The Palo Alto Area Bar Association (“PAABA”) offers referrals for parties wishing to mediate to qualified and experienced attorney mediators. Mediation is a means of resolving disputes without going to court or engaging anyone to decide who is right or wrong. Instead, mediation works to help the parties themselves agree on a solution. The parties do not need to spend time or money on lawyers or on formal proceedings.
They control the outcome as well, and any agreement they reach must be accepted by both sides before it can come into effect. Mediation is usually faster, cheaper and less stressful than going to court. Mediation allows parties to resolve their disputes in a more private environment than a courtroom setting.
Since mediation is voluntary and the parties control the process and the outcome, the parties are more likely:
- to be satisfied with the results,
- to abide by their settlement terms, and
- to preserve their relationship than they would be if they went to court.
Types of Cases:
Mediators on PAABA’s referral panel handle the following types of cases:
- Trusts/estates
- Family Law
- Personal Injury
- Elder Abuse
- Contract, business issues, commercial disputes
- Employment
- Small Claims
- Real Estate
Costs
Through the PAABA ADR Program parties may obtain 90 minutes of mediation time with one of the mediation panelists at a reduced total rate of $75 per side. Thereafter, the mediation panelist would charge the parties at his or her usual hourly rate.
Request ADR Services
About the Attorneys:
Jeffrey P. Blum: Jeff has been an attorney for nearly 34 years. He is a trained mediator, arbitrator, litigator, and a private judge. He is on the Alternate Dispute Resolution Panel for San Mateo County Courts serving as a mediator and arbitrator and he has also served there as a a Temporary Judge. He is the co-chair for the Palo Alto Area Bar Association’s Family Law Section and has written and taught about mediation including teaching a mediation course at Stanford in the summer of 2012.
Areas for mediation: Family Law.
Charles Compton: Charles teaches antitrust at both UC Hastings and the Santa Clara University School of Law, has lectured at the University of California’s Boalt Hall School of Law, and taught trial advocacy at UC Hastings. He is a regular speaker at American Bar Association and International Bar Association events in the United States and Europe. Chris also served as a military judge in the Air Force JAG Corps.
Areas for mediation: Antitrust, Unfair Competition, Distribution disputes, Business, Employment, Intellectual Property, Securities, Class action/complex litigation, Personal injury, Legal Malpractice, Insurance.
Dorit Perry: Dorit is a graduate of Boalt Hall School of Law, UC Berkeley and has over 25 years of experience in conflict resolution. She has practiced corporate law in Europe and has supported global initiatives at Intel Corporation. Ms. Perry trained as a Mediator with the Federal District Court in San Francisco in 2001 and currently serves as Staff Trainer and Mediator for Santa Clara County. She leads 40 Hour Mediator Training courses and Advanced Mediation Training programs. She recently served as a judge in the International Mediation Competition in Paris, France.
Areas for Mediation: Small Claims, business contracts, family matters.
Andrew F. Pierce: In 2006 and 2007, Andrew was elected President of the Palo Alto Area Bar Association. He has been selected by his peers as a Fellow in the prestigious Litigation Counsel of America and has also been named as a ‘Superlawyer’ in both employment law and business litigation. Andrew has extensive experience representing both employers and employees in employment/ labor law matters. He is also experienced in appellate practice, real estate, insurance and business litigation.
Areas for mediation: Employment, Real Estate, Insurance, Business.
Sujatha Ganesan: Sujatha is a trained mediator and a business attorney with diverse experience encompassing commercial transactions, intellectual property, employment, privacy and Internet issues. She has had a private practice, worked with law firms and companies. She has significant international experience and cross cultural competencies. She practiced commercial and corporate law for three years in India. She has a Masters in Intellectual Property Law, from the Santa Clara University School of Law and another Masters with focus on Business Law from the University of Georgia School of Law. She is the co-chair of the Program Committee at the CLUB- an incubator for women leaders in Silicon Valley. She has published several articles in leading legal publications.
Areas for mediation: Business, Corporate, Intellectual Property.
Waivers/Non Liability Provisions:
PAABA is merely a referral service. This site and the information contained on this site is provided without warranty of any kind. Under no circumstances shall PAABA be liable for any special or consequential damages resulting from the use of the materials in this web site. The information in the directory of attorney mediator panelists is provided by the panelists. PAABA does not warrant the validity of the information, nor does it guarantee the quality of the work product provided by the attorney mediator panelists. The determination of the need for legal services and the choice of an attorney mediator are extremely important decisions and should not be based solely upon advertisements or self-proclaimed expertise. All users of this web site are urged to make their own independent investigation and evaluation of any attorney mediator considered.
