Cedric C. Chao
Founder and PrincipalChao ADR, PC
50 California St.Suite 1500
San Francisco, CA 94111 Phone: (415) 293-8088 Email: cedric.chao@chao-adr.com Website: www.chao-adr.com
ADR Services
Arbitration; Mediation; Special Master
Additional Services
International Disputes Consulting; Mock Arbitrations
Specialty Areas
Business; Commercial; Contracts; Energy; Intellectual Property; International; Real Estate; Technology.
ADR Experience/Training
Head of International Litigation and Arbitration Practice of Morrison and Foerster LLP (1996-2013); US Head of the International Arbitration Practice of DLA Piper LLP (2013-2019); sat as ICC, ICDR, AAA, and SIAC Arbitrator; Completed AAA, ICDR, and CIArb training; Lectured on arbitrators' jurisdiction, arbitrator ethics, discovery, remedies, expedited proceedings, adjusting advocacy to meet contrasting rules and expectations in US jury, domestic and international arbitration settings, etc.
Education
B.A. with Distinction and Departmental Honors (Economics), Stanford University; J.D., Harvard Law School
Licenses/Certification
California State Bar; admitted to practice in all US District Courts in California; Ninth, Fifth and Tenth US Circuit Courts of Appeal; US Supreme Court.
Affiliations
Life Member, American Law Institute; One of 31 Advisors to the ALI Project to Draft the Restatement of the US Law of International Commercial and Investment Treaty Arbitration; Former US Member, ICC Arbitration Commission; Member, AAA/ICDR Council; Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London); Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America; Former Chair, Litigation Section of the State Bar of California.
Honors/Awards
Named by The Daily Journal as one of California's "Top 100 Lawyers" (September 2018); Named by Best Lawyers in America as the "2018 San Francisco Arbitration Lawyer of the Year," and the "2020 San Francisco Mediation Lawyer of the Year;" Recipient of the Daily Journal's prestigious "2019 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year" award for thought leadership regarding international arbitration; Listed in Global Arbitration Review's "International Who's Who in Commercial Arbitration,” in Euromoney's Guide to World’s Leading Experts in Commercial Arbitration, in Euromoney's Guide to World’s Leading Litigation Lawyers, and in Northern California Super Lawyers (Thomson Reuters).
Articles/Publications
Co-author (with Hon. Daniel Weinstein) of the chapter on mediation in Thomson Reuters' treatise Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts (5th Ed. 2021); Author, "Six Trends that Will Shape Future International Commercial Disputes," Law 360 (2017); Author, "Should Technology Companies Arbitrate?" Corporate Counsel (2017). See www.chao-adr.com or LinkedIn page for speaking engagements and additional publications.
Elizabeth H. Shwiff CPA
Mediator Email: mking@sfbar.org Website: www.sfbar.org/adr-services/mediation-panelists/shwiff/ADR Services
Mediation.
Additional Services
Discovery Master; Project Neutral; Settlement Conference; Dispute Review.
Specialty Areas
Due Diligence of Life Insurance, Financial Planning, Fraud Investigations, Litigation Support Services, and Pension Plan Investment Products.
Gary L. Benton
US and International Arbitrator and MediatorGary Benton Arbitration
555 Bryant StreetSte. 523
Palo Alto, CA 94301 Phone: (650) 283-5949 Email: gary@garybentonarbitration.com Website: www.garybentonarbitration.com/
ADR Services
- Mediation
- Arbitration
Additional Services
Gary Benton is an internationally recognized Arbitrator and Mediator with expertise in international business, corporate investment, high tech, telecom, life sciences and emerging growth matters.
Specialty Areas
- Business
- Commercial
- Contracts
- Employment
- Energy
- Entertainment
- Intellectual Property
- International
- Intra– Organizational
- Partnership Disputes
- Patent/Trademark
- Securities
ADR Experience/Training
Over 35 years - has handled hundreds of cases around the world and serves on the panels of AAA, ICC, CPR and other leading ADR institutions in the US, Europe and Asia.
Appointed USDC NDCA Early Neutral Evaluator.
Education
AB cum laude, Washington University (Political Science, International Development and Earth & Planetary Sciences)
JD cum laude. Tulane University
Legal studies, UC Hastings (non-matriculated)
International studies, Stanford Univ. (non-matriculated)
Licenses/Certification
Qualified as a US lawyer (California and DC) and an English solicitor
Admitted US S.Ct., 9th Cir., Fed Cir. and all California federal district courts
Affiliations
Full time Arbitrator and Mediator;
Adjunct Professor of Law at Santa Clara University;
Founder/Chairman of Founder and Chairman of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center (SVAMC);
Previously a partner with Coudert Brothers and Pillsbury.
Honors/Awards
CIArb Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow; College of Commercial Arbitrators Fellow, NADN Appointee.
Named by the National Law Journal as one of the 25 ADR Trendsetters and Visionaries in the US. Also named to IAM 300: The World’s Leading IP Strategists.
Articles/Publications
See website www.garybentonarbitration.com for full publications listing
Additional affiliations: CIArb, CCA, NADN, ICCA, IBA, ABA, CLA, SVAMC, iTechLaw, AIPLA.
Co-Chair of the California Lawyers Association (CLA) International ADR Committee.
Kenneth S Korea
Law & ADR
101 S. Santa Cruz Ave #888US and International Arbitrator and Mediator
Los Gatos, CA 95030 Phone: (408) 712-2045 Email: ken@colev.law Website: www.colev.law
ADR Services
• Mediation
• Arbitration
• Special Master
Additional Services
Ken Korea is an internationally recognized arbitrator and mediator with expertise in high tech, telecom, patent, multi-jurisdictional dispute, FRAND/SEP, trade secret, transborder M&A matters.
Specialty Areas
• Business
• Commercial
• Contracts
• Fee Disputes
• Intellectual Property
• International
• Intra– Organizational
• Partnership Disputes
• Patent/Trademark
• Personal Injury
• Professional Malpractice
• Real Estate
ADR Experience/Training
Practiced law over 29 years as a judicial law clerk, federal prosecutor, patent litigator, technology transactions attorney, and inhouse counsel and serves as a temporary judge and settlement conference officer for San Francisco Superior Court.
Education
Northwestern University School of Law, Juris Doctor, 1993
Cornell University, BS (Electrical Engineering), 1988
Licenses/Certification
Admitted as a US lawyer in California and Florida (inactive)
Patent Attorney registered with US Patent & Trademark Office
Affiliations
American Arbitration Association (AAA)
California Arbitration
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)
KCAB INTERNATIONAL
Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center (SVAMC/Palo Alto)
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Honors/Awards
AM Strategy 300 Top IP Strategists
Top In-House Counsel, Daily Journal, San Francisco, CA.
Articles/Publications
See https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenkorea/recent-activity/shares/ for publications.
Malcolm Sher
Attorney / MediatorMalcolm Sher 4 Mediated Solutions
Email: mking@sfbar.org Website: www.sfbar.org/adr-services/mediation-panelists/sher/ADR Services
Mediation, Arbitration.
Additional Services
Neutral Evaluation.
Specialty Areas
Cross-Cultural Disputes; Business; Real Estate; Professional Malpractice; Contracts; Commercial; Employment; Personal Injury; Probate / Trust; Discrimination / Sexual Harassment.
ADR Experience/Training
Specialize in high emotional, cross-cultural disputes. Have mediated and arbitrated hundreds of cases in above specialty areas. Flexible approach. Respectful style. Willing to be evaluative, if appropriate. Training includes Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University, Symposium at Harvard Negotiation Project, Steve Rosenberg Advanced Training. Have been panelist on numerous ADR programs.
Education
LLB (Hons), Law, London University, 1969.
Licenses/Certification
California Bar, 1976; Solicitor of the Supreme Courts of England and Wales, 1972.
Affiliations
Bar Associations of San Francisco, Alameda and Contra Costa; ADRNC; National and California Academies of Distinguished Neutrals; The Mediation Society.
Honors/Awards
State Bar of California; ADR Standing Committee; Executive Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration, 2010-2015.
Articles/Publications
Recognizing and Validating Diversity in Mediation, San Francisco Daily Journal, June 2012; "The High Cost of Failing to Prepare for Mediation", SFDJ, February 2012; "The Tail Wagging the Dog: Strategies for Settling Attorneys Fees - Driven Cases", SFDJ, February 2011; "Partition Actions Come in Many Shapes and Sizes", SFDJ, April 21, 2010; "Consider Mediating Fee Disputes Gracefully", SFDJ, November 11, 2013; "An Alternative Approach to Pre-Mediation Discovery" SFDJ, October 7, 2013.
Richard J. Idell
The Idell Firm LLP
Email: mking@sfbar.org Website: www.sfbar.org/adr-services/mediation-panelists/idell/ADR Services
Arbitration; Mediation.
Additional Services
Early Neutral Evaluation; Discovery Referee; Judge Pro Tempore.
Specialty Areas
Entertainment; Intellectual Property (copyright, trademark & publicity); Employment; Trade Secrets; Wine Law; Contracts; Real Estate; Corporate/Limited Liability Company Disputes; Personal Injury and other Tort Claims; Investment Disputes/Securities.
ADR Experience/Training
Serves on ADR panels of the Marin Superior Court, BASF Mediation Panel; American Arbitration Association Arbitration and Mediation Panels. Prior experience on the ADR Arbitration Panel of the US District Court, Northern District of California. Services as a panelist for BASF for mandatory fee arbitration matters. Private Arbitrations and Mediations. Mediation training includes 40 hours with Steve Rosenberg, training with California Lawyers for the Arts and annual CLEs. Arbitration Training, AAA University.
Education
J.D., Law, Golden Gate University, 1976; A.B., Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, 1970.
Affiliations
American Bar Association Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries; Bay Area Gastronomique Entertainment Lawyers Societé; International Association of Entertainment Lawyers; American Bar Association Intellectual Property Section; Bar Association of San Francisco Intellectual Property Section; California Lawyers for the Arts.
Articles/Publications
See www.idellfirm.com.
Robert M. Hirsch
OwnerLaw Offices of Robert M. Hirsch
Email: mking@sfbar.org Website: www.sfbar.org/adr-services/mediation-panelists/hirsch/ADR Services
Arbitration; Mediation.
Additional Services
Fact Finding; Early Neutral Evaluation.
Specialty Areas
Labor and Employment, Commercial and Business, Civil Rights, ERISA, Real Estate, Securities, Contract, Legal Malpractice, Fee Disputes, Intra- Organizational Disputes; Injury and Med-Mal.
Urs M. Laeuchli Esq.
Arbitration Chambers
Email: mking@sfbar.org Website: www.sfbar.org/adr-services/mediation-panelists/laeuchli/ADR Services
Arbitration; Mediation.
Additional Services
ADR System Design; Collaborative Law; Conciliation; Consulting; MedArb; Negotiation.
Specialty Areas
Business; Civil Rights; Commercial; Education; Environmental; Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Issues; International; Malpractice (Legal, Medical, etc.); Probate/ Trust; Real Estate.