“I want to take the opportunity to express my deep appreciation for the extraordinary job you did in mediating the case . . . which was not an easy one and had a lot of moving parts . . .
“. . . You were fully conversant with and had a firm grasp on all the legal issues . . . and had digested the parties’ mediation briefs in their entirety and were fully prepared to analyze and discuss contested points . . .
” . . .You exhibited a personal style that conveyed your empathy and concern for the views and internal experiences of the parties . . . which created a powerful foundation that helped the parties bridge the substantial gap . . .”
— William A. Reich, former DIR/DLSE Attorney (more HERE)
Mediation Approach
Tom employs both facilitative and evaluative tools in mediation. The views of each participant are heard, understood and effectively communicated throughout the session. Once trust is established, Tom shifts the dialogue to issue identification, information sharing, and case-specific merits-based evaluation including risks and costs of further litigation. Tom discusses these matters with all participants in a direct, informed, respectful and caring manner. A mediator’s striking the right tone matters. When the parties are confident in the process, they re-examine their respective positions and gain momentum towards settlement. Ultimately, as issues narrow and resolution begins to take shape, Tom keeps the parties focused so they achieve a settlement genuinely desired by all.
About Tom
Tom was born and raised in Wisconsin, and moved to California after receiving a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration (Finance) to attend USC Law School. After gaining admission to the California bar, Tom has worked as an advocate and/or mediator in a variety of cases, including:
- Wage and Hour (individual and class actions)
- Wrongful Termination and Other Employment
- Real Estate (sales, nondisclosure, HOA, partition and adjoining owner issues)
- Business (contract litigation, business tort and co-owner disputes)
- Personal Injury (auto, premises liability, negligence, intentional tort, product liability, professional negligence and governmental tort liability issues)
- Estate Litigation (undue influence, testamentary capacity and questioned documents)