L.A. attorney mediator Michael H. White is an acknowledged authority in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) techniques for resolving business and personal conflicts outside of traditional, court-based litigation.
Competent, compassionate and creative, Mr. White combines three decades of traditional private-practice litigation in Southern California—business and commercial litigation, bankruptcy, estate planning, real estate, and divorce—with more than a decade of leadership in the fast evolving world of ADR.
Both as a college professor and as an active practitioner, Mr. White has become a passionate advocate for mediation and arbitration as a way to create more lasting and productive solutions to commercial and personal conflicts.
Mediation Approach
As a mediator, Mr. White respects the fact that the mediation process is “owned” by the parties. He is a peaceful listener who provides a safe and consistent atmosphere in which to uncover and express the underlying issues of a dispute, with an end to improving communications between the parties, resolving the basic relational issues, and seeking a road on which a future relationship may be explored or improved.
His philosophy and preferences are that of a practitioner of transformative/eclectic mediation, but he is respectful of the rights and obligations of the parties to participate in the development of the process that they wish to employ. In the same way, Mr. White is always willing to consider the approach to mediation that the parties (and when represented, their counsel) wish to suggest.
Professional Background
Mr. White has practiced law since 1975 in the California and Federal courts. His extensive trial practice has included real estate litigation, commercial transactions, medical and psychological malpractice, estates and trusts, bankruptcy and administrative proceedings. Prior to that time, he began his initial legal work as a Staff Judge Advocate in the U.S. Air Force during the years 1972 to 1974. He is a past president of the Beverly Hills Bar Association; a member of the Executive Board of the California Conference of Delegates, now the California Conference of Bar Associations, as well as numerous other professional organizations. He is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) and the
California Dispute Resolution Council (CDRC), and can be found on Mediate.com.
Professional Mediation Experience
Since 1985, Mr. White has been an active supporter of the Los Angeles Superior Court Mediation Panel. For a decade, he has also supported the mediation panel of the Ventura County Superior Court. Most recently, he has joined the panels for the California Court of Appeal and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court. In past years, he has generally administered on average 40 mediations per year in support of courts. In addition, he has maintained his private mediation and law practice primarily in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, with occasional work in Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties. His mediation training includes the Mediation Skills Training, both basic and advanced, by the Los Angeles County Bar Association/Dispute Resolution Services, Inc., and the Intensive and Advanced Mediation Training by the Center for Mediation in Law.
Degrees
Mr. White obtained his Juris Doctor (J.D.)degree from the University of California at Los Angeles School of law in 1971. He obtained his B.A. degree from the University of Oklahoma, attending its school of Journalism. He began his college education at Occidental College which he attended for 2 and 1/2 years.
Training
2001 |
LACBA/Dispute Resolution Services, Inc |
Mediation Skills, 40 |
2002 |
LACBA/Dispute Resolution Services, Inc |
Advanced Mediation Skills, 40 |
2002 |
Gary Friedman, Jack Himmelman |
Intensive Mediation Training, 48 |
2003 |
Gary Friedman, Jack Himmelman |
Advanced Mediation Training, 40 |
Fees
Mr. White’s hourly rate is $400.00, generally shared equally among the parties.
A retainer of $1,000.00 is generally required, which is refundable on cancellation if five days notice of cancellation is provided, and thereafter, with a cancellation fee of $400.00.