I graduated 6th in my class from UCLA Law School in 1989, then practiced business litigation in Beverly Hills and Los Angeles for the next 33 years. My clients included Internet Brands (owner of WebMD and Martindale-Hubbell) and real estate developer Barry Shy. Much of my practice involved real estate, but I also handled matters in entertainment, e.g., a dispute between the producers of the film The Usual Suspects, insurance, copyright, fraudulent conveyance, and many other fields. I tried approximately 50 cases including in both State Courts and Federal Courts (civil and bankruptcy). I handled approximately 50 appeals, mostly in State Court but also in the 9th Circuit. I have participated as counsel in at least 200 mediations and settlement conferences. I have also owned rental property for over 30 years, and have syndicated two apartment buildings.

I took the Mediating the Litigated Case course at Pepperdine in 2022, just before I moved to San Luis Obispo. I have been handling MSCs for the Santa Barbara Superior Court since April, 2024, got my first MSC for San Luis Obispo Superior in late 2025, and joined the panel for Los Angeles Superior Court in 2026. I have handled nearly 100 settlement conferences as a special master and am now available for private mediations.

Mediation involves people skills, legal analysis and old-fashion common sense. Often, the first task is to focus the parties on what is best for them. That sounds obvious, but many times parties come to mediation looking for justice. And I don’t blame them. But mediation is not about punishing the other side. It is about doing what is best for you.

The next task is to consider the possible consequences of continuing to litigate. What would it cost, in terms of money, time, stress and reputational harm? Or, if you are a big company, would paying the costs of defense on a frivolous claim only encourage more claims?

The centerpiece of many mediations is a discussion of the possible range of outcomes of the case, should the litigation proceed. One way to evaluate that is to estimate the expected value. For example, if there is a 50% chance of winning and collecting $100, the expected value is $50. But that is not the end of the analysis; risk aversion is another issue. Can the defendant take the small chance of a very bad result? Can the plaintiff take the small chance of losing what seems like a strong case?

Finally, we often consider the best way to structure a settlement. For example, can the agreement be structured to avoid unnecessary tax consequences? Is there property — personal, real, intellectual — that one side values more highly than the other? Will the settlement be confidential? What will a former employer say or not say about a departed employee? This part of the mediation is very important, and yet it is easy to overlook at the end of a long day when both sides are otherwise satisfied with the deal they made.