CURRENT TOPICS
In Sacramento and courts nationally, CDRC is now considered the “go-to” organization for input on legislative and judicial ADR issues.
CDRC is the only not-for-profit ADR organization in California with a full time lobbyist. Our Lobbyist, Donne Brownsey represent a variety of important causes and organizations, including solar power, the Breast Cancer Fund, and the California Adoption Lawyer; and she was the first California lobbyist to focus on ADR.
CDRC has reviewed and weighed in on more than 500 pieces of proposed legislation in California that would, for example, have diluted the integrity of ADR processes, compromised mediation confidentiality, and required payment of ADR related fees to the State. CDRC has also written Amicus briefs and has been influential in the holdings of significant ADR related cases including: Foxgate, Rojas, Simmons, Armendariz, Eisendrath and many others.
PRACTICE AREAS
ATTORNEYS
JOHN WARNLOF
PRESIDENT
BIO
John Warnlof, is an attorney and ADR neutral with offices in Walnut Creek . His practice emphasizes construction, real property, common interest developments, commercial litigation and business counseling to corporations, partnerships and individuals. John arbitrates and mediates real estate, construction, personal injury, employment and commercial disputes. He also serves as the hearing officer for the San Francisco Employees Retirement System. John is a frequent lecturer on various ADR topics. He is the Vice-Chair of the State Bar ADR Committee and serves on the Contra Costa Superior Court ADR Advisory Committee.Vice President of the American Arbitration Association (AAA).
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, University of California Hastings
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 54974
Admittance: 12/20/1972
PRACTICE AREA(s):
Alternative Dispute Resolution
Business Law
Commercial Law
Construction Law
Contracts
Insurance
Personal Injury
Products Liability
Real Estate
BIO
Eric van Ginkel, LL.M. is an experienced arbitrator and mediator in California and internationally. He is Assistant Director of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, and an Adjunct Professor of Law, at Pepperdine University Law School. From 1999 until 2006, he was Counsel to the Los Angeles office of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP. He is a former Chair of the ADR Committee of the Business Law Section of the California Bar Association (until September 2008) and former Senior Vice-Chair of the Intellectual Property Committee of the IBA (until December 2007). He serves as arbitrator and/or mediator for the ICC, ICDR, AAA, WIPO, ACICA, NAF and IMAC. In addition to intellectual property matters, he also has extensive experience in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, hi-tech joint ventures, and licensing and distribution agreements. Mr. van Ginkel is a frequent speaker and trainer on ADR-related subjects. He has published articles, inter alia, in Mealey’s Arbitration Journal, The Journal of International Arbitration, Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Journal, the IBA Newsletters for both the Arbitration and Mediation Committees, and The Negotiation Journal. He holds Juris Doctor degrees (or equivalent) from the Law Faculty of Leiden University in the Netherlands, and Columbia University Law School in New York City. In addition, he holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in International Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute at Pepperdine University Law School in Malibu, California. He is fluent in Dutch, English, French, and German.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, Columbia University
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 141816
Admittance: 9/12/1989
PRACTICE AREA(s):
Intellectual property disputes
Biotech/ Life sciences
Distributorship and agency agreements
Corporate disputes
Joint venture break-ups
Commercial real estate
Energy Disputes
Banking
BIO
Charles Pereyra-Suarez, is a lawyer in Los Angeles, CA. He has handled a broad range of civil and criminal matters during his 27 years of practice. His experience includes business litigation, white collar criminal defense, whistleblower cases, health care, environmental, antitrust, international and First Amendment representation. He is active as a mediator and arbitrator of various litigation and business disputes.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, University of California Berkeley
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 67106
Admittance: 12/18/1975
PRACTICE AREA(s):
Business Conflicts
Civil Rights
Civil and Criminal Environmental Matters
Civil and Criminal Fraud Investigations
Civil and Criminal Healthcare Matters
Civil and Criminal Litigation
Construction and Construction Defect Disputes
BIO
Alfonso Clarke is the director of the OC Human RelationsDispute Resolution Program which provides mediation services to Orange County residents for community and civil matters. He has been with OC Human Relations for 16 years and a mediator for over 20 years. He facilitates mediation trainings, supervises and mentors a dynamic team of staff, volunteer and intern mediators. And he has served on the committee for 16 years and been past Treasurer and Chair during his tenure.
BIO
Paul is an attorney with the Procopio firm in San Diego, CA. He has a substantial national arbitration and mediation practice focusing on technology, intellectual property and commercial disputes, including serving as a neutral for the American Arbitration Association and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR). His arbitration and mediation expertise has been recognized by his appointment as an Adjunct Professor of Law to Pepperdine University School of Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution and by his service as Chair of the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, Boston College
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 208731
Admittance: 11/24/2000
PRACTICE AREA(s):
Corporate and Securities
Emerging Growth and Venture Capital
Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property Litigation
Licensing
Litigation
Medical Technology
Patent Prosecution and Counseling
Technology Transactions
Trade Secrets
Trademarks and Copyrights
Life Sciences
Electronically Stored Information
Privacy and Data Security
BIO
Daniel Yamshon has worldwide Alternative Dispute Resolution experience. He has handled large and complex cases in construction, commercial transactions, real estate, securities, banking and environmental issues. Daniel Yamshon has been appointed to the United Nations Roster of Eminent and Qualified Experts for Conflict Prevention and Post Conflict Peace Building, and to ADR panels such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the National Association of Securities Dealers. He has worked on ADR projects for sub-agencies of the U.S. State Department, the Eurasia Foundation, The Center for African Peace and Conflict Resolution and the Conflict Resolution Institute. Mr. Yamshon is considered a leading theorist in the field, and trains other neutrals in the practice of ADR in the United States and abroad. He has developed conflict avoidance and dispute prevention systems for large construction projects, and has consulted in the creation of alternative dispute resolution programs internationally.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, University of California Davis
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 63254
Admittance: 12/16/1974
PRACTICE AREA(s):
Construction
Real Property
Commercial
BIO
Douglas E. Noll is a nationally acclaimed speaker, and a full time mediator, specializing in difficult, complex, and intractable conflicts. He is a Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, on the American Arbitration Association panel of mediators and arbitrators, and is certified under international standards established by the International Mediation Institute. He is the author of Elusive Peace: How Modern Diplomatic Strategies Could Better Resolve World Conflicts (Prometheus, 2011) Sex, Politics & Religion at the Office: The New Competitive Advantage (Auberry Press 2006), with John Boogaert, and Peacemaking: Practicing at the Intersection of Law and Human Conflict (Cascadia 2002). Mr. Noll has been listed as one of the Best Lawyers in America since 2005 by US News & World Report and is a Northern California SuperLawyer. In 2013, Mr. Noll released a comprehensive online course, Negotiation Mastery for the Legal Pro, designed to teach young lawyers how to be master negotiators.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 77596
Admittance: 12/21/1977
BIO
Michael Powell, is Vice President of the American Arbitration Association (AAA). He was appointed Vice President of AAA’s Los Angeles office in September 2000. He is primarily responsible for expanding the use of AAA’s construction, real property and environmental dispute resolution services in Arizona, California, Guam and Hawaii. In addition to his immediate responsibilities, he works nationally to develop AAA’s construction mediation caseload, working closely with construction industry companies, law firms, associations and trade groups. In this capacity, Mr. Powell assists in designing dispute resolution systems to meet their specific needs. He is an active speaker, trainer and writer in the dispute resolution field. Mr. Powell also serves as a liaison to the General Counsel’s office on California legislation.
BIO
James R. Madison, has more than 40 years experience as an arbitrator and more than 20 years experience as a mediator in both domestic and transnational cases.The majority of cases have involved design and/or construction or employment disputes. Other cases have covered a broad range of subject areas from technology and biotech disputes to real property, franchising, intellectual property, mortgage banking, advertising, international trading, personal property leasing, and vegetable seed breeding. Arbitrations have included cases with Croatian, English, Finnish, Japanese, Korean and Taiwanese firms. Mediations have included French and Philippine interest.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, Stanford University
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 29897
Admittance: 1/12/1960
PRACTICE AREA(s):
Construction
Labor and Employment
Securities
Banking
Antitrust
Unfair Competition
Real Property
Sports
Media
Business
BIO
Charles Pereyra-Suarez, is a lawyer in Los Angeles, CA. He has handled a broad range of civil and criminal matters during his 27 years of practice. His experience includes business litigation, white collar criminal defense, whistleblower cases, health care, environmental, antitrust, international and First Amendment representation. He is active as a mediator and arbitrator of various litigation and business disputes.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, University of California Berkeley
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 67106
Admittance: 12/18/1975
PRACTICE AREA(s):
Business Conflicts
Civil Rights
Civil and Criminal Environmental Matters
Civil and Criminal Fraud Investigations
Civil and Criminal Healthcare Matters
Civil and Criminal Litigation
Construction and Construction Defect Disputes
BIO
Paul is an attorney with the Procopio firm in San Diego, CA. He has a substantial national arbitration and mediation practice focusing on technology, intellectual property and commercial disputes, including serving as a neutral for the American Arbitration Association and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR). His arbitration and mediation expertise has been recognized by his appointment as an Adjunct Professor of Law to Pepperdine University School of Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution and by his service as Chair of the American Intellectual Property Law Association’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee.
EDUCATION
Juris Doctorate, Boston College
CALIFORNIA BAR
Bar Number: 208731
Admittance: 11/24/2000
PRACTICE AREA(s):
Corporate and Securities
Emerging Growth and Venture Capital
Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property Litigation
Licensing
Litigation
Medical Technology
Patent Prosecution and Counseling
Technology Transactions
Trade Secrets
Trademarks and Copyrights
Life Sciences
Electronically Stored Information
Privacy and Data Security
California Dispute Resolution Counsel
Advocates for
ADR
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CALIFORNIA DISPUTE RESOLUTION COUNCIL