Curriculum Vitae
Experience
Mediator, arbitrator and ADR provider in private practice, working for private parties as well as in connection with the Superior Courts of San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, Marin, San Mateo and Sonoma Counties, the U.S. District Court (N.D. Cal.), the First District Court of Appeal (Cal. App.), the U.S. Postal Service, Kaiser Permanente, and the National Association of Securities Dealers.
I have conducted hundreds of mediations, arbitrations and neutral evaluations in a diverse array of disputes, generally in the context of commercial litigation but in other settings as well. Issues raised include breach of contract, partnership, employment, real estate, real estate partition, insurance coverage/bad faith, fraud and other business torts, professional negligence and fee disputes, intellectual property, construction, probate, securities, consumer fraud, landlord-tenant, personal injury, note collection and work out, defamation, civil rights, embezzlement, simultaneous civil and criminal proceedings, and others.
I have a flexible style in which I try to adjust to the needs of the parties and the situation, as opposed to using a single approach for every dispute. I have been trained in different techniques from which I can select and adjust as appropriate. Most of the matters I have worked on have been in litigation with attorneys participating, but I have also handled matters directly between disputants without attorneys. I consult with all participants concerning how best to conduct each proceeding.
Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law, Hastings College of Law, teaching Alternative Dispute Resolution and Negotiation & Settlement courses
Litigator with Keker & Van Nest (formerly Keker & Brockett and Keker, Brockett & Van Nest). 1990-1993 Managing Partner.
I represented clients in a variety of disputes, including commercial cases concerning insurance coverage and bad faith, real estate, employment, partnership, securities, contract, fraud and other business torts, work outs, defamation, and civil rights and criminal defense. My practice was split evenly between representing plaintiffs and defendants. I handled cases in trial before both federal and California state courts, as well as matters before appellate courts and both the California and the United States Supreme Courts.
Reported cases include Neary v. Regents, 3 Cal. 4 th 273 (1992), and NORML v. Mullen, 828 F. 2d 536 (9 th Cir. 1987).
Judicial Law Clerk to Chief United States District Judge Edward T. Gignoux, D. Maine.
Education
Training
2001
1999
1999
1999
1998
1997
1996
Completed 20 hour training in appellate mediation for the First District Court of Appeal
Completed NASD Arbitration Chairperson training
Completed 8 hour training with Gary Friedman on mediation Working Directly and Simultaneously with All Parties and their Lawyers
Completed 20 hour mediation in transformational model for internal Post Office disputes
Completed 16 hour mediation training conducted by U.S. District Court (N.D. Cal.), in addition to 8 hour training in Early Neutral Evaluation from U.S. District Court
Completed 18 hour advanced mediation course by John Paul Jones Group
Completed 40 hour mediator training In Commercial Mediation by Appropriate Dispute Resolution Applications (ADRA), co-sponsored by San Francisco Bar Association
Memberships
California Dispute Resolution Council
The Mediation Society (founding member and Member, Board of Directors 2001-, President 2005-2006)
California State Bar
Bar of United States Supreme Court
Publications & Presentations
- What Every Advocate Needs to Know about Mediation Ethics, Presentation of BASF (January 2007); Presentation of BASF and UC Hastings College of Law (January 2006)
- What Every Advocate Needs to Know about ADR Ethics, Presentation of BASF and UC Hastings College of Law (January 2005)
- Bay Area Court ADR - Developments in programs and confidentiality of mediation, San Francisco Attorney (April/May 2000)
- Charting a Course to Dispute Resolution - A summary of Bay Area court ADR programs, San Francisco Attorney (Dec. 1997)
- Note, The Involuntary Commitment of Minors: Where to Draw the Line on Parental Authority, 66 Calif. Law Review 344 (1978)
- Grudge Duel in Java, Parent’s Press (March, 1996)
- Subject of article: ADR Provider of the Month, Alameda Co. Bar Ass'n Bulletin (Dec. 1997)
Personal Information
References
Available upon request.
©2007 David J. Meadows