Case Manager: Chelsea Mangel
Mediator • Special Master
Gideon Kracov is a distinguished mediator with thirty years of experience in environmental, real estate and civil matters. He has an extensive background navigating complex legal matters, coupled with significant experience at the highest levels of California state government. Using his mediation and facilitation skills, Mr. Kracov can break through impasse and settle disputes before litigation, and after lawsuits are filed. The Daily Journal describes him as a “highly collaborative” and “pragmatic” mediator with a “committed approach to preparation.” He has “credibility with all parties, perhaps the highest currency.”
Mr. Kracov offers both in-person and virtual mediation services as an alternative to protracted litigation, working diligently with the parties every step of the way – from pre-mediation calls to post-mediation follow-up – towards resolving the dispute.
CIVIL LAW:
ENVIRONMENTAL LAW:
REAL ESTATE AND PUBLIC ENTITY LAW:
Berkeley Law, University of California, Berkeley
J.D. and Environmental Law Certificate, 1995
University of California, Berkeley
B.A. with high honors, 1992
With a diverse background representing plaintiffs, defendants, and governmental entities, Mr. Kracov is uniquely positioned to mediate complex civil disputes. His experience includes serving as a Deputy Los Angeles City Attorney in the Real Property Division, where he counseled the Departments of Planning and Sanitation on public works and real estate projects and successfully defended the City in high-stakes trials. Notably, he helped negotiate a $168 million settlement for the removal of trash from the Los Angeles River and advised on the City’s property redevelopment initiatives. In addition, Mr. Kracov led civil prosecutions in the City Attorney’s Environmental Protection Unit.
Prior to his public sector tenure, Mr. Kracov practiced at Rose, Klein & Marias LLP, a prominent plaintiff’s trial law firm, handling toxic tort and personal injury cases that helped shape these areas of the law. He began his legal career at the prestigious Los Angeles firm Weston Benshoof LLP (now Alston & Bird LLP), where defended Fortune 500 clients in product liability lawsuits. He has handled cutting-edge consumer and environmental tort class actions.
Mr. Kracov is a Thomson Reuters California Super Lawyer, limited to the top 5 percent of lawyers. He serves on mediation panels for the U.S.E.P.A., U.S. District Court Central District of California, California Department of Civil Rights, Los Angeles Superior Court and Center on Conflict Resolution. He trained in environmental dispute facilitation and mediation at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, Udall National Center for Environmental Conflict Resolution, International Association for Public Participation, and MIT Renewable Energy Clinic.
Beyond his legal practice, Mr. Kracov has made significant contributions to the legal community. He is the former Chair of the California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Section, Executive Committee. In that role, he led educational and program activities for over 2,500 section members. As a member of the adjunct faculty at Loyola Law School, he imparts his knowledge of land use law and regulation to future legal professionals. Notably, Mr. Kracov proudly coached the Loyola Law School team to first place in the 20th Annual California Lawyers Association Environmental Law Student Negotiation Competition. He currently serves as Secretary of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.
Mr. Kracov serves as the Governor’s appointee to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the state’s lead air pollution and climate change regulatory agency. He also serves as the Governor’s appointee to the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board. In these roles, he navigates complex public policy issues, engaging with diverse stakeholders to achieve satisfactory outcomes while upholding trust and accessibility. Previously, he chaired the three-member Department of Toxic Substances Independent Review Panel, overseeing governance of the agency responsible for the cleanup of contaminated properties throughout California.
“Gideon’s committed approach to preparation really allowed us to cut right to the chase on the day of. He had a good, persuasive style with the parties, so they understood both the way the case might come out if it didn’t resolve and the benefits to a resolution. He really made use of a nice combination of an evaluative approach plus a much more pragmatic approach that helped the parties reach common ground.”
“Gideon has worked on the plaintiff’s side, but at the same time he’s worked for the city attorney’s office, and he also used to work for a developer-side law firm. I love the fact that he has three different hats that he’s worn – plaintiff, defendant, and then also the government. Gideon did a great job with the clients on both sides of the dispute. There were a lot of strong emotions. Each side thought the other side was treating them unfairly. But he did a really good job of navigating the different perspectives, the different feelings, and helping the parties deliberate through that process.”
“Sometimes the personalities in litigation can be large, but Gideon puts those to the side and really gets to an interest-based mediation. He really takes the time to figure out what are the interests of the various parties, where do they converge, and once those things are identified, it really greases the skids towards reaching a resolution. He wasn’t afraid to mention strengths and weaknesses of sides’ cases. But he doesn’t beat you over the heard. There are times when you need somebody who’s got a sledgehammer and is hitting both sides over the head, but I like working with somebody who’s collaborative because we can have a more civilized and rational discussion, and that goes a long way towards allowing my clients to make certain concessions where they need to. And it’s been my experience that Gideon is highly collaborative.”
“Our firm dealt with a heavily litigated (and contentious) environmental matter for a couple of years. The sides agreed to mediation and defense counsel suggested using Gideon. After reviewing his credentials, he seemed knowledgeable in the field and his diverse litigation background gave me comfort to try him out. From the outset, Gideon was engaged and communicative with the sides before the mediation date. He worked to lay out a foundation towards resolution and honed in on the key issues. During the actual mediation date, Gideon demonstrated his knowledge of the law, acting as a facilitator at times, educator at others, with the focus on overcoming the roadblocks in our case. He patiently took in the day’s worth of back and forth and put a proposal on the table that was eventually accepted by all parties. Given the fact that very few mediators actually know the environmental realm, and also given Gideon’s balanced approach, I know we will use him again and I am certain opposing counsel (that want to get cases resolved) will also be on board.”
“Initially, my opponent offered Gideon as a candidate to mediate the conflict but I considered that a stroke of luck given what I knew of him through others. This gave him significant credibility with both sides. He also worked overtime to ensure both sides were convinced that he had no favoritism and was seeking resolution based on the claims, the judge’s prior rulings, and what likely would be admissible evidence. He was a consummate professional in that regard, and very particular about confidentiality. On top of that, his interpersonal skills dealing with some very difficult opposing attorneys (a main reason the case had stale-mated), seemed to me to integrate both his experienced skill, and his brand of personality and psychology, in order to reach a resolution that, ultimately, was agreed to by the parties. Both these issues — his deep expertise in a complex environmental matter — coupled with the right dose of the right kind of “bedside manner” — allowed the parties to settle amicably without incurring very costly legal and expert fees between the mediation date and the trial date.”
“Gideon Kracov served as our mediator in a complex environmental law citizen suit brought under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in federal court in Los Angeles against a construction company that provides contract services to a utility provider. The defendant’s activities at a service yard facility created significant site contamination with dioxins and pentachlorophenol. The case involved very complicated issues concerning the risk posed by this on-site contamination to a nearby sensitive wetlands slough. After years of extensive litigation, including multiple rounds of written discovery and depositions and a series of settlement mediation meetings conducted by a magistrate judge, the case still had not settled and was approaching the eve of trial. With a court order compelling the parties to engage in an additional round of settlement mediation before trial, the parties retained Mr. Kracov to serve as our mediator.
“Mr. Kracov proved to be a remarkably quick study, reviewing lengthy expert reports and briefing materials to be fully informed in our mediation sessions. He demonstrated great skill as a mediator in grasping the parties’ competing interests and motivations. He was further very skillful in helping the parties to graphs their comparative risks and continuing to trial and in steering the parties to common ground. When the matter did not settle after our first nearly all day mediation session, he demonstrated great commitment and resolve in following up with the parties and continuing to get them to work towards a settlement resolution. In the end, on the day before trial, the parties were able to reach agreement on a comprehensive consent decree which obligates the defendant to engage in further site remediation and cleanup activity to the level of satisfaction of an appropriate regulatory agency. Mr. Kracov’s skilled and energetic mediation was greatly helpful in securing this mutually acceptable resolution to what had been an intractable litigation conflict. I would highly recommend him as a mediator. His thorough, but congenial style helps make stressful situations more workable. I would especially recommend him as a mediator for complex environmental matters, these cases involve specialized law and science and finding mediators with the requisite background to maximize their effectiveness can be far from easy.”
“I thought Gideon did an excellent job managing a difficult mediation. We were able to get to a tentative settlement in a case that has been going for several years.”
