Mediation
Mark LeHocky
Recognized in Best Lawyers since 2016 
Firm
ADR Services, Inc.
10 Best Lawyers awards
Awarded Practice Areas
Biography
Mark is a mediator, arbitrator and special master with ADR Services, Inc. and a nationwide ADR practice. Prior to becoming a full-time neutral, Mark served as general counsel and senior executive to both Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc. and Ross Stores, Inc., where he managed all litigation, ADR initiatives and other legal matters. Mark also served as part of the senior legal leadership worldwide for Nestle, S. A., and developed ADR training for its international legal team.
Prior to his general counsel roles, Mark spent two decades litigating, arbitrating and mediating intellectual property, antitrust, commercial, consumer and employment cases -- both class and individual actions -- for clients ranging from Fortune 100 companies to individuals and small businesses.
Mark began mediating in 1999 when first appointed by the federal court in San Francisco to resolve actions involving complex IP, commercial, antitrust, and consumer and employment class actions. Mark's private ADR practice encompasses this same array of disputes as well as founder and partner disputes, data privacy, social media, insurance, mass torts and other complex matter.
Mark's approach is shaped by having worn nearly all professional hats in the legal arena -- as a litigator representing plaintiffs and defendants, a general counsel resolving hundreds of disputes and managing crisis events, and as a client. Core to that work is helping decision-makers of all types make realistic, risk-based choices based upon various alternatives and the realistic tradeoffs of each.
Mark earned his JD degree from the University of California, Berkeley, and his BA from UCLA.
Mark also today teaches at UC Berkeley's Law School on the intersection of law, risk assessment, and business decision-making. After developing and teaching a course on the role of general counsel working with internal and external constituents, his new course "Managing Difficult Legal Conversations" explore the recurring phenomena of problematic legal conversations with clients, adversaries and courts, and strategies for navigating through them by incorporating behavioral science, organizational and individual dynamics and the input of a stellar list of guest contributors.
Mark has repeatedly been voted a Best Lawyer in America for Mediation since 2016 by Best Lawyers(c) and was voted Mediation Attorney of the Year for the San Francisco region for both 2024 and 2022. His extended profile is at www.marklehocky.com.
Firm
ADR Services, Inc.
10 Best Lawyers awards
Overview
- University of California Berkeley, J.D., graduated 1979
- University of California - Los Angeles, BA, graduated 1976
- California, 1979
- California, 1979
- University of California Berkeley, J.D., graduated 1979
- University of California - Los Angeles, BA, graduated 1976
Client Testimonials
Awards & Focus
Named "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers® for:
- Mediation, San Francisco (2024)
- Mediation, San Francisco (2022)
Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® 2026 for work in:
- Mediation
News & Media
Insights
FEATURED IN BEST LAW FIRMS
How Practicing Curiosity Is Advantageous for Lawyers
by Mark LeHocky
A litigator turned general counsel turned mediator on the strategic advantages of “practicing curiosity,” a dying art that could use a revival.
FEATURED IN BEST LAW FIRMS
At What Cost? An Explanation of Litigation Costs
by Mark LeHocky
Litigants need to be completely honest with themselves about the costs and benefits of what they’re about to embark upon. A litigator turned general counsel turned mediator borrows from behavioral science to explain why.
Improved Settlement Efforts in Dispute Resolution
by Mark LeHocky
How can attorneys take steps to improve settlement efforts and avoid unpleasant surprises as they map out a dispute resolution? One litigator-turned-general counsel-turned mediator (with some help from a distinguished rock star) points the way forward.
Additional Information
Case History
Q&A
My approach is shaped by having worn virtually all professional hats in the legal arena – as a litigator representing plaintiffs and defendants, a general counsel resolving hundreds of litigation matters and crisis events of all types, a senior corporate executive as well as a client, and as a mediator with two decades of experience. Central to all that work was helping decision makers of all types make realistic, risk-based choices based upon alternative scenarios and the full set of practical tradeoffs of pursuing different courses. As a mediator, I channel all those experiences to help craft appropriate resolutions for everyone.
My approach is also shaped by a dozen years of developing and testing innovative ADR programs while serving as general counsel. These programs embed direct and ongoing engagement with opposing parties, disciplined internal diagnosis and active partnership between in-house counsel and outside law firms to concurrently pursue ADR as well as traditional litigation options. These programs not only accelerated the resolution of virtually all disputes; they also generated significant direct net savings, equal or larger indirect savings, preserving strategic opportunities and resources. Sometimes people saved as well. Based upon the success of those efforts, I have also developed ADR process improvement training for attorneys worldwide.
As well, my mediation practice is influenced by my work developing and teaching a course on Mediation Advocacy -- differentiating and enhancing advocacy in the ADR context -- at UC Davis' School of Law, and now teaching at the UC Berkeley Haas Graduate School of Business on the intersection of law and business. That work has also led to a series of articles on navigating through the ADR process, for lawyers and clients of all types. See www.marklehocky.com for more information.
My approach is also shaped by a dozen years of developing and testing innovative ADR programs while serving as general counsel. These programs embed direct and ongoing engagement with opposing parties, disciplined internal diagnosis and active partnership between in-house counsel and outside law firms to concurrently pursue ADR as well as traditional litigation options. These programs not only accelerated the resolution of virtually all disputes; they also generated significant direct net savings, equal or larger indirect savings, preserving strategic opportunities and resources. Sometimes people saved as well. Based upon the success of those efforts, I have also developed ADR process improvement training for attorneys worldwide.
As well, my mediation practice is influenced by my work developing and teaching a course on Mediation Advocacy -- differentiating and enhancing advocacy in the ADR context -- at UC Davis' School of Law, and now teaching at the UC Berkeley Haas Graduate School of Business on the intersection of law and business. That work has also led to a series of articles on navigating through the ADR process, for lawyers and clients of all types. See www.marklehocky.com for more information.
One recurring question is what style or approach to mediation do you use -- facilitative, evaluative, etc.? My response is always the same: Each case is different, not only as to the facts and law, but the circumstances that propelled the adversaries to this point. Consequently, my approach is different based upon each case. Along with helping the parties frame the core issues, legal concerns and practical issues, I focus on understanding the basis for the parties' different perceptions, which often unlocks a productive path ahead.
Some types of disputes, as well as specific cases, are more complex, and the work invested by the litigants is quite large. Having an extensive background in complex litigation -- including intellectual property, antitrust, employment and consumer actions as well as mass torts -- certainly helps. As well, I allocate proportionate amounts of time to preparation based upon those complexities, often spending as much time on pre-mediation preparation and communication as to the time set aside for a full mediation session. It takes planning and diligence, but those efforts consistently pay off, so it's all time well spent.
Having participated in hundreds of mediations as a former litigator, general counsel, and client, I have been inspired by seeing many creative and hard-working mediators in action, and others less so. Watching what works, what doesn't, combined with actively using the mediation process in my prior roles to accelerate the resolution of virtually all disputes, has provided a wealth of insights which I regularly channel in my work.
Overlaying those experiences, I have been inspired for two decades by the work of behavioral scientists and others who study how rational individuals and organizations often make or cling to less rational positions, particularly in the context of stressful or crisis events. Lawsuits and legal disputes definitely fall into this category. Besides folks like Elizabeth Kubler Ross, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, two very accomplished students of these impacts on litigants and litigators are, respectively, Professor Donna Shewstowsky of U.C. Davis' School of Law, and Randall Kiser. Their bodies of work, insights and scholarship also inform my approach to dispute resolution.
Overlaying those experiences, I have been inspired for two decades by the work of behavioral scientists and others who study how rational individuals and organizations often make or cling to less rational positions, particularly in the context of stressful or crisis events. Lawsuits and legal disputes definitely fall into this category. Besides folks like Elizabeth Kubler Ross, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, two very accomplished students of these impacts on litigants and litigators are, respectively, Professor Donna Shewstowsky of U.C. Davis' School of Law, and Randall Kiser. Their bodies of work, insights and scholarship also inform my approach to dispute resolution.
Besides tennis, cycling, painting and travel (ideally combing many of those), I am grateful for the opportunity to continue learning. Teaching at both the law school and graduate business school level is a terrific prompt to stay current on many legal and business topics, as well as their intersection. As importantly, the mediation work itself is a phenomenal chance to learn new and disruptive technologies and industries, new and evolving business models, as well as to incorporate the individual and group dynamics and behavioral sciences underlying all disputes -- from very big to very small. I'm very fortunate to work with so many experienced and able attorneys, and to learn from them as we collaborate on these dispute resolution efforts.
Your browser is not fully compatible with our automatic printer friendly formatting.
Please use the print button to print this profile page.