Sep 15, 2026
Hon. Valerie Salkin (Ret.) Joins ADR Services, Inc.
After more than three decades in the legal profession, including 16 years on the Los Angeles County Superior Court, nine years presiding over civil matters, and more than 100 jury trials as a prosecutor, Hon. Valerie Salkin (Ret.) brings extensive experience in litigation, trial risk, judicial decision-making, and case management to her work as a mediator.
Judge Salkin was elected to the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 2010 and subsequently received an interim appointment from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, allowing her to take the bench immediately. She spent her first seven years presiding over criminal matters before transitioning to the civil bench. For approximately nine years, she handled civil litigation in Van Nuys, including four years as a civil trial judge and five years presiding over an unlimited-jurisdiction Independent Calendar court in Department U. She also served as a settlement judge for nearly a year and conducted more than 150 Mandatory Settlement Conferences.
Her civil experience spans business and commercial disputes, contract claims, employment matters, personal injury and premises liability, consumer litigation, medical malpractice, automobile cases, collections, and other unlimited civil matters. In her Independent Calendar assignment, Judge Salkin managed an inventory exceeding 1,000 active cases while addressing law and motion, discovery disputes, case management proceedings, court and jury trials, and post-trial matters.
At one point, Judge Salkin’s Independent Calendar inventory reached approximately 1,250 active cases. She worked that inventory down to approximately 1,067 cases while continuing to manage the daily demands of a high-volume civil courtroom. That experience gave her a practical perspective on why litigation becomes stuck, which disputes genuinely matter, and what can move cases forward. Most importantly, Judge Salkin emphasizes direct communication as a tool for resolving conflict.
Before joining the bench, Judge Salkin spent 13 years as a Deputy District Attorney with the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and tried more than 100 criminal cases to jury verdict as lead counsel. Her final years as a prosecutor were spent in the Hardcore Gang Unit handling gang murder prosecutions and conducting intensive factual investigations involving witnesses, physical evidence, crime scenes, autopsies, and law-enforcement investigations.