About the President, Lee Jay Berman

Lee Jay Berman began as a full-time mediator in 1994, successfully mediating over 1,300 cases in his 15 years.  He is on the mediation panels of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and AMCC.  He is a Fellow with the International Academy Mediators, a Diplomat with the California Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, and a Dispute Resolution Expert with the United Nations Development Programme.  He was Mediator of the Year for the US Bankruptcy Court in 2007, and was named one of California ’s Top Neutrals by the Daily Journal in 2008.

Also a prominent trainer in the field, Mr. Berman founded the American Institute in 2008 and he is the Director of the "Mediating the Litigated Case" program for the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine University School of Law in Malibu.  He has conducted trainings for mediators, judges and business leaders in Delhi, India, The Kingdom of Jordan, post-war Croatia, Amsterdam and Dubai, as well as for the AAA, and multiple bar associations, courts, mediation organizations, insurance companies and other corporations.  

The inaugural ADR Director for the Santa Barbara Superior Court, he launched that county’s multi-door courthouse approach to cases from 1999-2000.  From 2003-2007, he was national chair of the American Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Training Committee, and in addition to serving for eight years on the California Dispute Resolution Council’s board of directors and executive committee, he chaired their statewide Qualifications & Standards Committee for seven years, which published CDRC’s Standards of Practice for California Mediators, and he is in his third year on the California State Bar’s Standing Committee on ADR. Mr. Berman has written numerous articles that have been published and was involved with editing the ADR User Guide for the Continuing Education of the Bar, California.

Mr. Berman enjoys a thriving commercial mediation practice and teaches mediation, conflict resolution and negotiation skills all over the world.

What people have said about him:

Victoria Pynchon's post, Eye on Conflict is Cause for Celebration, on her Commercial ADR blog about the effect that Lee Jay has had on her career.

“TEN-A-CIOUS!!  Allows exchanges to vent feelings, but never allows a close resolution to die.  Endless enthusiasm & abundant creative proposals.” - Ted Travis, Esq., Law Offices of David B. Bloom, Los Angeles, CA

“Lee Jay is one of the finest mediation professionals I have encountered.  Always diplomatic, well spoken, and the consummate professional.” - Hon. Frank J. Ochoa, Judge Santa Barbara Superior Court, Chair of the Court’s ADR Committee

“He is simply the best mediator that I know.  He brings to the table an incredible combination of business experience, passion for the mediation process, empathy and the skills necessary to close even the most difficult case.  You just can’t do any better.” - Robert S. Mann, Esq., The Mann Law Firm, Century City, CA

“Mr. Berman is perhaps the finest mediator, in terms of sensitivity and insight, I have encountered in the last ten years.  He was both sensitive and insightful in a difficult case.  The medical and legal issues were complex, yet he was fully able to address these issues immediately.” - Hon. Bert Bresticker, Administrative Law Judge, California Department of Social Services

“I appreciate his practical approach and common sense.  He is knowledgeable about business and about people’s feelings and motivations.  This gives him the ability to reach the participants, lawyers included, in a way that permits constructive dialogue.” - Gregg Martin, Esq., Hamburg, Hanover, Karic & Martin, Century City, CA

“The bottom line is that Mr. Berman knows how to unlock the promise of mediation and when he does I doubt that anyone can see it as anything but good business.” - Hon. James Rigali, Judge, Santa Barbara Superior Court

“Mr. Berman really ‘worked’ the mediation.  He put a lot of effort into helping the parties reach the resolution.  If we had had another mediator, we might not have been able to settle.  Both my client and I have used mediation extensively and found Mr. Berman to be one of the best mediators we have used.” - Amy Britt, Esq., Zwicker & Assoc., So. Pasadena, CA

Currently, Mr. Berman is teaching Introduction to a Career in Mediation (Live and Online), Mediating and Negotiating Commercial Cases, Legal and Insurance Terms of Art and Settlement Strategies, Advocacy and Representation in Mediation, The Mediator's Forum - Mentoring Groups for Mediators of all Levels, Deal Mediation: Facilitating Complex Business Deals, Harnessing the Power of the Master Mediator, Settle More Cases: The Essence of Mediation, for the AIM Institute.