Law Firm Overview

SPECIALIZING IN THE RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES AS AN ARBITRATOR, MEDIATOR, REFEREE AND PRIVATE JUDGE

Dispute Resolution Experience:

Arbitrator and mediator of over 10,000 private and/or judicially appointed disputes involving business, commerce, UCC, investments, securities, banking, tax, partnerships, corporate, employment, entertainment, wrongful termination, intellectual property, insurance, real estate, construction, textiles, healthcare, medical/legal malpractice, discrimination, civil rights, tort and consumer disputes (1974 to date) for California Superior Courts, American Arbitration Association, International Center for Dispute Resolution, Better Business Bureau, New York Stock Exchange, Pacific Stock Exchange, State of California Public Works Contract Arbitration Tribunal, National Association, Chicago Board Options Exchange, USEEOC, Los Angeles Police Commission, California Lawyers For The Arts, Judge Pro Tem, Referee and Special Master. Consultant on Dispute resolution forums, agreements and protocol for effective resolution of large, complex and catastrophic damage claims.

Experience-Other:

Transactional and Litigation practice, representing plaintiffs and defendants in commercial matters (over 300 trials), including corporate, partnerships, construction, real estate, insurance, employment, wrongful termination, finance, banking, securities, investments, tax, due diligence investigations and audits, entertainment, intellectual property, U.C.C., professional liability/malpractice, civil rights, tort and consumer law. Consultant on case analysis and evaluation. Specializing in non-traditional forms of dispute resolution including international and domestic arbitrations and mediation of commercial disputes as a neutral. Extensive lecturing on dispute resolution.

Education:

Rutgers College (College of Arts and Science)-Rutgers University

Bernard Baruch Graduate School of Business (Accounting/Taxation)

St. John's University School of Law (Class President)

Highlights:

1973 - Admitted to New York Bar

1973 - Principal, Law Offices of Steven Richard Sauer, Los Angeles and New York

1973-1978 - Of Counsel Trial Practice, civil and criminal trials & appeals of over 300 trials, State and Federal

1974-75 - Better Business Bureau of New York, Inc.-Arbitrator for that organization's first pilot program; Advisor on development of their arbitration rules

1974 - American Arbitration Association, New York, New York.  Appointed to their national business and construction arbitration panels

1975 - Admitted United States District Court, Southern and Eastern Districts of New York

1975 - Appointed to American Arbitration Association new York No-Fault Insurance Panel (Only panel member for whom 10 year minimum practice experience requirements were waived.)

1976 - Invited by American Arbitration Association-NYC, as one of only four attorneys from their 3000 member national arbitrator panel to participate in their first pilot mediation program of personal and business matters where mediation procedure, protocol and conduct were introduced for the first time outside the collective bargaining mediation context- only 20 invitees for this 32 hour training and panel appointment - all other participants were psychologists.  MSW and MFCC practitioners

1978 - National Association of Securities Dealers (NY)-Appointed to their National Panel of Arbitrators

1978 - Relocated to California-focus of practice shifted from litigation/trial attorney to business management and financial consulting, including Due Diligence investigations of SEC filings and the design and structure of limited partnerships involving tax shelter investments in oil, real estate and entertainment ventures

1979 - Admitted to California Bar

1980 - Admitted to United States District Court, Central and Northern Districts of California

1983 - Established full time arbitration mediation practice (no longer represented individual parties or business entities)

1984 - Appointed to their respective National panel of Arbitrators for New York Stock Exchange (NY), American Stock Exchange (NY), Pacific Stock Exchange (LA) and the Municipal Securities Rule Making Board (Washington, D.C.)

1985 - Invited by American Intermediation Service of San Francisco to attend and critique their 24 hour mediation lecture and role playing training involving mediation process and facilitative mediation techniques, presented by Professor William Lincoln of Washington University

1985 - Judicial arbitrator for the California Superior Courts Arbitration Program, and the only judicial arbitrator for the State Court program traveling on circuit for the county courts of San Diego, Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara. Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin and Sacramento.  Provided communications link for the various county arbitration administrators on practice and procedure developments in the other County arbitration programs

1985 - Appointed to Panel of Arbitrators for State of California Office of Hearings for their Public Works Construction Contracts Disputes Arbitration Tribunal

1985 - Invited by President of the Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (Mr. Otto Glossner) to participate at their International House of Delegates meeting at the ICC in Paris, France (representatives of over 84 nations in attendance) to present my evaluation of their proposed rule changes.  Introduced by Mr. Glossner to the Delegate Body as the only full time professional arbitrator of business and commercial disputes outside Communist China.

1985 - Appointed to National Panel of Private Judges JUDICATE.  The National Private Court System

1985-88 - Appointed Chair of numerous multi-arbitrator panels for New York Stock Exchange and National Association of Securities Dealers arbitration programs from San Diego to Seattle and from Hawaii to New Mexico in circumstances where local panels rosters were challenged by disputants on issues of fairness regarding subjective bias and partiality of roster members due to local or regional notoriety of dispute or its participants

1987-88 - Appointed to Special Master Panel of the Marin County Superior Court

1987-1990 - Appointed to Riverside County Superior Court Arbitration Committee

1988 - Special Consultant to National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) Committee on developing dispute resolution protocol for proposed non-military multi-national orbiting space station (operational 2000-2001)

1989 - Special Consultant to subcommittee Chair of the California Judicial Counsel Committee on development of arbitration rules in non-fast track counties

1989-1990 - Appointed Judge Pro Tem for the Riverside County Superior Court

1990 - Founder of the ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL ARBITRATORS as a forum for dialogue among arbitrators to discuss issues of mutual concern

1991 - Appointed and served as Judge Pro Tem of The Los Angeles Municipal Court

1992 - Founder and Executive Director of the INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY OF PROFESSIONAL ARBITRATORS whose focus is the study of the causes of disputes and the development of dispute resolution protocols

1993 - Appointed to Executive Committee of Beverly Hills Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee

1994 - Acknowledged by the legal profession as perhaps the most experienced arbitrator of commercial disputes in California

1995 - Appointed to Executive Committee of Beverly Hills Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section

1996 - Appointed to Executive Committee of Los Angeles County Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section

1996 - Appointed Co-chairman of the Century City Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.  Responsible for presenting timely seminars on cutting edge issues.

1997 - Honored by Los Angeles County Superior Court as one of the top ten Volunteer neutrals of the County Court Systems, having accepted volunteer appointments as an arbitrator or mediator in 1996 for 322 pending Court cases

1999 - Founding Member-San Fernando Valley Bar Assn. Mentor Mediation Program

1999 - Began writing monthly column entitled "Resolving Disputes - A Review of ADR Issues in the News" for the Century City Lawyer

1999 - Appointed to the Century City Bar Association Board of Governors; Elected to Board of Directors of Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution-Los Angles Chapter; Appointed to International Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators for the International Center for Dispute Resolution of the American Arbitration Association-New York

2000 - Appointed to the National Association of Securities Dealers Regulation Chairperson Panel for Statutory Employment Discrimination disputes

2000 - Appointed to National Mediator Panel of NASD Resolutions, Inc.

2000 - Appointed Chair of Committee on Professional Compensation of The Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution-LA Chapter

2000 - Designated by University of California-Irvine School of Social Ecology as Study Site for students majoring in Behavioral Psychology or Law in Society

2001 - Qualified by the United States Government Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as Mediator of EEOC matters

Appointed to Los Angeles Police Commission panel of Hearing Examiners

Appointed to Arts Arbitration and Mediation Services panel of neutrals of California Lawyers For The Arts

Professional Memberships:

American Arbitration Association

**American Bar Association

American Trial Lawyers Association

Association of Business Trial Lawyers

**Beverly Hills Bar Association (Executive Committee of ADR Section)

California Dispute Resolution Council

California Trial Lawyers Association (Consumer Attorneys of California)

**Century City Bar Association (Co-Chair of ADR Committee)

**Los Angeles County Bar Association

Los Angeles Trials Lawyers Association (Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles)

San Fernando Valley Bar Association**

Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution

Southern California Mediation Association

State Bar of California

**Member of Dispute Resolution Committee or Section

Other Business Experience:

A.H.Sauer & Associates Real Estate-Commercial and industrial real estate acquisition and development (New Jersey Real Estate License)

Alexander's Department Stores-Office of the Vice President and Chief Operations Officer-Special projects of tri-state multi store retail chain in operations, merchandising, inventory control, buying of hard and soft goods, and security (New York, New Jersey & Connecticut)

Automatic Data Processing (ADP) - Responsible for quality control of computer output, Corporate Headquarters, Clifton, New Jersey

Banker's Trust Company - Credit/Financial Analyst, New York, New York

Beth Israel Hospital - Emergency room intake and triage - Newark, New Jersey

Carnation Company - Corporate Tax Department-Accounting/Tax preparation of Corporate Federal & State Tax Returns - Los Angeles, California

Oppenheimer & Co-Mutual Fund Marketing Registered Rep. NASD License) - New Jersey

S.D. Leidesdorf, CPA's - Review and Verification of Annual Report Financial Statements of Fortune Five Hundred Companies, New York, New York

Glove Specialties West, Inc.-President and CEO - Los Angeles, California

Hurdman, Cranston, Penney & Co., CPA's - Accountant/Field Auditor of New York State Banks

Kazlow & Kazlow - Commercial Litigation and Consultant on Corporate and Financial Restructuring of near bankrupt companies - New York, New York

New York Institute of Legal Research-Advisory Board - New York, New York

Relay Specialties, Inc.-Corporate Counsel of multi-million dollar electronic component manufacturing/distribution company - New Jersey

Sandvik Steel (The National Steel Company of Sweden) - Wrote procedure manual on psychological impact to employees when introducing computers into the office environment (1996)- N.J.

Shell Oil Corporation (Royal Dutch Petroleum) - Accounting/Special projects and computer accounting reconciliation- Regional Data Processing Center-New York, New York

U.S.A. Petroleum - Accounting/Computer Special projects - Santa Monica, California

Areas of Practice

• Transactional and Litigation Practice
• Representing Plaintiffs and Defendants in Commercial Matters
• Corporate
• Partnerships
• Construction
• Real Estate
• Insurance
• Employment
• Wrongful Termination
• Finance
• Banking
• Securities
• Investments
• Tax
• Due Diligence Investigations and Audits
• Entertainment
• Intellectual Property
• U.C.C.
• Professional Liability/Malpractice
• Civil Rights
• Tort and Consumer Law
• Consultant on Case Analysis and Evaluation
• Non-Traditional Forms of Dispute Resolution
• International and Domestic Arbitration
• Mediation of Commercial Disputes

Honors and Awards

• Acknowledged by the Legal Profession as Perhaps the Most Experienced Arbitrator of Commercial Disputes in California, 1994
• One of the Top Ten Volunteer Neutrals of the County Court System - Los Angeles County Superior Court, 1997

Published Works

• Creating Money Workbook, 1982
• New Techniques for Handling Client Conflicts, The Regents of the University of California, 1984
• Preventing Mistakes in Arbitration: An Arbitrator's Perspective, University of West Los Angeles Law Review, Volume 23, 1992
• Survival Facts About Arbitration, Personal Finance Magazine, Vol. XXIII, Number 22, November 27, 1996
• Resolving Disputes-A Review of ADR Issues in the News, Century City Lawyer, Monthly Column

Classes and Seminars

• "The Power of Keeping Your Agreements"-Guest Lecturer, University of Southern California (USC) Graduate School of Business Entrepreneur Program, 1983
• "New Techniques for Handling Client Conflicts", CEB and The Regents of the University of California, at Boalt Hall, 1984
• "New Tools for the Civil Litigator - ADR", Beverly Hills Bar Association, Century Plaza Hotel, 1992
• "Preventing Mistakes in Arbitration", Beverly Hills Bar Association, Century Plaza Hotel, 1994
• "Mediating the Complex Case", Insurance Industry 6th Annual Combined Claims Conference, 1994
• "Making Arbitration Work", Orange County Workers Compensation Defense Association, 1994
• "Latest Developments in Dispute Resolution", California Society of Certified Public Accountants, Beverly Hilton Hotel, 1994
• "Organizing an ADR Program", Century City Bar Association, 1996
• "Arbitration Immunity-The Lockyear Initiative", Century City Bar Association, 1996
• "Effective Use of ADR Program", Century City Bar Association, 1997
• "The Use of ADR - Separating Fact From Fiction-What's the Arbitrator's Role", Century City Bar Association, 1997
• "How to Make Court-Ordered Judicial Arbitration Meaningful", Santa Monica Bar Association, 1998
• "Judicial Ethics in ADR-Does It Apply? Should It Apply?", Century City Bar Association, 1999
• The Part Lecture Series- "Reframing Individual and Group Dissatisfaction" "The Application of Quantum Mass Theory to Contextual Reframing" "Identifying and Resolving Subjective Barriers in Dispute Environments", Committee on Professional Compensation of The Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution - Los Angeles Chapter, 2000

Pro Bono Activities

• Appointed Judge Pro Tem for the Riverside County Superior Court, 1989 - 1990
• Appointed and Served as Judge Pro Tem of The Los Angeles Municipal Court, 1991

West Practice Categories

Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Banking & Finance Law, Business & Commercial Law, Consumer Protection, Uniform Commercial Code, Business Organizations, Partnerships, Civil Rights, Construction Law, Employment Law -- Employee, Wrongful Termination -- Employee, Employment Law -- Employer, Wrongful Termination -- Employer, Entertainment, Ethics & Professional Responsibility, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law, International Law, Litigation & Appeals, Professional Malpractice Law, Real Estate Law, Securities Law, Taxation Law