Best Lawyers in America for Alternative Dispute Resolution
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State
Giovanni M. Ruscitti is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Arbitration, Commercial Litigation and Litigation - Construction. Giovanni M., who practices law in Boulder, Colorado, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Giovanni M. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Robert L. Holzberg, Connecticut Superior Court Judge (Ret.), leads the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) practice at Pullman & Comley, and possesses extensive experience serving as a mediator and arbitrator in complex civil matters in state and federal court including personal injury, employment, construction, environmental, probate, insurance and commercial disputes. He retired from the bench in September 2012 after more than 22 years of service as a Superior Court judge. Retired Judg...
Ben Riley is a Principal of the firm and serves on its Executive Committee. He has tried nearly 30 cases to verdict including jury trials, court trials, and complex arbitrations. His practice focuses on Intellectual Property Litigation, including patents, trade secrets, copyrights, trademarks and license disputes. He also has an active practice in Business Litigation, including class action defense, defense of “consumer claims” under the Lanham Act and unfair competition statutes,...
Attorney James E. Morris is an experienced litigator and former judge who is known throughout Upstate New York for his ability to resolve complex disputes through mediation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Civil Trial Mediators, an elite nationwide group of mediators and dispute resolution professionals known for their skill, ethical standards, and professional commitment. Morris is a practicing attorney with the longtime Rochester, New York law firm Morris and Morris, and has been ...
Edward Hood is a trial and arbitration attorney with decades of experience guiding clients through complex business disputes nationwide. Ed’s practice focuses on construction disputes, commercial litigation, and corporate governance matters. In addition to his litigation practice, Ed serves as an advisor on legal ethics and risk management issues. He counsels lawyers and law firms on professional liability matters and internal governance issues, drawing on his 20 years of experience as ...
Terrance E. Schmidt is a Florida-based mediator, arbitrator, and retired civil litigator with over 50 years of legal experience. A Florida Supreme Court Certified Circuit Civil Mediator and longtime member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, he has mediated more than 6,000 cases and served as an arbitrator in dozens more. Mr. Schmidt’s career as a commercial litigator spanned a wide range of complex disputes—including business torts, securities, employment discrimin...
Terrence L. Brennan defends clients faced with complex construction issues and claims. With a deep knowledge of the construction industry, he provides clients with timely advice to recognize the problem quickly, address it, and resolve it by using practical solutions. Drawing on his experience as an architect, Terry serves as a valuable resource to construction clients facing malpractice claims. His ability to read a set of plans, relate and speak the same language as the people he represents...
Elizabeth Germani has more than 30 years of litigation experience in Maine and New Hampshire. She specializes in civil trial work, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a wide variety of matters, including insurance defense, insurance coverage, products liability, personal injury, attorney malpractice, fire losses, construction litigation, business litigation and contract disputes. She practices in all the state and federal courts in Maine and New Hampshire, and before the state boar...
Sonia Montalbano is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Arbitration, Commercial Litigation, Employment Law - Individuals, Employment Law - Management, Litigation - Labor and Employment, Litigation - Real Estate, Nonprofit / Charities Law and Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. Sonia, who practices law in Portland, Oregon, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Soni...
Thomas J. Gibney concentrates his practice in the areas of human resources management in the private and public sectors, employment litigation, private and public sector labor negotiations and contract application, workers' compensation, and federal and state safety regulation litigation. He is a member of Eastman & Smith. Mr. Gibney is a frequent lecturer on the Affordable Care Act, National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), Occupational Safety and Health Act, Family and Medical Leave Act (FML...
For over 40 years, Bill Andrews, a leading construction attorney in Houston, has practiced construction law , focusing on construction-related claims, lawsuits, mediations and arbitrations . He has represented owners, contractors, subcontractors, vendors, suppliers and engineering firms on a wide variety of construction-related projects. His experience in claims, trials, arbitrations and mediations includes projects such as highways and bridges, public works projects, commercial and retail co...
Colin was appointed a Judge of the Maricopa County Superior Court in 1990 after twelve years of practicing both civil and criminal trial law. During his 17 years as a Judge, he sat on assignments related to nearly every area of law including civil, criminal, juvenile, and family matters. He was Presiding Judge from 2000 to 2005. After his retirement from the Bench, Colin returned to Osborn Maledon in 2007 where he maintains an active personal injury tort, commercial litigation, and public law...
A well-rounded complex commercial litigator, Bryan West handles matters emanating from Latin American business transactions and has litigated and arbitrated, in both English and Spanish, numerous multi-million dollar disputes involving Argentina, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Honduras, Ecuador, and Venezuela. His matters often require the application of complex federal laws, including the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Further deepening Bryan’s pract...
In his over 30 years of practice, Alan Freed has established himself as one of Missouri's pre-eminent practitioners of mediation and collaborative divorce , and as a leading appellate attorney. Mr. Freed was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers in 2009 and is listed in Missouri/Kansas Super Lawyers. Best Lawyers named him Attorney of the Year for Collaborative Law: Family Law in St. Louis in 2013 and for Family Law Mediation for 2015. A mediator since 1985, Mr. Free...
A certified specialist in employment and labor law since 1993, M. Malissa Burnette has an extensive history of working toward workplace and social justice. She also has a wealth of experience in family law, personal injury, sexual harassment and discrimination law as well. She practices in state and federal courts, primarily representing individuals in complex employment cases involving discrimination, civil and constitutional rights, breach of contract, covenants to not compete, employment-r...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.