Laura Benghal is an Attorney Mediator and the Director of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) at the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF). As ADR Director, Laura leads innovative mediation programming to resolve affordable housing, small business commercial leasing, and special education disputes, and creates unique continuing education opportunities for mediators. In close partnership with the City and County of San Francisco’s Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development and Office of Economic and Workforce Development, the San Francisco Unified School District, and the San Francisco Superior Court’s Real Property Court, Laura is responsible for the development, fund management, and strategic visioning of impact driven mediation programs designed to prevent eviction, preserve neighborhood vitality, and restore meaningful student-centered collaborations. Laura is also at the helm of BASF’s mediation referral service program and a professional development program for attorney and interdisciplinary mediators that has included topics such as Interfaith and Faith Based Peacemaking, Indigenous Peacemaking, Restorative Justice, Cultural Humility, Trauma Informed Conflict Intervention, and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in Dispute System Design.

Since 2010, Laura has both represented parties at mediation and provided a full spectrum of mediation services that support the equitable resolution of business, employment, special education, housing, and commercial leasing disputes. Since 2018, Laura has also served as a volunteer mediator for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.

Laura received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law (2010); her M.Div. in Advanced Peacemaking from the University of Spiritual Healing and Sufism (2022), and her B.A. Phi Beta Kappa from Rutgers University (2005).