Case Manager: Mikaela Schmidt
Hon. Angela M. Bradstreet (Ret.) joined ADR Services, Inc. in 2022 after over 11 years as a Judge of the Superior Court for the County of San Francisco. Judge Bradstreet spearheaded the Court’s highly successful judicial settlements program and presided over Civil Trials and Settlements for the last six years of her judicial career. Recognized for her extraordinary ability to settle difficult cases, Judge Bradstreet was regularly entrusted to handle many of the Court’s largest, most complex and emotionally charged matters. She has successfully settled/mediated hundreds of cases ranging from one of the largest-ever wage and hour class actions, to complex commercial, personal injury, mass torts, premises and products liability, landlord-tenant, sexual harassment, and discrimination cases. During her final two years on the bench alone, her remarkable talent of settling cases resulted in a savings of more than seven years in trial time for the Court. In addition to her settlement work, she presided over numerous jury and court trials. In 2017, Judge Bradstreet was honored by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association (SFTLA) as Judge of the Year. In 2023, Judge Bradstreet was honored by SFTLA as Mediator of the Year.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Bradstreet served as the State Labor Commissioner for over three years enforcing California’s minimum wage and hours laws. Before that, she worked in private practice for 25 years at a major local law firm, and served as the firm’s first woman firm-wide managing partner and one of the first LGBTQ managing partners in the Bay Area. Her litigation and trial practice focused on the areas of commercial and employment litigation. Judge Bradstreet was selected as one of the Top 75 Women Litigators in California in 2005.
Widely recognized as a pioneer for the advancement of women and LGBTQ equality in the legal profession and in the judiciary, Judge Bradstreet is a former President of the Bar Association of San Francisco, California Women Lawyers, and the Queen’s Bench Bar Association. She is a recipient of the California State Bar’s Diversity Award, the Minority Bar Coalition’s Unity Award, the Anti-Defamation League’s Jurisprudence Award, the Barristers Club Judges Award, the International Action Network for Gender Equity & Law Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Queen’s Bench Bar Association. She is also the recipient of the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, the highest award given by the American Bar Association in recognition of accomplishments of women lawyers in the nation who have excelled in their field and been leaders in advancing women in the legal profession.
Judge Bradstreet has a Bachelor in Law degree from the University of Bristol, England, a Masters in Law from UC Berkeley School of Law, and an honorary doctorate degree in law from Golden Gate University.
Employment: With her unique background as the former California Labor Commissioner, Judge Bradstreet successfully mediates all types of employment cases including wage and hour class actions, whistleblower, sexual harassment, age, race, gender, sexual orientation, transgender and disability discrimination claims, and PAGA claims.
Personal Injury: Judge Bradstreet has successfully mediated numerous multi-party catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims, often with multiple cross-claims for contractual (as well as equitable) indemnity, in addition to numerous two-party personal injury claims.
Business/Commercial: Judge Bradstreet has successfully mediated the gamut of commercial litigation cases involving technology companies, lending institutions, health care plans, real estate and insurance brokers, the public sector, and numerous other businesses relating to claims of tortious interference, Bus. and Prof. Code 17200, violation of trade secrets and unfair competition, fraud, False Claims Act, Cartwright Act, breach of fiduciary duty, and other tort and contract claims.
Medical Malpractice: Judge Bradstreet reviews the actual pertinent medical records in order to gain a full understanding of how a jury will be likely to perceive the often complex facts in medical malpractice claims. This approach has been very effective in enabling both sides to appreciate the relative risks at trial.
Insurance Bad Faith: Judge Bradstreet drills down to the facts in the underlying case, which can be pivotal to assisting the parties evaluate a bad faith action. Her extensive experience working with insurance companies has often been invaluable in reaching a settlement.
Financial Elder/Dependent Abuse: Judge Bradstreet has successfully mediated cases involving financial elder/dependent abuse and disputed interpretations of the Welfare and Institutions Code.
Judge Bradstreet has published numerous articles for the American Bar Association, the Recorder, the Daily Journal, Federal Lawyer, San Francisco Attorney, and other legal publications. She is regularly engaged as a speaker and panelist on topics including diversity in the legal profession, advancing and promoting women attorneys, overcoming bias, cutting edge issues in employment law, negotiation skills, and mediation best practices.
For a complete list of Judge Bradstreet’s publications and speaking engagements, please visit her website at www.JudgeBradstreet.com.
“She is someone who knows your case backwards and forwards, just like you do. That’s an effective mediator.”
“I call Angela Bradstreet the mediator who can settle the un-settleable. She can get the job done.”
“Judge Bradstreet is extremely diligent and effective. She started working on the matter days before the mediation and set reasonable expectations for the parties. She also provided very valuable insights on potential outcomes of the trial based on her own experience. She is one of the best mediators I have ever encountered and I look forward to working with her again.”
“I have had the pleasure of working with Judge Bradstreet on three significant and high exposure matters. In 35 years of practice, I have never witnessed a neutral who works harder, gets more into the details of the case, and knows how to manage the personalities of the parties, counsel, and claims professionals more sensitively. My compliment covers personal experience in both private mediation and in judicial settlement conferences.”
“Over the past 15 years, I will say no mediator or Judge in my experience has ever conducted a better settlement conference or mediation – from any perspective: legal knowledge, knowing the case, energy, humanity, pragmatism, being straight with the parties, etc. Judge Bradstreet is a real credit to the state system, and it is understandable why she is leading the settlement panel.”
“It is no overstatement to recognize that this settlement was entirely due to Judge Bradstreet’s efforts. No one thought that this case would ever settle. The parties were embroiled in an exceedingly contentious dispute with no movements toward settlement and with all signs pointing to costly and protracted litigation. But through a mixture of smarts, charm, toughness, and determination, she made this settlement happen and in the process averted wasteful litigation that would have harmed not only the parties but the larger community as well. And that she did all this after-hours, while still maintaining her “day job,” makes her commitment all the more extraordinary.”
“I have appeared in front of many judges, but Judge Bradstreet is by far the brightest, most-prepared and most gracious judge I have ever had the pleasure of appearing before. There has been much written about her and her efforts to open doors for women, minorities, and members of the LGBT community. I am always inspired when I see someone take the time to help others in our profession.”
“Judge Bradstreet did a truly outstanding job, settling a case that was less than 30 days from trial, and in which no settlement negotiations had been held in 14 months of litigation. All counsel were extremely impressed by Judge Bradstreet’s depth of preparation. Our case was factually complex, with at least a thousand pages of material submitted by the parties to Judge Bradstreet. We were favorably surprised when, after a review of this material, she requested specific additional materials. She then held a half-hour phone conference with counsel a few days before the MSC in which she demonstrated impressive mastery of the facts and asked important additional questions.”
“Without Judge Bradstreet’s determination, laser-like focus, and skillful negotiation, this matter would not have resolved.”
“I was thoroughly impressed with Judge Bradstreet’s abilities and honestly found her to be one of the most effective mediators I have encountered. She is absolutely the reason the litigation was resolved.”
“I have been a lawyer for 42 years and I’m not impressed with most Judges. Judge Bradstreet, however, has some, in the words of my clients, “mad” skills. Her ability to connect with the client was awesome, and her patience and advocacy was a pleasure to behold.”
“Judge Bradstreet has an outstanding reputation as one who drills down to the facts, not wasting anyone’s time, with superb negotiation skills, sensitivity and determination to reach an agreement for both sides. Most of all, I want to express my sincere thanks for her compassion and empathy regarding my experience of grief.”
“Judge Bradstreet did terrific work on this matter. She really made our clients feel heard, understood, and respected.”
“That was the most moving mediation I have attended in 22 years of practice. Judge Bradstreet connected with my clients and making them feel at ease with compassion and empathy. She was tough when she needed to be tough. A job phenomenally done. Forever grateful and simply wowed.”
“Judge Bradstreet is exceptional. This was the first time I had mediated with her, and I found her to be prepared, knowledgeable, professional, persuasive, very easy to work with and committed to the cause. This case was old and has been down a difficult path. Nonetheless, through her efforts and her credibility, we were able to get the case resolved.”
“Beyond excellent. This was a very difficult and contentious case and we would not have been able to reach the resolution we did without Judge Bradstreet’s efforts”
“You did a great job getting this to a resolution. Thanks for your hard work and skillful navigation of the competing interests. The parties were fortunate to have you as their mediator.”
“The amount of time and work and effort Judge Bradstreet puts into preparing for mediations and understanding and reviewing records and looking at the legal aspects is just unbelievable. She goes through your mediation brief and picks out all the issues she thinks might be important if the case were to go to trial.”
“Judge Bradstreet is really good at being open without being overbearing. There’s no forcing, but she has the ability to elicit the right information. Compromising can sometimes feel so difficult. It can feel wrong. She has the right mood and temperament and humanity to get people to not feel bad about settling.”
“Judge Bradstreet spends a lot of time pre-mediation speaking to you, following up on questions, asking for information you may not have provided her, pushing you to give her a really full, clear picture of how the facts are going to play out in the courtroom process, and that virtually never happens with other mediators.”
“In addition to really being able to explain to the parties how the case was going to play our in court, Judge Bradstreet has very good people skills. She connected well with my clients at the start, found a bridge to other people they knew. She asked them about themselves and their roles. All of that has a way of making the process more connected and more constructive. Great mediators often do those things so folks connect better with them and communicate better with them.”
“I am writing to thank Judge Bradstreet for her skillful effort in helping my client settle her case with your mediator’s proposal. I especially appreciate her compassion for my client and her sensitivity and support for her throughout our mediation process. It ultimately made my client feel better about accepting the proposal and avoiding trial.”
