MEDIATION PRACTICE AREAS, EXPERIENCE

I’ve mediated cases since 2003, and have served on two courts’ mediator panels (San Diego and Los Angeles Superior Courts), and two private panels (American Arbitration Association and Savannah Mediation Center).

I’m a Washington Mediation Association Certified Mediator (see profile), and a member of Academy of Professional Family Mediators (APFM). I’m also a past certified mediator in the State of Georgia.

I’ve mediated and litigated cases of many kinds, including business disputes, family law and custody, environmental and toxic-tort, insurance coverage and bad-faith, intellectual property, personal injury, construction, products liability, employment, and government-entity cases. I have a deep background in many areas of the law, both substantive law and procedural law.

My background is in civil litigation. Clients have called on me for over 30 years to protect their interests by suing or defending them in a wide variety of cases. I’ve litigated simple two-party cases and also enormous cases, like one case that was portrayed in the Erin Brockovich movie, involving $3.6 billion and 6,000 plaintiffs. I’ve represented government entities, insurers, big businesses—and on behalf of clients, have sued such entities too. I know the enormous costs of litigation—and the uncertainties. People and their businesses generally want litigation to end, and end it right away—it’s a huge distraction, expensive, and unpleasant for everybody.

MEDIATION TRAINING

I first became interested in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) when I took classes on the subject in law school. In 2003, I participated in the American Arbitration Association’s mediator training and earned the AAA’s certificate of completion. I also completed mediation training  in 2015 in Savannah, Georgia, to become a Georgia Certified Mediator. Since 2003, I’ve completed many mediation courses as part of my annual and triennial continuing legal education requirements. Training includes:

  • American Arbitration Association mediator training, 2003
  • Annual mediation-specific CLE training, 2003–2014
  • Mediator Training, Savannah, Georgia, 2015
  • Mediation Seminar, Washington Mediation Association, 2019
  • Training, Ethical Issues in Negotiation and Mediation with High-Conflict Personalities, 2019
  • Training, Managing High-Conflict Personalities, 2019, 2020
  • Training, Understanding High-Conflict Personalities, 2016, 2019
  • Training, Dealing with High Conflict Personalities, 2016, 2019
  • Training, CLE, Dealing with Trauma, 2020
  • Training, Collaborative Law Professionals, 2020

LITIGATION EXPERIENCE, PRACTICE AREAS

I’ve litigated and mediated civil cases of all kinds—top-to-bottom, start to finish—hundreds of them. My experience as an attorney representing parties involved in all sorts of disputes makes me a better mediator.

I’ve seen what can stand in the way of solving problems. I can predict what might go wrong and show you ways to make sure things go right. My proven process helps parties steer clear of pitfalls common in dispute resolution, whether it’s a child-custody agreement or a complicated business dispute. I’ll take you, step by step, through the process so that you feel comfortable that you will know what to expect.

A sample of the kinds of cases I’ve handled involve the following legal fields and kinds of issues:

  • Environmental
  • Family—divorce, property, child custody
  • Land use
  • Contracts
  • Copyright
  • Business separation
  • Unfair competition
  • Employee benefits
  • Zoning
  • Easements
  • Encroachments
  • Construction defect
  • Construction delay
  • Construction site injury
  • Construction indemnity
  • Toxic tort
  • Personal injury
  • Wrongful death
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Employment
  • Worker’s compensation
  • Collective bargaining
  • Indemnity
  • Insurance coverage
  • Insurance bad faith
  • Insurance subrogation, contribution, indemnity
  • Shareholder agreements, disagreements
  • Trespass
  • Nuisance
  • Intellectual property
  • Copyright
  • Trademark
  • Trade secrets

CORPORATE LAW, BUSINESS COUNSELING, OTHER EXPERIENCE

Because I’ve served as corporate counsel, both as in-house General Counsel and external corporate counsel, I’m familiar with ways to quickly resolve the types of disputes that affect corporations and businesses. I regularly counsel both businesses and individuals about a variety of matters, including these:

  • Employee hiring, retention, separation, benefits
  • Intellectual property
  • Government procurement, FAR and DFAR
  • Corporate governance
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Best practices
  • Process controls
  • Manufacturing improvements
  • Corporate-culture changes to mitigate risk
  • Risk management
  • Leases
  • Real-estate purchase and sale

EDUCATION

J.D., California Western School of Law, San Diego, California

B.A., Economics, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado

BAR MEMBERSHIP

Admitted to:

  • California Bar (see profile)
    • United States District Court for the Southern District of California
    • United States District Court for the Central District of California
    • United States District Court for the Northern District of California
  • Washington Bar (see profile)