Best Lawyers in America for Mediation
State
Carolyn Nussbaum is a partner in the Commercial Litigation group, and a member of the Securities and Governance Litigation team as well as the Class Action team. Carolyn represents companies and their management and leaders who confront business disputes. She is also the Managing Partner for the Rochester office of the firm, where she oversees policies impacting nearly 300 employees. What do you focus on? I concentrate my commercial litigation practice in four main specialized areas, using mo...
Nathan Warecki is an associate in Nixon Peabody’s Complex Commercial Disputes group, and teams with attorneys and other legal professionals on a wide variety of matters, including commercial litigation, class actions, non-competes and trade secrets, business disputes, and immigration. Prior to joining the firm, he worked for a regional law firm in Manchester, New Hampshire, on general litigation and immigration matters. In law school, he interned with the Honorable Joseph N. Laplante of...
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...
The Honorable Douglas E. Arpert (Ret.) joined Walsh after a distinguished legal career spanning four decades, including 15 years as a United States Magistrate Judge for the District of New Jersey. He brings tremendous legal and judicial experience and an incredible insight into resolving highly complex disputes. Judge Arpert is a leader in the firm’s Mediation, Arbitration, and Special Master Appointments practice alongside the Honorable Mark Falk (Ret.). Judge Arpert was appointed to h...
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...
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 ...
Robert S. Zawideh is a Vice President, Director, and shareholder at Kemp Klein in Troy, Michigan, where he has practiced since 2010. For more than 34 years, he has represented individuals, businesses, and municipalities in complex disputes involving arbitration, commercial litigation , and litigation involving trusts and estates . His work frequently involves high-value trust and estate disputes, where he represents interested parties in probate and fiduciary matters. Robert has appeared in t...
Formerly a Justice on the Texas Court of Appeals, David Keltner is a highly acclaimed and recognized lawyer in the field of appellate law in Texas. He has served as lead counsel in over 350 appellate decisions and his legal writings have been cited with approval by Texas courts. He has been honored with various prestigious awards and accolades for his outstanding contributions to the legal profession. From 2021 through 2025, he was recognized as a Star Individual by Chambers USA and has recei...
Sharon V. Lovejoy represents clients in a wide variety of litigation matters with primary focus in commercial, real estate and business litigation. Ms. Lovejoy has been named to The Best Lawyers in America ® , "Lawyer of the Year" in Honolulu list, Appellate P ractice (2020), Mortgage Banking Foreclosure Law (2015, 2019, 2024, 2026), Litigation-Banking & Finance (2014, 2022, 2025) and Mass Tort Litigation/Class Actions-Plaintiffs (2027). Lovejoy is also recognized by The Best Lawyers ...
After leading BigLaw teams for years in high stakes and precedent setting cases in U.S. courts and international arbitration tribunals, Mr. Chao in May 2019 launched a boutique enabling him to sit as arbitrator, mediator, and special master, and to handle selected litigation matters. He was a partner for 29 years at a 1,000 lawyer global firm, where he founded and led the international litigation and arbitration practice; and for 6 years, he served as the U.S. head of the international arbitr...
Clarke Keller's practice focuses on defending Kentucky-area emergency medical service providers, product liability litigation and transportation law, including aviation, motor carriers and railroads. He serves as chair of the Business Litigation Group in the firm's Lexington office. He helped a start-up commercial enterprise obtain an FAA exemption and Certificate of Authorization to operate an unmanned aerial system (UAS) or drone, for commercial purposes. Additionally, Mr. Keller also maint...
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...
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 genera...
For over 25 years, Dawn's practice has focused on trial work, representing a variety of large and mid-sized corporate clients in claims involving a wide range of litigation topics. Dawn is an AV Preeminent® rated lawyer with a proven ability to manage and resolve sophisticated disputes. Dawn is comfortable in state and federal courts and arbitrations. Dawn serves as a court-appointed mediator, and she also serves on the American Arbitration Association's National Panel of Commercial and E...
Mr. Balitis counsels private sector clients as well as government agencies, including the Arizona legislature, on a broad range of employment law and labor relations matters. Over his 30 years of practice, he has represented clients in administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), U.S. Department of Labor, National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Arizona Civil Rights Division, Arizona Industrial Commission, Arizona Department of Occupational Safety and He...
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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.
