Agricultural

Dispute resolution alternatives (such as mediation) are an effective way to settle disputes in various agricultural and agribusiness matters as well as cases involving parties adversely affected by the actions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). We can help public or private agricultural producers and their creditors resolve disputes confidentially in a non-adversarial setting, while avoiding costly and tedious litigation proceedings.

Areas of Expertise:

• Farm Loans
• Price Support Payments
• Wetlands Determinations
• Conservation Programs’ Compliance
• Agricultural Credit
• Rural Water Loan Programs
• Rural Housing or Business Loans
• Crop Insurance
• Pesticides

Find a Neutral—

Business / Commercial Disputes

In today’s global marketplace, commercial disputes are growing in number and complexity as most businesses face intense competition. These businesses must manage the risks and challenges of operating locally and internationally to prevent minor disputes from evolving into heated disagreements that could result in unnecessary liability or litigation.

Our neutrals seek to provide clients with a strategic approach in resolving high-stake commercial disputes by focusing on underlying business interests of the parties. We aim to formulate and facilitate discussions that will result in amicable resolutions. We empower the parties so that they regard us as experienced advisors who understand their businesses, care about their visions, and seek to settle their disputes.

Areas of Expertise:

• Complex Business Disputes
• Business & Commercial Transactions
• Formation & Governance Issues
• Breach of Contract 
• Shareholder Rights
• Business Tort Claims
• Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
• Asset Acquisitions & Divestitures

Find a Neutral—

Commercial Banking / Finance

In today’s complex and turbulent financial environment, we acknowledge the economic challenges that most individuals and businesses face. We also recognize the need for dispute resolution methods that can resolve foreseeable banking or finance disputes with the purpose of facilitating a leveraged transaction.

Our commercial banking and finance neutrals are familiar with the entire capital finance structure, understand the requirements and expectations of such transactions, therefore, are keen to minimize ‘transactional tension’ to resolve your dispute.

Areas of Expertise:

• Securities & Bank Regulation
• Syndicated, Bilateral & Club Loans
• Subprime Lending
• Leveraged Cash Flow and Investment Grade Financings
• Real Estate Acquisition & Project Finance
• Financial Derivatives
• Structured Finance
• Asset Financing, Securitization & Management
• Multi-Currency & Multi-Jurisdictional Finance

Find a Neutral—

Construction

The lifecycle of construction projects can become highly complex, often posing challenges, risks and delays in successfully completing a project. Frequently when an injury or loss occurs, a construction dispute escalates beyond the owner and contractor to include other parties which in itself creates further delays and litigation risks.

We have a dedicated set of neutrals devoted to handling construction disputes involving project finance, contractual obligations, entitlement issues, insolvency, insurance and performance issues. Our neutrals work closely with all parties involved to help prevent, administer and expeditiously resolve construction related disputes.

Our project neutrals often work with owners, architects, engineers, design professionals, developers, property managers, general contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers, product manufacturers, lenders, investors, state agencies, municipalities, and other affiliated consultants and service providers, to seamlessly facilitate resolutions.

Areas of Expertise:

• Construction Delay & Disruption Claims
• Bid Preparation & Protests
• Cost Overruns
• Default Terminations
• Construction Defects
• Mechanic’s Liens
• Workmanship Claims
• Payment & Performance Bond Claims / Surety
• Environmental Contamination (sick building, mold, CEQA, NEPA),
• Product Liability
• Insurance Coverage
• Errors & Omissions / Professional Negligence
• Building Code Compliance

Find a Neutral—

Education

We have recruited select education neutrals who focus on resolving complex legal issues and internal disputes facing public and private colleges, universities and other academic institutions. We also offer our higher education clients strategic dispute resolution programs to help avoid, resolve and manage foreseeable internal and external dispute claims by custom-designing ADR strategies to fit their organizational cultures.

Areas of Expertise:

• Faculty/Staff Promotion & Tenure
• Governance
• Regulatory Affairs
• Student Affairs & Financial Aid
• Protection of Academic Freedom
• Americans with Disabilities Act (Title II)
• Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504)
• Foreign Student Issues
• Special Education Issues

Find a Neutral—

Elder / Adult Abuse

Unfortunately when people age, they become further vulnerable to abuse, neglect, isolation, exploitation or abandonment. Many people discount the feelings and rights of the elderly because they associate aging with physiological, psychological and social disability.

We provide dispute resolution services to dependent adults (persons who are between 18 and 65 years old, who have physical or mental limitations that restrict their ability to carry out normal activities or to protect their rights) and elders (individuals over the age of 65) who have been victims of unwarranted and unfair abuse.

Our neutrals are dedicated to the prevention and resolution of elder and dependent adult abuse disputes against care facilities, caregivers and other custodial providers who have acted wrongfully.

Areas of Expertise:

• Fraud
• Neglect
• Physical or Psychological Abuse
• Financial or Material Abuse
• Sexual Abuse
• Intentional Wrongdoing or Harm
• Violation of the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act
• Claims Against Nursing Homes

Find a Neutral—

Entertainment

Establishing our agency in “the entertainment capital of the world – Los Angeles” necessitates that we assemble a select team of neutrals who possess a combination of dispute resolution strategies rooted in substantive entertainment law knowledge, along with profound relationships within the entertainment industry. Our distinguished neutrals understand the inherent and underlying issues of the multimedia industries (music, motion picture, television, sports, internet, digital media, publishing, theatre, etc) and offer clients an opportunity to resolve various disputes in an accelerated, cost-effective and confidential manner.

Areas of Expertise:

• Contracts / Transactional Matters
• Copyright & Licensing
• False Advertising
• Unfair Competition
• First Amendment
• Defamation
• Internal Investigations

Find a Neutral—

Equine Law

Horse enthusiasts are rather emotionally and financially attached to their animals and often seek to resolve disputes and disagreements in the least adversarial setting possible. Sensitive to these needs, we are proud to offer a distinctive dispute resolution niche tailored to the ongoing needs of the equine industry and horse-related businesses. Our neutrals are skillful in resolving equine disputes over all activities dealing with horses, horse welfare, equestrian sports, riders and rider safety. We cater our ADR services to horse owners, hobbyists, breeders, riders, jockeys, vendors, insurers and any client of the equine industry. Our neutrals have had experience with many breeds of horses, including Thoroughbred, Arabian, Appaloosa, Quarterhorse and Standardbred.

Areas of Expertise:

• General Equine or Horse Disputes
• Lease Agreements
• Breeding or Boarding Contracts
• Equine Real Estate & Ranch Disputes
• Syndication Agreements
• Embryo Transfer Agreements
• Purchase or Installment Sale Agreements
• Equine Insurance & Disputes
• Mare Lease or Purchase Disputes
• Equine Veterinary Malpractice

Family Law

Many divorcing couples express frustration over the adversarial legal system where feelings of rage, anxiety and sorrow are often exacerbated by the process and relative high costs. Divorce, child custody and other family law matters — ranging from dividing property and debt to custody of children and support obligations — involve some of the most complex and personal situations an individual encounters in a lifetime.

Fortunately, despite these feelings, divorcing couples do have choices that can help them control the process and the outcome. Alternative dispute resolution techniques such as mediation, arbitration, and collaborative practice allow for important decisions to be made with the help of a skilled neutral who can open discussion of the facts and conduct interest-based negotiations to clear the air, generate options and create a positive context for settlement. These non-adversarial methods offer an innovative and effective way for couples to settle dissolution of marriage actions in a dignified and private manner.  

Areas of Expertise:

• Child Custody, Visitation & Support
• Parenting Arrangements
• Property Distribution
• Debt Allocation
• Spousal Maintenance (Alimony)
• Tax Considerations
• Domestic Violence  
• Abduction Issues

Find a Neutral—

Gaming, Hotels & Hospitality

In the wake of today’s economic uncertainty, highly competitive environment, ever-changing regulatory challenges and expanding consumer expectations, the Gaming, Hotels and Hospitality industries are faced with unique challenges in mitigating business risk and remaining savvy.

Our neutrals possess extensive experience resolving high-stakes disputes and amicably navigating the challenges of distressed situations between owners, managers, hotel companies, franchisors, franchisees, developers, REITs, equity investors, lenders, operating companies and management companies with respect to hotels and other hospitality and leisure businesses around the world. Our neutrals recognize the confidential nature of such multifaceted commercial relationships and empower parties to reach favorable settlements.

Areas of Expertise:

• Casino Development & Financing
• Casino Operations & Management Agreements
• Franchising
• Gaming Licensing & Regulatory
• Gaming Manufacturing & Distributing
• Intellectual Property
• Internet Gaming
• Real Estate & Resort Development
• Environmental & Land Use
• Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A)
• Privacy and Data Security
• Leisure Operations

Find a Neutral—

Green Building

As stewards of our environment we recognize that green building and environmental sustainability are becoming commonplace. The environmental effects of climate change and ever-evolving sustainable design practices have introduced a myriad of legal obligations and liabilities that require confidential resolutions to avoid project development deadlocks.

Our agency provides you Green Building neutrals and industry experts who are LEED Accredited Professionals (LEED AP) and often have professional backgrounds and licenses in the urban planning, architecture, engineering and construction industries. They are able to navigate through complex project development issues and reach amicable settlements to maximize opportunities and minimize unnecessary cost and risk.

Areas of Expertise:

• Green Building or Leasing
• Climate Change (AB 32 Policy)
• LEED Standards’ Disputes
• Sustainable Project Financing
• Natural & Organic Products
• Renewable Energy
• CleanTech
• Regulatory Compliance
• Greenhouse Gas Regulation
• Brownfields Redevelopment (Land Use, Wetland Disturbance)

Find a Neutral—

Healthcare

Healthcare is one of the fastest growing and most heavily regulated industries in the United States, representing approximately 16% of the national gross domestic product (GDP). The ever-changing and rapidly expanding sector (especially under the current presidential administration) along with the growing demands of an aging population, further demand the delivery of interdisciplinary dispute resolution services.

Our neutrals recognize that healthcare is a personal matter, a profession and a business and we’re mindful of the compound array of compliance, transactional, and litigation issues that can complicate day-to-day operations. With these realities in mind, we offer custom ADR services to health service providers, managed care organizations; pharmaceutical, biotech and device companies; DME suppliers, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, medical groups, physician-owned companies, professional associations and research institutions.

Areas of Expertise:

• Clinical Trials
• FDA Regulatory Due Diligence
• Physician-Hospital Disputes
• Hospital-Vendor Disputes
• Healthcare Fraud Claims
• Group Practice Problems
• Workplace Conflicts
• Clinical Ethical Issues
• Regulatory Compliance
• HIPAA Privacy, Security & EDI Rules
• Medicare & Medicaid Claims
• Conflict of Interest / Stark Abuse 

Find a Neutral—

Information Technology (IT)

In the wake of high-tech innovation and development, Information Technology (IT) has gained unique popularity as information dissemination and transmission has increased in speed and volume. Businesses are constantly evolving with this digital convergence by taking advantage of IT innovations to offer superior products and services. Nevertheless, such rapid growth has also resulted in fundamental, yet disruptive changes to the core business models of most companies in the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) sectors.

Our neutrals leverage their substantive information technology law knowledge and industry expertise to help you navigate inevitable complex legal and commercial disputes.

Areas of Expertise:

• Protection of Computer Software
• Multimedia & Online Publication Disputes
• Electronic Commerce
• Outsourcing Claims
• Internet Access & Usage
• Privacy & Security Disputes
• Digital Information Storage
• Domain Name Disputes



Find a Neutral—

Insurance Coverage

As managing, mitigating and insuring underlying risk has evolved toward greater structure in the global marketplace, so has the need for resolving varied and complicated disputes through other dispute resolution instruments beyond traditional litigation. Among other business matters, insurance and reinsurance companies must now deal with complex class actions, bankruptcies, insurance insolvencies, cross-border disputes, and governmental investigations – all specialized proceedings – requiring specialized knowledge and experience.

Our neutrals have the expertise to handle the challenging matters of international arbitrations, coverage disputes, class actions, antitrust matters, white collar crime investigations and securities litigation involving insurers and reinsurers, both contentious and non-contentious. They can handle insurance and reinsurance arbitrations around the world, particularly in major insurance centers such as New York, London and Bermuda.

Areas of Expertise:

• Pre-Contractual Disclosure
• Alternative Risk Transfer
• Claim & Coverage Disputes
• Class Actions
• RICO Claims
• Privacy & Product Disputes
• Life Settlements
• Property & Casualty Insurance
• Reinsurance Disputes
• Risk Retention Disputes
• Commutations

Find a Neutral—

Intellectual Property (IP)

Long-term business success critically depends on strategically protecting your intellectual property portfolio. We realize that intellectual property can be a source of both significant revenue along with considerable risk for today’s businesses and their success.

As infringement and counterfeiting cases have become common, companies have seen the potential costs involved in protecting their intellectual property rights grow. In addition, they also recognize that quick and decisive action is required to secure injunctive relief in order to recover remedies such as monetary damages, and that litigation proceedings often delay the process while exposing internal trade secrets.

Our experienced IP neutrals offer clients a broad range of dispute resolution techniques to quickly and confidentially resolve their intellectual property disputes while considerably reducing the cost and risks associated with burdensome litigation proceedings.

Areas of Expertise:

• Copyright Protection 
• Counterfeit, Diversion and Privacy 
• Intellectual Property Licensing
• IP Infringement Claims
• Trade Secret & Unfair Competition
• Anti-Piracy & Anti-Counterfeiting
• Patent Protection  
• Trademark Protection

Find a Neutral—

International Trade

To successfully compete in today’s global marketplace, companies must strategically conduct cross-border trade and commerce while remaining mindful of domestic and international statutes and regulations governing exports, imports, international finance, overseas investments and the general conduct of business in or involving foreign jurisdictions. Increasingly, many international businesses are utilizing dispute resolution alternatives – such as arbitration – in an effort to avoid the national courts of their counterparts, ensure maximum enforceability of the ultimate rendered decision, expedite the resolution of such disputes, avoid excessive discovery, minimize costs and avail themselves of a range of other advantages not found in the courtroom.

Our international dispute resolution neutrals possess in-depth knowledge of both the law and the political landscape across multiple jurisdictions, and have experience with all of the major international arbitration bodies, including the ICC, LCIA, ICDR, ICSID, UNCITRAL, CIETAC, HKIAC, SCC, NAFTA and CAFTA, as well as ad hoc proceedings.

Areas of Expertise:

• Bilateral & Regional Trade Agreements
• Customs Compliance & Enforcement
• Exports Controls
• Economic Sanctions & Embargoes
• OFAC and PATRIOT ACT Compliance
• Asset Blocking & Money Laundering
• Regulation of Foreign Investment
• WTO Matters & Trade Policy
• Corporate & Commercial Matters
• Bank Secrecy Act
• Intellectual Property 

Find a Neutral—

Labor Matters / Employment

As the U.S. labor market continues to evolve in the wake of globalization and current economic challenges, it is imperative for employers to acclimatize to changing workforce demographics, the rapid impact of technological advancements on the workforce / workplace, and delicate labor-management relations disputes. The timely recognition, prompt resolution and ongoing restoration of workforce conflicts arising from the employment relationship are key requirements for all organizations to assess and effectively address.

Our neutrals understand the business impact of labor and employment issues, and possess the necessary subject-matter expertise to recognize, resolve and restore workplace challenges covering the entire range of labor and employment issues; workforce reductions; eDiscovery systems and processes; anti-harassment matters; politically sensitive employment-related matters; and multi-jurisdictional collective and class actions.

Areas of Expertise:

• EEOC
• OSHA Compliance & Reviews
• Business Immigration
• Affirmative Action
• Pay Equity & Diversity
• Labor Matters & Union Avoidance
• Organizational Ombuds
• Discrimination Counseling (ADA, Title VII cases)
• Labor Relations
• Employment Class Actions
• ERISA & Employee Benefits

Find a Neutral—

Personal Injury

Personal injury refers to injury which is caused unintentionally by another’s failure to use reasonable care, and it is a complex and controversial area of law that falls under tort law. A tort is a civil wrong recognized by law as grounds to sue the wrongdoer for damages. Personal injury cases can involve everyone from individuals to insurance companies to large corporations, where the majority of personal injury claims settle outside of court to avoid the costly and high-stakes litigation process.

Our neutrals are proficiently trained to negotiate personal injury settlements through effective dispute resolution processes such as mediation and arbitration. These processes allow multiple parties at the table to move past predetermined position-based figures to interest-based negotiations that ‘humanize’ the process and allow for better resolution of the claims. Often, the defense lawyers and adjusters become more willing to compensate a human who has suffered, or is suffering, than they are a stack of medical records. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Motor Vehicle Accidents
• Catastrophic Injury
• Slip & Fall Accidents
• Workers Compensation
• Medical Malpractice
• Product Liability
• Dog Attacks
• Nursing Home Abuse
• Asbestos & Mesothelioma
• Wrongful Death

Find a Neutral—

Professional Malpractice

In today’s litigious society, professionals bound by established codes of conduct and whose words, actions or deeds carry with them a certain duty to the public, are increasingly exposed to greater risk than the average person. Nothing can be more damaging to the reputation of a professional than an accusation or charge of negligence or malpractice. Professional malpractice is the umbrella term for all kinds of malpractice — medical, dental, legal, accounting, financial, engineering, etc — where the professional is accused of failing to meet an expected level of care or certain professional standards.

Our neutrals recognize that mediation or arbitration of professional malpractice lawsuits can be the best choice over legal proceedings that tend to further complicate negotiations. Our neutrals can skillfully settle claims where one party is often angry at the challenge to his or her professional competence while the other party is often angered by the physical or financial injury.

Areas of Expertise:

• Breach of Duty
• Conflicts of Interest
• Errors and Omissions (E&O)
• Failure to Comply
• Fraud
• Negligence
• Fiduciary Malfeasance
• Improper Handling of a Case
• Statute of Limitations
• Unauthorized Settlement

Find a Neutral—

Real Estate

The ever-changing real estate sector has long been entrenched with complex legal issues and compound transactional disputes. Now more than ever, the real estate downturn and imminent global economic recovery poses new sets of challenges that real estate players must accept and address to succeed in their respective businesses.

From dirt to dollars, our real estate neutrals utilize a cross-disciplinary approach to deliver innovative and practical dispute resolution techniques to solve real estate disputes. We offer sophisticated transactional and regulatory experience complemented by extensive expertise in the areas of zoning, entitlements, land use planning and environmental matters, as well as corporate, tax and securities regulation. Our ADR services address all facets of real estate ownership, development, use, investment, management and financing.

Areas of Expertise:

• Acquisitions, Dispositions & Exchanges
• Affordable Housing
• Homeowners’ Association (HOA) Disputes
• Eminent Domain & Condemnation
• Brokerage/Dual Agency Disputes
• Real Estate Developmet
• Real Estate Taxation
• Land Use & Zoning
• Project Finance
• Private Equity & Joint Ventures
• Real Estate Leasing
• Restructurings & Workouts

Find a Neutral—