Mosten began his legal career in 1972 as a founding partner of
Jacoby and Meyers. He left that practice in 1976 to serve as assistant professor of law and director of clinical education at the
Mercer University School of Law in
Macon, Georgia, and in 1978 served as assistant regional director for consumer protection at the
Federal Trade Commission. He opened a private law and mediation practice in 1979 with a storefront office near the Los Angeles International Airport. Mosten has since focused exclusively on peace-making. Instead of going to court, he relies on mediation strategies,
unbundled legal services, principles of
collaborative law, and preventive legal wellness focused on client-centered decision making in order to resolve disputes. Mosten is the creator of
Unbundled legal services, which he developed in order to expand legal access to the underserved who otherwise represent themselves. Mosten has been an innovator in the creation of the client library as an educational resource for informed consent, of Confidential Mini-Evaluation, and in training family law professionals to be financially self-sufficient in their peacemaking practices. Mosten is a founding member of the Southern California Mediation Association and was named by the SCMA as Peacemaker of the Year (1999) and is the recipient of the 2017 SCMA President’s Award. In 2020, the SCMA established the Forrest S. Mosten Star Award for Excellence and Innovation in Mediation and awarded him the Inaugural Award. Mosten has taught at the
UCLA School of Law (2002–2022), where he was an adjunct professor of law teaching mediation, family law practice, a non-litigation approach, lawyer as peacemaker, lawyer-client relationship. He has presented at mediation and law conferences throughout the world. In 2020, Mosten was appointed chair of the Mediate.com Online Mediation Training Taskforce. == Personal life ==