Experience

Summary of Qualifications

I am a mediator and arbitrator in private practice. I am a member of the American Arbitration Association (AAA)’s arbitration and mediation panels. I am on the Independent Administrator’s roster of arbitrators for Kaiser Permanente arbitrations. I am an arbitrator and mediator for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). I act as a Judge Pro Tem for the San Francisco Superior Court, and in that capacity I serve as a Settlement Conference Panelist, and as a Small Claims Court Judge. I also help the San Francisco Superior Court train new Pro Tem Judges to act as Settlement Conference Panelists. I am on the Alameda, Contra Costa and San Mateo County Superior Court Mediation Panels. I am on the Settlement Conference Panels for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, and for the Marin County Superior Court. I am also on the Special Master Rosters for the following counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo and Solano. I hold an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, indicating very high legal ability and very high ethical standards.

I have served as a mediator in over one hundred and fifty cases, and as an arbitrator in over fifty cases.

Before becoming a full-time neutral, I litigated over five hundred business, commercial and real estate cases in state and federal courts, and before private arbitration panels. I represented both plaintiffs and defendants. Examples of the matters I litigated include:

  • Business divorce, owner buyout, and dissolution cases representing corporate entities, shareholders, limited liability company members, and general, limited and joint venture partners. These disputes often included claims for breach of buy-sell agreements, operating agreements, joint venture agreements, or partnership agreements.

  •  A wide variety of commercial contract disputes involving service agreements, purchase agreements, license agreements, franchise agreements, equipment leases, fee disputes, and other vendor disputes.

  •  Complex commercial litigation cases, including business tort, unfair competition, professional negligence, fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, and multi-party cases.

  •  Real property disputes including environmental contamination cases, breaches of purchase agreements, commercial leases, loan and financing agreements, guarantees, partition issues, and easement disputes.

  •  I represented clients in a broad range of industries including real property management and development, financial services, software, hospitality, legal services, transportation, communications, medical devices, and franchises. I also represented charitable organizations and their officers, directors and trustees.

Prior Litigation Experience

Before becoming a full time mediator and arbitrator, I was a litigation partner at Gordon & Polland LLP, Barg Coffin Lewis & Trapp, LLP, and Landels Ripley & Diamond LLP, and a litigation associate at Shartsis Friese LLP.

Education

UC Berkeley School of Law, Berkeley, CA

JD 1987. Order of the Coif (awarded to graduates in the top 10% of each class), American Jurisprudence Awards in Contracts, Labor Law, Commercial Transactions, Roman Law and Corporations awarded for the top grade in each of those courses

Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT

BA 1981.  History major

Training

American Arbitration Association (AAA): Arbitrator and Mediator Training, Virtual Hearing Training

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA): Arbitrator Training, Zoom Arbitrator Training, Chairperson Training

Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law: Mediating the Litigated Case

UC Davis: Advanced Conflict Resolution Skills

San Francisco Superior Court: Bench Conduct, Demeanor Training, and Consumer Law for Pro Tem Judges

Speaking Engagements and Publications

Author: "Using Cost-Shifting Rules and Statutes to Increase Recoveries in Arbitration", Alternative Dispute Resolution, quarterly publication of the American Bar Association, March 2023

Speaker: "Attorney Fee and Cost Awards in Arbitration", presented at the American Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Conference, May, 2023; at a San Francisco Bar Association Webinar, March, 2023; at American Arbitration Association Webinars, January, 2023 and July, 2024; and at a California Lawyers Association Webinar, October 2024

Speaker: "Mass Arbitrations from the Arbitrator's Perspective", presented at the American Arbitration Association's Roundtable Brown Bag Series, May, 2022

Panelist: Orientation for New Temporary Judges of the San Francisco Superior Court, November, 2021

Speaker: "The Benefits of Mediation", presented to the East Bay Lawyers Affinity Group of ProVisors, June, 2021

Panelist: "Remedies in Real Property Litigation", presented to the Bar Association of San Francisco, 2015