Lee Jay Berman

Practice Areas

In over 30 years as a neutral, and 3,000 cases, Mr. Berman enjoys the rare pleasure of having successfully resolved a wide variety of cases:

> Business and Commercial: Several hundred cases involving:

• Contract Disputes

• Partnership / Shareholder Disputes

• Trade Secrets and Unfair Competition

• Franchise Disputes

• Founder-Investor Disputes

• Mergers & Acquisitions

• Mass Consumer Claims

• Bankruptcy

> Real Property, Construction, and Land Use: Several hundred cases involving:

• Land Use

• Environmental

• Natural Resource Protection

• Complex Transactions / Disclosure / Brokerage

• High-End Neighbors and Homeowner Associations

• Earth Movement

• Construction Claims and Close-Outs

• Construction Defects

• Design Defects

> Employment/Workplace: Many hundreds of cases involving:

• Wrongful Termination, Discrimination, Harassment

• Whistle-Blowers and Retaliation

• Wage and Hour

• Workplace Disputes with Senior Executives and Top Performers

> Entertainment: Over 100 cases involving

• High-Profile Celebrities

• Intellectual Property

• Music Royalties

• New Media and Custom Software Development

• High-Tech Start Ups

• Partnership disputes (rock bands, orchestras, writing teams)

• Founder-Investor Disputes

• Film, Television, Music, and Gaming Contracts

> Personal Injury and Legal and Medical Malpractice: Several hundred cases involving:

• Catastrophic Injuries and Death (vehicle, trucking, railroad, property liability, construction sites)

• Claims for Medical and Dental Malpractice (including many wrongful deaths)

• Legal Malpractice and Other Professional Liability

> General Civil: Several hundred other cases, including:

• Insurance coverage

• Intellectual property

• Health Care, Elder Abuse (physical and financial)

• Probate and Trusts

Complex Case Experience:

Successfully mediated over 3,000 civil mediations, before, during and after litigation, specializing in complex, multi-party litigation including business litigation, construction and construction defect, wage and hour, mass consumer claims, product liability, medical malpractice and wrongful death. Sample cases have included:

> Single plaintiff v. multiple defendants: including construction defect and product liability claims with anywhere from 4 to 30 defendants, including complex insurance issues involving time on risk, coverage disputes, excess and surplus lines, reinsurance, AI endorsements, indemnity provisions, SIRs, deductibles, TPAs, and title insurance, and complex negotiation issues including comparative negotiation (“looking sideways”), global contingencies, White waivers, and more.

> Multiple plaintiff v. single defendant, including mass claims, such as large groups of students suing private colleges for claims of fraudulent misrepresentation, fraud in the inducement; wage and hour claims; and auto roll-over cases with multiple deaths and/or extended hospital stays and limited insurance; and classes not certified, including all kinds of similarly situated plaintiffs.

> Complex Multi-party all suing/complaining against each other, including claims for injunctive relief, specific performance, fraud, RICO and more, involving such issues as environmental clean-up, real estate transactions

with buyer-seller-escrow-Realtors-title disputes, complex commercial disputes, transactions, insurance disputes, and construction disputes that involve indemnity provisions.

> Simple Multi-party including groups with diverse interests and perspectives, that would end up in complex litigation, such as members of a rock-and-roll band, shareholders, and partners, where everyone would be suing or arbitrating against everyone, and when confidentiality is paramount, including work teams and trade secrets.

Career

Mr. Berman is uniquely qualified and experienced in the field of mediation, which leads to his consistently posting resolutions rates over 94% every year. His deep understanding and experience with the mediation process, risk analysis, legal rights and remedies, court systems, negotiation theory, people, motivations, difficult personalities, and the neuroscience of what drives people in conflict, along with his unique experiences in and out of the court system, law schools, mediation rooms and training judges and mediators all over the world are the primary reasons for his being chosen to resolve the most complex legal matters and highly emotional and intractable disputes. Mr. Berman organizes parties and issues into logical, digestible order, and he is a very quick study who rapidly identifies where the conflicts are and in what order they need to be resolved. For this reason, he is frequently engaged to manage the most complex disputes with multiple parties, multiple layers of insurance, cross-complaints between all parties, and complex business and financial issues. He is also highly effective with emotionally charged disputes where one or more of the parties requires extra attention, or where the information is highly confidential, complex or sensitive.

Professional Memberships

Legal and ADR Organizations:

International Academy of Mediators, Distinguished Fellow, 2003 - present

National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, Charter Diplomat, 2010-present (Distinguished Neutral of the Year 2017)

American Bar Assn. Section on Dispute Resolution, 2002 - present, National Chair, Training Committee, 2003-2007

California Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, Charter Diplomat, 2007-present (Advisory Board Member)

State Bar of California, Standing Committee on ADR, 2006-2009; Ethics Subcommittee,1998-2000; Chair, International ADR Subcommittee; Legislation Committee; Ethics and Standards Committee

California Dispute Resolution Council, 1995 - present; Board of Directors, Executive Committee, Mediation Legislation Committee, Chair of Qualifications and Standards Committee, 1997-2003

California Judicial Council drafting committee Rules of Court for mediators

Mediators Beyond Borders, Charter Mediator Member, 2009 - present

Southern California Mediation Association, 1994-2018, 2021-present, Chair Courts Committee, 2005

Los Angeles County Bar Association, Litigation, Real Property, Employment, and ADR Sections, 1994 - present

Beverly Hills Bar Association, Litigation, Real Property and ADR Sections, 2000-present

MC3 Mediator Certification, 2024

Private Mediation Panels:

American Arbitration Association – “Master Mediator” for Employment Mediation; National Registry of Mediators & Arbitrators on their Business/Commercial, Construction, Entertainment, and Insurance panels

International Centre for Dispute Resolution - Select Mediator

American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA) - Mediator and Arbitrator

BMC Associates - Business Mediation & Consulting, West Coast Director, Mediator, Partnership Charters

Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)

Hospital Association of Southern California

International Mediation Institute, The Netherlands - Certified Mediator (one of the first five in the U.S.)

MC3 - Certified Mediator

Police-Civilian facilitator with the Los Angeles Police Department and citizens of Los Angeles

Resolute Systems - Mediation Panelist

Court Mediation Panels:

United States Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California (Mediator of the Year 2007)

Superior Courts of Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Kern, and Sonoma Counties (California)

California Second District Court of Appeal - Mediation Panel

Publications

Books:

The Mediator’s Starter Kit, published independently, being released shortly by the American Bar Association

Becoming a Master Mediator, being released shortly by the American Bar Association

Edited chapters of A Litigator’s Guide to Effective Use of ADR in California, published by the California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB)

Television:

KTLA 5 Morning News, Los Angeles, Conflict Expert Commentator

Radio:

Co-Hosted a weekly radio talk show called “Talk It Over”, www.TalkItOverRadio.com for 2 ½ years

Regular appearances as mediator on “PAPA”, a cable television talk show for divorced fathers

Various podcasts, speaking on conflict resolution, leadership, and negotiation.

Print and Online Media:

Published articles on ADR and negotiation in:

•California Lawyer

•Advocate Magazine

•Los Angeles Lawyer

•Los Angeles Business Journal

•Santa Monica Business Journal

•Professional Insurance Association

•CaliforniaNeutrals.com

•Mediate.com

•Brilliant Results Magazine

•IAMed.org (Intl. Academy Mediators)

•So. California Mediation Assn. News

•Santa Barbara Lawyer, ADR Editor

Personal

In addition to his professional endeavors, Mr. Berman is an active supporter of the TJ Martell Foundation, raising money for cancer research, an annual supporting member of UCLA’s’ Bruin Athletic Club of the Wooden Athletic Fund and a member of the UCLA Chancellor’s Society. He is on the Board of the Jessica Berman Foundation, raising money for breast cancer research and cerebral palsy, and he served for many years as a Trustee of Olive Crest Homes for Abused Children, and as President of Kids at Heart.

Industry Sector Expertise

Because of his success and reputation as a mediator, Mr. Berman is highly sought after as a speaker and trainer, including:

Pepperdine Law School’s Director, Mediating the Litigated Case program, 2002-2009

ABA Dispute Resolution Section, National Chair, Training Committee, 2003-2007

American Institute of Mediation, founder, President, Core Faculty, 2008-present

Harvard Negotiation Insight Initiative at Harvard Law School, Advisory Board

California State University Northridge, Mediation program

International Development training and consulting in conjunction with the U.S. Dept. of Justice, U.S. Agency

for International Development (USAID), and Institute for the Study and Development of Legal Systems:

• Advanced Trainer, Croatia Mediation Project

• Mediation Trainer, Delhi High Court, India

• Commercial Mediation Trainer, Uzbekistan Ministry of Justice’s Legal Training Center

American Arbitration Association, Court Mediation Skills Trainer

Los Angeles County Bar Association, Advanced Mediation Skills Trainer

Institute for Mediation Studies, Founder, Director, 1994-2008

Institute of Conflict Management, Lead Trainer

California Contractor’s State Licensing Board – Trainer

California Continuing Education of the Bar, seminar leader on ADR Ethics & Advocacy

Adjunct Professor, guest lecturer, or trainer for several universities and law schools, including in part:

• Pepperdine School of Law, Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution – Malibu, CA

• University of Texas, Austin, Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution – Austin, TX

• Southern Methodist University, Graduate Program in Conflict Management – Plano, TX

• Southwestern Law School – Los Angeles, CA

• Sam Houston State University – Huntsville, TX

• Lipscomb University, Institute for Conflict Management – Nashville, TN

• Bond University – Brisbane, Australia

Awards

Experience

Began as a full-time mediator in 1994 (32 years ago, as of this writing). 3,000 mediations. There is no substitute for experience.