Academy Member Inducted 2005

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Malcolm Sher, Mediator, Danville, California.

Malcolm Sher

malcolm sher 4 mediated solutions
3494 Camino Tassajara, # 431
Danville, CA 94506
Tel: (925) 906-0990
Cell: 925-998-4255
Website: www.sher4mediatedsolutions.com
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Recognized to California Chapter for Mediation Other ADR Services: Court-Appointed Neutral (Special Master), Discovery Referee, Early Neutral Evaluation, Fact Finding, Med-Arb
Video Conferencing
Available
  • Practice Commenced1990
  • # of MEDS (as of 10/10/24)780
  • # of ARBS (as of 10/10/24)46
Current Practice
  • MODESTO
  • NAPA
  • SACRAMENTO-ROSEVILLE
  • SAN FRANCISCO-OAKLAND
  • SAN JOSE-SANTA CLARA
  • SANTA CRUZ
  • SANTA ROSA

Biographical

I am a full time mediator specializing in high-emotion, cross-cultural disputes in which I work closely with parties and their counsel to openly discuss their differences, identify and explore alternative settlement choices and, ultimately to creatively shape their own solutions.

My practice focuses on real estate, residential and commercal landlord-tenant, contract, partnership, business, probate, trust, partition actions, secured transactions, employment, (including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, misclasification, wage-and-hour) title, escrow, professional liability of brokers, lawyers, CPAs, personal injury and property damage.
 
I believe that culture, gender and personality impact disputants' perception of rights and obligations and influence negotiation style and conflict resolution, and that disputants who are treated with dignity and respect become empowered to fashion their own "win-win" solutions. 
 
I am flexible about process and improvisational in my approach. I am willing to be "evaluative", explore "what-ifs", ask probing questions and offer "reality checks". I am never "directive" because I think that undermines clients' rights to self-determination. In convening a mediation, I discuss efficient, cost-effective suggestions for pre-mediation discovery designed to meet the needs and budgets of parties. As the many testimonials on my website show, I have a reputation of being highly-qualified, competent and well-prepared. 
 
I earned my law degree from London University with honors in 1969 and previously practiced law in California and the UK for almost forty years, representing both plaintiffs and defendants. My mediation training includes the Straus Institute at Pepperdine University, a symposium of the International Academy of Mediators at the Harvard Negotiation Project and Steve Rosenberg's Advanced Mediator Training among others. I have published articles on mediation in the San Francisco and Los Angeles Daily Journals, Mediate.com and am a frequent presenter of topics on mediation for CEB and local bar associations.
 
I AM PROFICIENT USING THE ZOOM VIDEOCONFERENCING PLATFORM  AND HAVE CONDUCTED MANY MEDIATIONS USING ZOOM

 

Case Experience

  • Business Dissolution
  • Commercial/Business
  • Condominiums
  • Construction
  • Consumer Fraud
  • Contract Disputes
  • Cross Cultural
  • Debt Collections
  • Elder Abuse
  • Employment
  • Family Businesses
  • Insurance
  • Landlord/Tenant
  • Legal Malpractice
  • Lemon Law
  • Libel & Slander
  • Mortgage Foreclosure
  • Non-profit Organizations
  • Partnerships
  • Personal Injury
  • Premises Liability
  • Probate
  • Product Liability
  • Professional Fees
  • Professional Liability
  • Professional Malpractice
  • Professional Negligence
  • Property Damage
  • Real Estate
  • Title Disputes
  • Torts
  • Trusts / Estates
  • Unfair Competition
  • Wrongful Death

Education

  • Holborn College of Law
  • London University (L.L.B. [Hons.] 1969)

ADR Training and Teaching:
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University, Malibu, California, "Mediating the Litigated Case"; Steven Rosenberg's Mediation Training, (2002) and Advanced Mediation Training, (2003); multiple seminars and workshops given by ADRNC; Hastings Center for Dispute Resolution; American Arbitration Association; International Academy of Mediators Symposium at Harvard University, (April 2006); Contra Costa, Alameda and San Francisco Bar Associations and State Bar of California.


Memberships & Affiliations

  • California Academy of Distinguished Neutrals;
  • National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals;
  • Association For Dispute Resolution of Northern California, (ADRNC);
  • The Mediation Society, (former President)
  • The Law Society of England and Wales.

Panel of Mediators and Arbitrators:
Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, San Francisco, Sonoma, Solano Counties.  

Former member and Chair of State Bar of California Executive Committee on Mandatory Fee Arbitration; Chair, Contra Costa Bar Association MFA Committee and Client Relations Committee.

Bar Admissions:
California State Bar, 1976; U.S. District Court, Northern and Central Districts of California, 1976; U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, 1990; Solicitor of the Supreme Courts of England and Wales, 1972.

Publications:
"Real Property Remedies and Damages Practice" (CEB) Co-author of publication's ADR section. Frequently publish articles in San Francisco and Los Angeles Daily Journals, Mediate.com and local bar association journals.


Rates Information

$450 per hour for two parties and $500 per hour for three or more parties, split equally. This includes study time, site visits as necesssary and pre-mediation telephone conferences with counsel. There is a four hour minimum charge for the mediation session itself. I honor the "free time" requirements of court-sponsored ADR programs. I will negotiate flat fees of $8,000 per eight hour mediation session and $4,000 per four hour mediation session. These flat fees include all pre-session preparation. I require a deposit towards mediator fees of $6,000 split between the parties, sent with mediation briefs two weeks before the mediation session. I charge one hour travel time outside the immediate San Francisco Bay Area, regardless of the actual time spent in travel. I do not charge administrative fees, believing that parties' financial resources should be spent to facilitate productive negotiations.

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