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)