Blythe Arbitration & Mediation Lawyers

EXPERTISE IN CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION Mari Frank is an attorney, mediator, Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP), author, professor, and radio show host in private practice in California and Florida. She worked in the District Attorney’s Office, practiced insurance defense law, and had a general civil law practice. She has successfully resolved thousands of disputes as a neutral since 1985. Ms. Frank was the founding President of the Orange County Chapter of the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution-Orange County, California. She served for three years as founding Chair of the State Bar of California Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee She is a...

Certified - Pepperdine University - Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution

Layn R. Phillips, founder of Phillips ADR Enterprises (PADRE), is a former U.S. Attorney and U.S. District Judge. Appointed at age 35 by President Reagan, he presided over 140+ trials in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, and sat by designation on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Earlier, Judge Phillips served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, and at age 31, was nominated as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma. After leaving the bench, he spent 23 years at Irell & Manella, focusing on complex civil litigation, internal investigations, and alternative dispute resolution. He later founded PADRE, specializing...

Zev J. Eigen is a labor/employment and entertainment litigator with more than a decade of substantial experience handling complex negotiations, alternative dispute resolution and general contract law. Eigen has developed a particular background in representing clients in the entertainment industry and the restaurant and hospitality industry. He previously served as Senior Counsel to Twentieth Century Fox, where he represented Fox in all facets of its relationships with the entertainment industry labor organizations such as the Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guild and the Directors Guild. Prior to joining Fox, Eigen worked as an associate with the law firm, Littler Mendelson,...

Before law school I earned an Engineering Degree which has facilitated my ADR practice which is focused on IP and technology disputes.

In addition I am an attorney Registered and specially qualified/allowed to Practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

I graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Philosophy from TCU and later from Harvard Law School in 1965. Since becoming a member of the State Bar of California in 1966, I have operated my own law firm focusing on general business, estates, probate, and trusts. In 1996 I received my first mediation certificate from Pepperdine Straus Institute and, in 2004 after training with Dr. Robert Cialdini, I became the only attorney certified to conduct his principles of persuasion workshops. I have presented numerous one hour presentations for lawyers, bar associations and business organizations Since 1996, I have been...

Breanna Cornwall is the firm’s founder and managing attorney. Since going into private practice, she has focused on representing clients involved in family law matters including divorce, military divorce, child custody, and spousal support. She also represents clients in obtaining (and defending against) domestic violence restraining orders and civil restraining orders such as civil harassment restraining orders, workplace violence restraining orders, and private postsecondary school violence restraining orders.

Prior to starting her own firm, she had an extensive background as a business owner and entrepreneur. She started and managed a staffing agency and a real estate brokerage. Her business and...

Our driving belief is based on old-fashioned advocacy. We are a small Westlake Village-based firm and recognize the importance of being accessible to our clients. We believe in personal attention, and our clients have direct, responsive contact with us. At the Law Offices of Richard J. Uss, we take particular pride in the quality of service that our clients receive. We believe in forming relationships.

Karen Matcke Crosby Attorney / Mediator P.C. 35+ years of legal practice and 15+ years as a mediator. WHY MEDIATION CAN BE SUPERIOR TO COURT By Karen Matcke Crosby (2021) Court litigation exposes parties to great public exposure, expense and long delays in court proceedings. Litigants have little or no control over the procedural process. How a dispute arose in the first place, is given short shrift, failing to consider the parties’ intentions, experience in negotiations (or lack thereof), personality, ego, culture, norms, morals, bullying, customs, or values. What is heard in court is the representing attorney’s version of his client’s legal...

Barry R. Ostrager, a retired New York State Supreme Court Justice (Commercial Division, 2015–2023), presided over numerous trials and resolved hundreds of commercial cases. Before his judicial role, he was a litigation partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, leading its 300+ attorney Litigation Department and serving on the management committee. As lead trial counsel, Ostrager handled high-profile securities, antitrust, and insurance cases, including Swiss Re’s World Trade Center dispute and Travelers’ environmental coverage case against Shell Oil, both resulting in jury verdicts. He tried five cases involving $1 billion+ disputes and led major arbitrations, such as Andersen Consulting’s $14 billion...