Paul Crost

Arbitrator, Mediator, Hearing Officer

Work History:  Full time neutral since May, 2007.  Founding Partner, Reich, Adell, Crost & Cvitan, 1975 to April 2007; Associate, Brundage, Reich & Pappy, 1967-75.   Listed in "Best Lawyers in America" annually since 1987. Fellow of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.

Experience:    Counseling of labor organizations and individual employees in all aspects of collective bargaining and employment law. Litigation has included National Labor Relations Board and Public Employment Relations Board representation and unfair labor practice proceedings, civil service proceedings, arbitrations under collective bargaining and private employment contracts, and employment discrimination, civil rights and sexual harassment claims in state and federal court. 25 years experience representing unions and individuals in the entertainment industry. Experience as an advocate in manufacturing, warehousing, trucking, grocery, entertainment and construction industries, as well as public sector [municipal, county, and state], and in K-12, community college and university education employment.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Training/Experience:   Advocate in labor/management arbitrations since 1968.  Represented parties in mediation of employment law disputes. Served as sole arbitrator and member of three-member panels under the AAA Employment Rules Panel, and the California State Mediation & Conciliation Service and Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service labor arbitration panels. Hearing Officer/Arbitrator/Mediator for the Los Angeles County Civil Service and Employee Relations Commissions and Hearing Officer for the Los Angeles Unified School District Personnel Commission.  Public Employment Relations Board Fact-Finding and mediation panels.  Court of Appeal Mediation Panel. Alternative Dispute Resolution Training:  AAA Employment Arbitrator Training Workshop, San Francisco, 10/00; AAA Employment Arbitrator Training, Los Angeles, 12/96; AAA Mediator Training, Orange County, 11/96; AAA Employment Arbitrator Training, Orange County, 10/95. Mediation Training, California Association of Mediation Professionals, November, 2006. FMCS Arbitrator Training Institute, September 2007. Pepperdine Straus Institute, “Mediating the Litigated Case,” January   February 2008, “Advanced Mediation Strategies,” 2009, “Mediating in the Red Zone,” June 2010, “Preventing Bad Settlement Decisions,” June 2012. 

Professional Licenses:   Admitted to the Bar - California; Central, Northern and Southern U.S. Districts of California; Ninth and District of Columbia Circuit Courts of Appeals; U.S. Supreme Court.

Professional Associations:   Founding Member and Past President, Orange County Industrial Relations Research Association; ABA (Labor and Employment Law Section; State Labor Law Developments Committee, Former Co-chair; Sports and Entertainment Law Committee, Privacy Subcommittee Chair); Member, Southern California Mediation Association, Association for Conflict Resolution.

Education:  University of California at Los Angeles (BA-1964), High Honors, Phi Beta Kappa: University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law (JD-1967), Law Review, Order of the Coif.

Publications and Speaking Engagements:   Consultant, "California Public Sector Labor Relations," 1989; Speaker at OCIRRA/NLRB Annual Labor Law Conferences.

Compensation: $300.00/hour. 4 hour minimum. $3,000.00 maximum. Daily and minimum rates include pre-mediation conference calls with counsel, all study time including reading briefs, travel time (up to 1 hour of drive time for half-days and including all travel time for full days within the Greater Los Angeles/ Orange County area)), reasonable expenses, and the mediation session. Only airfare and hotels will be billed as separate line items. Any additional time spent will be billed at $300/hour. 72 hours before a scheduled full day mediation, a deposit of $3,000.00 should be made.  For a half day mediation a deposit of fees for the first three hours should be made.

Cancellation policy: No cancellation fee if notice is given more than 14 calendar days prior to the mediation. A $500.00 fee will be billed for cancellations within the 14-calendar day period.

Expenses: No charges are made for copying, clerical assistance, postage or other similar expenses . Travel expenses and travel time are charged only for mediations which are not within the Los Angeles/Orange Co./Inland Empire metropolitan area.

Mileage is charged at the IRS rate only for driving beyond the Greater Los Angeles/Orange County/Inland Empire area. For travel out of the area, charges are made only for reasonable expenses such as airfare, mileage, parking, car rental or taxi [whichever would be lower], and lodging