Case Manager: Kathleen Emma
Geri Green, Esq. is a full-time mediator, arbitrator, discovery referee, and special master who brings decades of litigation and trial experience to her dispute resolution practice. After a distinguished career as a trial and appellate attorney, she transitioned to full-time neutral work, applying her courtroom expertise to help parties resolve complex disputes efficiently and fairly. Since 2012, Ms. Green has successfully mediated, arbitrated, and presided over nearly 1,000 matters across a wide range of practice areas, including personal injury, insurance coverage, medical malpractice, employment, business and commercial disputes, real estate, civil rights, probate, elder abuse, and family law.
Mediation and Arbitration
Ms. Green is known for building the trust and engagement essential to successful dispute resolution. By establishing early rapport through careful listening and respectful dialogue, she creates an environment where parties feel heard and understood. Coupled with her candid, thoughtful evaluations of each case’s strengths and weaknesses, this approach encourages litigants to realistically assess risk and remain open to resolution. With a combination of legal precision, practical insight, and a deep understanding of human dynamics, Ms. Green guides parties toward principled, durable settlements that are grounded in both fairness and trust.
As an arbitrator, Ms. Green brings disciplined preparation, deep legal expertise, and a commitment to procedural fairness. She conducts both binding and non-binding arbitrations, offering parties a well-managed process and delivering clear, carefully reasoned awards. Her background as a seasoned trial and appellate attorney informs her analysis of complex evidentiary issues and nuanced claims, providing parties with confidence in the adjudicative process.
Drawing on her extensive experience as a seasoned litigator who represented plaintiffs and defendants, Ms. Green offers a broad perspective on legal disputes. She is known for her thorough preparation, exceptional listening skills, and evenhandedness — consistently leading to creative solutions that serve the parties’ best interests.
In addition to her private ADR practice, Ms. Green has served as a Settlement Officer and Judge Pro Tem for the Superior Courts of San Francisco, Alameda, Marin, and Contra Costa, where she earned a reputation as one of the Bay Area’s most effective settlement officers.
Discovery Referee and Special Master
Ms. Green offers significant expertise as a discovery referee and special master, particularly in cases involving electronically stored information (ESI). Having litigated some of the earliest and largest ESI cases in the Northern District of California – and developing her own case management systems to manage complex discovery – she is uniquely qualified to oversee discovery disputes with efficiency and precision.
She routinely presides over discovery matters across a variety of practice areas, including family law, probate, personal injury, real estate, fraud, medical malpractice, construction defect, employment, civil rights, and sexual harassment and abuse claims. Her strong background in trial advocacy and evidence law makes her particularly adept at resolving complex privilege disputes and technical discovery challenges.
Ms. Green serves as a Discovery Judge Pro Tem, Facilitator, Referee, and Special Master for courts throughout the Bay Area, providing trusted guidance to efficiently manage discovery and move cases toward resolution.
Client and Counsel Feedback
Geri Green is widely praised for her exceptional ability to connect with litigants, build trust, and resolve even the most challenging disputes. Clients and counsel commend her sharp legal analysis, candid evaluations, and persistence, which have led to settlements in complex cases – including disputes that had defied resolution for years.
Her respectful, straightforward approach fosters realistic risk assessment, while her creativity – including the use of mediator’s proposals – often unlocks impasses. Ms. Green’s steady hand, compassion, and deep understanding of human dynamics are particularly effective in emotionally charged and trauma-affected matters.
Recognized as both a rigorous evaluator and a true neutral, she consistently earns the trust of parties and counsel alike, leading to durable, thoughtful resolutions. Counsel describe her as “tenacious,” “insightful,” and “a master at her craft,” noting that she “makes the impossible possible.”
Ms. Green also brings industry-specific expertise in hospitality, cannabis businesses, entertainment venues, golf courses, beauty products, fisheries, and perishable goods sectors.
Prior to focusing exclusively on dispute resolution, Ms. Green had a distinguished litigation career as principal of Green & Green, LLP, where she handled complex civil rights, employment, antitrust, RICO, business torts, and commercial disputes. She also served as General Counsel for Devereux Creek Properties and Ocean Meadows Golf Course, managing a wide range of litigation, regulatory, and transactional matters, including environmental impact and eminent domain proceedings.
In addition to her ADR practice, Ms. Green has extensive experience teaching and presenting on topics including mediation advocacy, evidence, discovery, electronic discovery, negotiation, civil rights, and international law at UC College of the Law San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Golden Gate University, and before United Nations bodies.
Ms. Green is a frequent presenter on ADR, Bias, evidence, discovery, civil rights, and international law, including:
“She was wonderful. She persisted when our carrier was about to call it a day on more than one occasion. She offered her insight and came up with the unique solution of a mediator’s proposal which was ultimately accepted. She was professional, personable and a joy to work with. I hope to work with her again in the future or run into her at a farmer’s market.”
“Our office was extremely pleased with Geri Green as a mediator. Geri was well prepared and very knowledgeable about habitability cases in San Francisco. It was clear that her experience as a San Francisco Pro Tem Settlement Officer greatly assisted all parties discussing the nuances of this habitability case. This case previously had no movement whatsoever for nearly four years, and Geri was able to settle the case in just a one-day session with a mediator’s proposal. Geri took the time to thoroughly prepare for this mediation, and her ability to discuss all facets of the law and facts of the case was impressive and this led to resolution. We highly recommend Geri and our office will certainly be requesting to mediate with Geri on future cases.”
“Geri was great; really appreciated her manner, knowledge and insights.”
“Geri Green’s approach to mediation yielded results where others failed, and her dedication to finding a path forward was instrumental. Her expertise and experience in the field of mediation were evident, and her professionalism was commendable.”
“Geri Green is truly a master at her craft, and her ability to navigate even the most complex and challenging disputes is a testament to her unique talents and unwavering dedication to success.”
“Geri Green is an exceptional mediator who demonstrated her ability to effectively navigate a challenging case that had previously eluded resolution by two other top mediators. Her tireless efforts and commitment to success resulted in a positive outcome. Her approach to mediation yielded results where others failed, and her dedication to finding a path forward was instrumental. Ms. Green’s expertise and experience in the field of mediation were evident, and her professionalism was commendable. She is truly a master at her craft, and her ability to navigate even the most complex and challenging disputes is a testament to her unique talents and unwavering dedication to success.”
“Geri was extremely insightful in understanding the points, goals and concerns of the parties and their counsel. With grace and compassion, she got through the emotions and old grievances to get to the heart of what the parties needed to come to a resolution—and she did create resolution that satisfied the parties, their attorneys and offered a solution to the problem that this case presented. She was extremely professional had excellent time management, technical and legal procedural skills She kept us all on track, managed complex technology and guided us all through it, as needed. Geri had an excellent command of the law, the procedure, the mediation rules and ethical issues and the practical experience to make this mediation a valuable process for all concerned.”
“Geri Green who was our mediator over the course of three sessions, and a period of weeks, who managed a contentious process with skill, heart and good humor. I would use her again in a heart beat!”
“I remain impressed with the way Ms. Green approaches any situation with professionalism, civility, and compassion. She is committed, fair and thorough, allowing all parties to feel safe and heard. In one instance, I watched as Ms. Green adeptly handled an emotionally charged litigated dispute involving numerous staff members and students. With her steady hand working the situation over the course of weeks, she was able to instill trust, calm all parties, and lead them to a peaceful resolution. I have also observed her ability to handle those suffering with mental health conditions rendering them overly cautious and suspicious. She has a deep understanding of how to communicate and calm even the most challenged, while also managing the needs and expectations of lawyers allowing even the most adverse parties to come to an understanding and resolution.”
“I recently had an occasion to mediate a dispute with Geri Green. It turned out to be a very emotionally charged mediation where the parties had been at odds for decades over deep‐seated trauma. The mediation was complicated by the fact that one participant exhibited signs of dementia. This challenging situation gave me an opportunity to observe Ms. Green’s professionalism and skill as a neutral. It was clear that she has the calm hand and the patience necessary to help people work through their emotions so as to move beyond past traumas in order to find resolution. Her work with the party suffering with dementia evidenced her empathy and compassion, as well as deep understanding of human nature. Ms. Green’s passion for her work as a mediator and consensus builder is evident in everything she does. That coupled with her knowledge and skill in handling conflict makes her extremely effective at bringing parties to resolution. The participants were incredibly happy and very appreciative over the fact that they were finally able to communicate with one another after 30 years of dysfunction, anger, and separation. It was a truly amazing experience for everyone.”
“Ms. Green’s wisdom and vast legal knowledge along with her innate and learned understanding of mental illness, substance abuse, and cross-cultural issues provides her the ability to artfully negotiate even the most challenging and emotionally charged situations. She is fair, thorough, and she addresses every situation as unique, even the most mundane, exhibiting her curiosity and passion for understanding the human condition.”
“Geri is very personable. She listened closely to both sides. I thought we had no chance at resolution, and about seven or eight hours later we settled the case. Geri was able to bring her expertise in criminal law into the conservatorship aspect, which I thought was especially helpful.”
“Geri’s persistence helped resolve a complicated civil rights case eight months after the first mediation session. She was tenacious. I think she did a really good job of focusing on issues, getting to people’s bottom lines and then guiding us on how to negotiate. It was a really difficult case to settle, but she just continued to work with us and helped us finally hammer down the settlement.”
“Geri is tenacious. She was able to analyze the case and determine where pressure could be applied early in the mediation process. She understood the area of law very well and she understood the issues that can be used to forge a settlement. In medical malpractice disputes it can often be especially difficult to persuade the practitioner to consent to a deal. Her one-on-one conversation with my client made all the difference. I think that had a really beneficial impact in moving my client off of the roadblock of consenting. My client was hearing it from somebody he considered to be a true neutral, and I think he really valued the perspective Geri gave.”
“Geri understands the issues, the strict interpretation of the discovery code and will not take sides based on defense or plaintiff. She will tell people to follow the rules and side with those following the code.”
