Profile
Professional Experience
Mark Fingerman is a mediator for civil disputes with an emphasis on business, personal injury, real estate, insurance coverage and intellectual property cases. Mark’s mediation style derives from 28 years of state and federal trial practice transformed by a Masters Degree in Dispute Resolution and mindfulness training as a teacher of yoga, meditation and applied contemplative practices, enabling him to offer mindfulness based mediation with an edge.
“Mindfulness” refers to calmly and compassionately engaging the parties and counsel, without judgment, enabling the participants to gain a clear and complete view of the conflict. The “edge” refers to the use of a broad array of mediation techniques, including frank case evaluation as needed, with an emphasis on assisting the parties in making a deal. The goal is to work with counsel to efficiently guide the parties to a durable resolution based on reasons they understand and accept.
As a lawyer, Mark’s clients ranged from institutional to individual, including insurance defense, multinational, government agency, the Republic of France and small business in both simple and complex cases. Mark has been successfully mediating court panel and private cases since 2010.
Areas of Specialty
- Business
- All manner of business disputes including: Breach of Contract; Partnership disputes; Fraud; Ownership/Control disputes among owners and third parties.
- Personal Injury
- Toxic Tort, Auto v. Auto, Premises Liability, Food Poisoning
- Real Estate
- Failure to disclose; Broker liability; Lease Disputes; Landlord/tenant, commercial and residential; boundary disputes; easements.
- Insurance Coverage
- Homeowner’s and Commercial General Liability insurance policies.
- Intellectual Property
- Trade Secret, Trademark, Unfair Competition
- Probate, Estates and Trusts
Litigation Experience
- 2001-2012 Jacobson, Russell, Saltz & Fingerman – Partner
- 1999-2001 Valensi Rose – Partner
- 1986-1997 Bergman, Dacey, Goldsmith – Partner
Education
- 1979 – BA (Philosophy), University of California at San Diego
- 1981 – JD, California Western School of Law in San Diego
- 2011 – LL.M in Dispute Resolution, Strauss Institute, Pepperdine Law School
Professional Affiliations
- State Bar of California
- United States District Court, ADR Panel
- Santa Monica Bar Association, Board of Directors
- Beverly Hills Bar Association, member
- Los Angeles County Bar Association, member
- ProVisors, Group Leader
- Association of Surfing Lawyers
Honors
- 2009 Chevalier de L’Ordre National du Mérite (Knight of the National Order of Merit), Republic of France
Personal
- 2010 RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher), Yoga Alliance (Max Strom)
- 2016 Teacher Training, Mindfulness-Based Emotional Intelligence, by Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute (Google offshoot)