federal court and is frequently asked to function as the Court’s expert.  She has provided vocational advice in collaborative family law cases and has been published in the Collaborative Review.

In addition to her forensic vocational evaluations, Ms. Kohlenberg’s career counseling focuses on assisting midlife and post-college career choices, and on helping people with disabilities negotiate their paths in the world of work.  For twelve years, she was the vocational consultant for Positive Resource Center, creating new programs and counseling more than 5000 people living with HIV/AIDS who were considering their work options.  She also works with people with cancer, RSI, psychological diagnoses and life-threatening illnesses.

Ms. Kohlenberg is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) and has been awarded the Diplomate status by the American Board of Vocational Experts (ABVE).  Her M.S. from St. Cloud State University is in vocational rehabilitation counseling; she earned her B.A. in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. 

Ms. Kohlenberg has conducted research and has written for rehabilitation journals as well as writing advice articles for the use of job seekers.  She is a co-founder and Board member of the National Working Positive Coalition and a co-founder of the Bay Area Vocational Experts (BAVE).  She is the editor and co-author of BAVE’s Vocational Evaluation: Standards of Practice in California Family Law.