Jean M. Lawler, CIPP/US
commercial + Insurance Mediator & Arbitrator
Links to More Information:
I have mediated thousands of litigated matters, as a coverage and trial attorney in private practice and, since 2017, as a full-time mediator. I know litigation and what it is like to try a case to a jury.
I have been a law firm managing partner and know what it is like to run a business and meet a payroll.
I understand insurance policies and have a deep understanding of the insurance industry. Have drafted endorsements + an EPLI policy form.
Employment + E&O disputes can be especially sensitive and take a special touch to resolve. Business disputes can be very personal.
I have extensive experience in conducting online mediations - @300+ online sessions since March 2020.
CIPP/US certified. Ready to help resolve your data breach/ransomware subrogation, cyber insurance + privacy lawsuits.
My mediation approach adapts to the needs of each matter. I am a fan of pre-mediation conference calls, factual clarity, practicality and openness to creative solutions.
Use my online calendar to check dates, hold or book a mediation 24/7.
Am also available to serve as an arbitrator, chair or umpire for arbitration of insurance and business disputes, including insurance industry and reinsurance disputes.
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Based in Los Angeles, CA, I am an attorney mediator and arbitrator, focusing on commercial, insurance and civil litigation matters pending at the trial and appellate levels - wherever filed. I regularly mediate a wide variety of insurance, employment, business, and tort matters, as well as federal ADA accessibility lawsuits re architectural barriers and websites. CIPP/US (Certified Information Privacy Professional) certified, I also mediate matters involving data breaches, ransomware, and cyber losses. I have mediated hundreds upon hundreds - thousands - of cases over the years with a myriad of issues. For a more detailed sampling of the types of mediations that I have conducted and participated in, both when in practice and as a full-time mediator, please refer to my web page detailing Representative Matters.
My arbitration experience is primarily as a panelist on the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial and Consumer Arbitration panels, on which I have served since 2021.
Prior to becoming a full-time mediator in 2017, I was a Senior Partner in a Los Angeles based litigation firm, representing corporations, professionals, non-profits, individuals, and insurers in a broad range of matters, at trial and on appeal - mediating hundreds upon hundreds of cases over the years. My legal experience has been diverse and international, and I have a deep knowledge of the insurance industry, insurance policies and the various risks they insure against (primary, excess, reinsurance, program, surplus lines, London Market, and international insurers). I also served as a Managing Partner of my former law firm, at times chairing the firm’s Insurance Law, Cyber & Privacy Law, International Law, and Business & Real Estate Transactions practice groups and, ultimately, served my many clients as counselor and trusted advisor.
As I would tell you if asked: “I absolutely love what I do! I would be honored to serve as your Mediator or Arbitrator.”
LEGAL EXPERIENCE, EDUCATION + PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
Mediator + Arbitrator, Lawler ADR Services, LLC, Los Angeles (January 2017- present)
Senior Partner, Murchison & Cumming, LLP, Los Angeles (October 1985-December 2016); Firm-wide Managing Partner (January 2008 -December 2013) and Executive Committee Member; Chaired firm’s Insurance Law, Cyber & Privacy Law, International Law, and Business & Real Estate Transactions practice groups at various times.
Private Practice, California + Oregon (1979-1985)
Law Clerk, Selvin & Weiner, APC, Los Angeles (Entertainment and First Amendment cases)
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Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation, "Negotiation Master Class", 2022
Advanced Mediation Training Retreat - National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, 2022
AAA - Arbitration Fundamentals and Best Practices for New AAA Arbitrators, 2021; Award Writing, 2021; Advanced Arbitration Training, 2022, 2023
Arbitral Women and JAMS - Diversity in International Arbitration: The Intersection of Race and Gender - Building on the Future by Learning from the Past, 2021;
CIPP/US Designation - Certified Information Privacy Professional (IAPP), 2020
Southern California Mediation Assn., Employment Mediation Institute, 2019, 2023
Online Dispute Resolution Training, Susan Guthrie, Learn to Mediate Online, 2019
CA Lawyers Association & JAMS - International Commercial Arbitration Academy, Los Angeles, 2019.
Advanced Mediation Trainings - U.S. District Court of CA, Central District and the Association of Attorney-Mediators - 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Advanced Mediation Training, Edwards Mediation Academy (40 hours), 2017
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University Law School, "Mediating the Litigated Case" Mediation Training (42 hours), 2007
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JD, Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (Jessup International Honors Moot Court Team and Board; Internship with United States Attorney’s Office, Los Angeles)
BBA - Finance, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles
BAR ADMISSIONS
California
Oregon (Inactive)
United States District Courts for the Southern, Central, Northern & Eastern Districts of California
ADR pANELS
American Arbitration Association (AAA) Consumer and Commercial Mediation and Arbitration Panels
United States District Court for the Central District of California ADR Program, Mediation Panel
Beverly Hills Bar Association Mediation Panel
HONORS
Elected to the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals - 2022
Women Leaders in the Law - 2021 - present
MC3-Certified Mediator - 2019 - present
Rated AV-Preeminent by Martindale - 1997 - present
Martindale’s Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers
Southern CA Super Lawyer - 2006 - present (Insurance Coverage - 2006-17; ADR - 2018-present)
Southern California Top Women Lawyers, since inception in 2011 (in 2016, one of only 20 for Insurance Coverage)
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN), Diplomat Member
American College of Coverage Counsel, Fellow and Founding Regent
International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP)
American Bar Association - Women in Dispute Resolution, Dispute Resolution + TIPS Committees
Arbitral Women
FDCC - Past President and Emeritus Member; As President, co-founded inaugural “National Summit on the Right to Trial by Jury”, Las Vegas, 2005 (now ABOTA’s 7th Amendment Summit)
PLUS (Professional Liability Underwriting Society)
Beverly Hills Bar Association
Association of Attorney-Mediators
Southern California Mediation Association
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) - Affiliate Member for Mediators
Association of So. California Defense Counsel (ASCDC) - Affiliate Member for Mediators
BAR LEADERSHIP
I am honored to be a Past President of the FDCC and the Insuralex Global Insurance Lawyers Group (Chambers-Band 1) and to be a Fellow and Founding Regent of the American College of Coverage Counsel. As President of the FDCC, together with Donna Melby, then President of the National ABOTA, we founded the inaugural “National Summit on the Right to Trial by Jury” which was jointly sponsored by FDCC and ABOTA in 2005 and continues today by ABOTA as its 7th Amendment Summit. Active in a number of professional associations, over the course of my career I have served on the Boards of Lawyers for Civil Justice, DRI (Defense Research Institute), the ASCDC (Association of Southern CA Defense Counsel) and Association of Attorney Mediators.