ADR Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of retired Court of Appeal Justice Thomas L. Willhite, Jr. to our panel of neutrals. Justice Willhite brings 18 years of distinguished experience on the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, to his new role with ADR Services, Inc. As... read more
[Originally published in the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journal, November 23, 2022] The insertion of a confidentiality clause (and its cousin, the non-disparagement provision) into a settlement agreement may convert an otherwise nontaxable settlement into a taxable one. In sexual harassment claims, an employer’s request to keep the... read more
Mediator Richard J. Collier completed a doctorate in English and worked as a professor for seven years in the English department at UC Berkeley before he enrolled in law school. “At a certain level, being a trial lawyer involves understanding what you’ve been reading, and what you’ve been studying and... read more
ADR Services, Inc. is proud to announce that ten neutrals have been named 2023 Super Lawyers (Southern California) in Alternative Dispute Resolution. Super Lawyers selects attorneys using a patented multiphase selection process. Peer nominations and evaluations are combined with independent research. Each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer... read more
[Originally published in the January 2023 issue of Orange County Lawyer] Court rules differ, judges differ, court clerks differ, and lawyers differ, but there is one constant throughout California courts: most civil cases settle. I have heard estimates from various court officials putting the settlement range at 95% to 99.5%.... read more
ADR Services, Inc., California’s premier alternative dispute resolution firm, is proud to announce that it has recently been honored with the prestigious Alameda County Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award for Best Law Firm 2023. This coveted award recognizes firms which have made significant contributions to the legal profession within the... read more
ADR Services, Inc. is pleased to announce that retired California Court of Appeal Justice Franklin D. Elia (Ret.) has joined our exclusive panel of neutrals. Justice Elia recently retired from the California Court of Appeal, Sixth Appellate District, where he was the longest serving Justice in the Court’s history. His... read more
ADR Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the addition of Certified Family Law Specialist, David A. Fink, Esq. to our panel of distinguished neutrals. Mr. Fink brings over 33 years of experience to resolving family conflict. Initially trained as a mediator in 1992, since 2008, Mr. Fink has focused exclusively... read more
ADR Services, Inc. is proud to welcome Comm. Renee Wilson (Ret.) to our panel of distinguished neutrals. Commissioner Wilson served 22 years as a Commissioner for the Orange County Superior Court dedicated to family law assignments. During this time, Commissioner Wilson completed thousands of family law trials involving property division,... read more
After 12 years on the ADR Services, Inc. roster of neutrals, retired judge James C. Emerson said his view of the work he does as a mediator and arbitrator hasn’t changed a whole lot. “It was always an opportunity to try and resolve cases, and I still see it that... read more
