Editor’s Note: “Kathleen” is the name her children chose to protect her identity and honor the legacy of a woman deeply loved in the Los Gatos community. Her story, intertwined with that of Richard, a fellow litigant in Santa Clara County, reveals how family court battles can stretch on for years, draining lives and fortunes for the benefit of a core group of divorce attorneys.
By Susan Bassi and Fred Johnson
It began with a phone call overheard on a family vacation in Hawaii. Kathleen, a longtime Los Gatos resident, listened as her husband spoke to another woman in a tone that suggested far more than business. Already burdened by what she described as years of abuse directed at herself and her children, the call left her shaken.
She returned home determined to act. But when she went to the Los Gatos Police Department, hoping for protection, she was turned away. No report was filed.
Months later, Kathleen’s suspicions deepened. She drove past the home of an employee from the couple’s real estate and property management business. She spotted her husband’s car parked there long after hours. She knocked on the door. After hearing hurried shuffling inside, her husband answered.
A confrontation revealed an affair with the employee—an emotional betrayal that set the stage for a decade-long legal battle that Kathleen would never escape.
Kathleen’s reply in the restraining order lawsuit brought against her by her husband’s mistress.
Seeking Help, Finding Litigation
Kathleen said a violent encounter with her husband left her with a traumatic brain injury. Desperate for safety, she retained veteran divorce lawyer Brad Baugh and asked him to file a protective order. Instead, she recalled, Baugh told her such an order would cost her an additional $50,000 to $100,000 in fees.
His advice: file for divorce instead.
Before Kathleen could file for divorce, her husband’s mistress—described as well-connected in local family law and real estate circles—retained Michael Lonich of the firm Lonich, Patton, Ehrlich & Policastri, and filed a civil harassment suit against Kathleen. A temporary restraining order kept Kathleen from the Coldwell Banker office where she had worked for years.
The harassment case, and eventually Kathleen’s divorce, landed before Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Carol Overton. That dual assignment would entangle Kathleen for years.
In addition to the divorce and civil harassment case, Kathleen hired Fred Gerbino and sued her husband in civil court for claims related to their agreements prior to marriage, and their real estate business.
WomenSV: The Nonprofit That Referred Lawyers
At the same time, Kathleen discovered WomenSV, a nonprofit founded by Ruth Patrick in Los Altos and promoted in the Los Altos Town Crier. The group promised to support women trapped in abusive relationships in Silicon Valley’s wealthiest communities. Kathleen was Jane Doe1 in the Vanguard’s 2023 report on the nonprofit WomenSV.
But unlike shelters or service-based organizations, WomenSV offered no housing, therapy, or financial relief. Instead, it hosted meetings where Patrick referred women to divorce attorneys.
Patrick attended some of Kathleen’s meetings with Baugh, as her husband’s legal team at Hoover Krepelka (which had also represented his mistress in her own divorce) began deploying what Kathleen described as “scorched earth” litigation tactics.
Over the next several years, Kathleen would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to lawyers she found through WomenSV referrals. Lawyers who seemed to be working more for other attorneys, therapists, and her husband, than for her.
Jeff Blum is a divorce attorney who claims to work as a private judge and volunteer for Los Gatos Code Enforcement Hearings. Photo credit: Susan Bassi.
Private Judge Proposal
Among the worst attorneys Kathleen hired, was Donelle Morgan of Morgan, Tidalgo, Sukhodrev & Azzolino (MSTA). Morgan advised Kathleen to consider Irwin Joseph, a former court commissioner, as a private judge.
According to Kathleen, Morgan explained that Joseph would provide his services “free of charge,” but only if she agreed to transfer her community property share in one of her multimillion-dollar properties, after the divorce was settled.
Kathleen refused.
She quickly fired the MSTA team and retained Elise Mitchell, who was not directly tied to WomenSV. But Mitchell struggled to coordinate between Kathleen’s divorce and civil cases.
Additionally, Kathleen reported that following one JAMS mediation in the civil case, before retired Judge Jamie Jacobs-May, both Mitchell and Patrick proved so problematic that Kathleen’s attorney, Fred Gerbino, advised her to fire Mitchell.
That advice led her to Mark Erickson. A lawyer she had known socially for years, dating back before Erickson’s second marriage and divorce that was resolved quickly before a free private judge employed with the courts, James Cox.
Mark Erickson and Mounting Sanctions
Hiring Erickson proved disastrous. Kathleen said Erickson used her for free real estate advice, openly mocked other clients, bragged about how much he billed, and boasted of his connections, including his friendship with Judge Mary Greenwood.
Kathleen’s divorce case was initially assigned to Judge Roberta Hayashi, then reassigned to Judge Cindy Hendrickson. On Erickson’s watch, Kathleen was sanctioned more than $40,000—penalties that in part went to her husband’s attorney, Julia McDowell of Hoover Krepelka, and to the Lonich & Patton team representing her husband’s mistress. Penalties in addition to fees paid to her attorney and court costs as her cases dragged on.
Meanwhile, Erickson’s own bills ballooned to $150,000 in just months. Kathleen, who had once considered him a friend, said she felt abandoned. Betrayed and victimized by her own attorney.
Erickson’s paralegal, Lisa Mori, further troubled Kahleen with inappropriate conversations about other clients.
At Gerbino’s urging, Kathleen fired Erickson and retained Michael Benetto of Hoge Fenton. Around the same time, Mori went to work for the Lonich and Patton law firm.
Mediation or Coercion?
As Kathleen’s civil case was nearing jury trial, it was steered into a five-day settlement conference before Judge Overton—who had acted as mediator despite her prior role in the civil harassment case brought by her former husband’s mistress.
Gerbino told Kathleen she was effectively getting Judge Overton “for free,” avoiding $150,000 in private-judge fees. But Kathleen later described the mediation as coercive.
In recordings she made at Gerbino’s suggestion, Overton is heard demanding private sessions with her attorneys and warning them that their careers could be harmed if Kathleen refused to settle.
Under immense pressure, Kathleen signed an agreement she considered incomplete and harmful. Benetto later admitted to her that Overton had threatened his career if he did not secure a settlement.
In 2021, Kathleen leaked the recordings to a reporter.
Soon thereafter, she filed a malpractice-fraud lawsuit against Benetto and Hoge Fenton law firm. A law firm that once saw Phil Hammer, Jim Towery, and Natasha Parrett represent Ruth Patrick in her own divorce a decade earlier.
A divorce resolved before JAMS private judge Catherine Gallagher.
A System Resistant to Accountability
Over time, Kathleen tried to bring malpractice claims against Baugh, Erickson, and others. But in Santa Clara County, few attorneys were willing to sue their colleagues. Others demanded retainers Kathleen could no longer afford.
She also filed complaints and underwent interviews with state bar investigator Ben Charney, but the state bar ultimately threw out her complaints and closed the file.
By 2021, five years after that fateful phone call in Hawaii, Kathleen was emotionally and financially depleted. Her inheritance was gone.
She was “property rich but cash poor.”
Her former husband and his mistress continued operating the real estate business she built before and during her marriage, diverting her rightful income as attorneys she paid hundreds of thousands of dollars did little to protect her.
It was during this period that she met Richard, an elderly man fighting his own malpractice and fraud case against Erickson.
Parallel Struggles
Richard claimed Erickson pressured him into hiring private judge Michael Smith, promising a faster, cheaper resolution. Instead, Richard endured nine years of litigation and private judge generated “term sheet” that stripped him of millions in separate property claims based on Erickson’s alleged negligence.
When Kathleen and Richard compared experiences, the patterns were striking. Both said Erickson overbilled while failing to provide a zealous representation.
Both were steered toward private judging. And both believed they had been sacrificed for financial and professional relationships within Santa Clara’s insular legal community.
Once Kathleen and Richard began to compare cases, they began to better understand Mori, Mark Erickson’s paralegal, even told Richard that Erickson had a new “rich lady client” and would be spending less time on Richard’s case as a result.
Kathleen cheered Richard on as his lawsuit against Mark Erickson, headed to a jury. Meanwhile
her own malpractice-fraud case spun around in ligation keeping her from finally getting her day in court before a jury instead of a family court judge no jury is watching.
Death Before Justice
In April 2025, Kathleen died unexpectedly. Several women who had met her through WomenSV and family court, attended the services, grieving the loss of their friend, while trying to support her children.
At her funeral, Kathleen’s children spoke bluntly:
“Family court killed our mother.”
Shortly after Kathleen’s passing, Richard’s case headed to a jury trial.
As a jury was set to hear what Erickson had done to an elderly client in the name of a divorce, he offered Richard $45,000 to settle his malpractice claim. Richard refused. The offer was insulting.
Justice Legacy in Trial
Richard Garcia is the uncle of Congressperson and former San Jose Mayor Sam Licardo’s wife. However, despite his powerful ties to the Silicon Valey community, Richard saw little justice in the local courts after he agreed to use a private judge recommended by Mark Erickson.
Richard’s malpractice trial was assigned to Judge Panteha Saban of Santa Clara Superior Court. Erickson’s defense attorneys, Bruce MacLeod and Brad Bening, moved to block jurors from hearing about private judging.
Judge Saban granted the request, leaving Richard’s attorney, Patrick Evans, unable to explain private judge Michael Smith’s role in costing Richard millions in financial losses, shifting all blame to divorce attorney Mark Erickson.
The trial dragged on in the final days of summer, slowed by repeated continuances, including for vacations for Erickson’s defense counsel and former local bar association president, Bruce MacLeod.
Before Labor Day, Erickson testified, denying that a “rich lady client” diverted his attention from Richard’s case. But court documents showed otherwise.
In 2019, Erickson began representing Kathleen, valuing her assets at more than $12 million in one court document.
Her case led to millions in attorneys fees and court costs. Including $40,000 in sanctions—money paid directly to her husband’s attorney, Julia McDowell at Hoover Krepelka and to Lonich & Patton, the firm representing the husband’s mistress.
A System Under Scrutiny
The Erickson malpractice trial is nearing its conclusion. Closing arguments are expected after Labor Day. Jurors will be asked to decide whether Erickson’s actions amounted to malpractice—and whether his conduct cost millions.
For Kathleen’s family, the case carries a deeper weight. Though she did not live to see Erickson face a jury, Richard’s fight has forced into the open questions about how private judges operate, how attorneys profit, and how the system can grind families down for years.
On social media, Richard’s lawsuit and Kathleen’s story have fueled a broader conversation about accountability in California’s family courts. Critics argue about the reliance on private judges and the insularity of Santa Clara’s legal community allowing abuse and misconduct to flourish unchecked.
As a tribute to Kathleen, Richard hopes to prevail in the Erickson lawsuit such that he can support Kathleen’s legacy and survivors of what he calls “modern divorce warfare.”
Kathleen’s children hope her story will serve as a warning—and a catalyst for reform.
The Erickson trial is being reported on in real time @SusanBassi on YouTube and LinkedIn.
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