Best Lawyers in America for Mediation
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State
Deborah Birnbach is a partner and co-chairs Goodwin’s Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution and Public M&A / Corporate Governance practices and is a member of the firm’s Life Sciences Disputes group. She specializes in securities litigation, including class action defense; SEC, regulatory and internal investigations; M&A-related litigation; stockholder disputes; fiduciary duty claims; and proxy contests. Ms. Birnbach’s practice is national in scope and clients ...
David W. Ichel is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Mediation. David W., who practices law in Miami, Florida, has been recognized since 2006. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which David W. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area. He also practices in New York where he was previously recognized by Best Lawyers for Complex Litigation.
Area of Emphasis Mark Shepard is a shareholder in the Litigation Group of Babst Calland and currently serves as general counsel to the Firm. Prior to joining the firm, he served as chair of the litigation group for one of Pittsburgh’s largest law firms. Background as a Litigator Mr. Shepard focuses his practice in the areas of commercial, toxic tort, products liability and environmental litigation. He has represented clients as lead trial counsel in a variety of complex commercial litig...
Peter Schroeder is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Arbitration, Insurance Law, Litigation - Construction, Mediation and Professional Malpractice Law - Defendants. Peter, who practices law in Indianapolis, Indiana, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Peter is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
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...
Abbey Kaplan is a seasoned trial lawyer known for taking on complex cases and crafting creative strategies for tackling the most complicated legal issues in commercial litigation and business tort cases. A Founding Member of Kluger Kaplan, Abbey has extensive experience handling partnership and corporate breakups, real estate development disputes including banking and broker controversies, professional liability disputes, corporate finance issues, contract disputes and intellectual property. ...
Leonard J. Frankel is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Family Law Mediation and Mediation. Leonard J., who practices law in Clayton, Missouri, has been recognized since 2007. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Leonard J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Terence O’Toole is a Director of the Starn O’Toole Marcus & Fisher law firm. He manages the firm’s litigation department and has over 50 years of experience in the area of commercial and complex litigation. Mr. O'Toole has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America ® , as a "Lawyer of the Year" in Honolulu in the practice areas of Bet-The-Company (2011, 2019, 2023) , Banking & Finance Litigation (2012, 2015, 2024) , Appellate Practice (2014, 2018, 2022, 2024)...
Listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers, Diane’s practice focuses on complex litigation and dispute resolution. Prior to joining the firm in 1978, she was an extern to the Honorable Herbert Choy, Circuit Judge, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Diane is involved in a number of professional and community activities, servicing on the Disciplinary Board of the Hawaii Supreme Court, as a national director of Easter Seals, Inc., as well as a director of Easter Seals Hawaii and ...
Terri L. Pastori, a founding member of Pastori | Krans, PLLC in Concord, NH, is a seasoned attorney and litigator focusing on employment law and business litigation. Known for her strategic thinking and trusted counsel, Terri helps clients proactively mitigate legal risk, resolve complex employment issues as they arise, and, if necessary, resolve disputes in state and federal courts, at the Human Rights Commission, or before other administrative agencies. Because she represents both individua...
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...
Matthew “Matty” A. Lopes Jr. is Managing Principal of Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC. For most of his 35-year legal career, he has been actively involved in the court oversight of correctional systems and is a nationally recognized Special Master in correctional reform litigation. For the past 26 years, he has served as the Special Master for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California in the matter of Coleman v. Newsom. As Special Master in this...
Robin Harrison has represented plaintiffs and defendants in trials and arbitrations in venues from Cuero, Texas to Paris, France for more than 35 years. He has extensive experience handling cases involving breach of fiduciary duties, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud and misrepresentation, professional liability, and business owner/ “business divorce” disputes. He has assisted numerous clients in several different industries, including construction, oil ...
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.