Jeff Kichaven is an Honors Graduate of the Harvard Law School (J.D. Cum Laude, 1980), a Phi Beta Kappa Graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (A.B., Economics, 1977), and a veteran of 15 years' of business litigation experience as a partner in Los Angeles' Alschuler, Grossman & Pines.

In 1995, Jeff left the Alschuler firm to begin his ADR practice. Now a full-time neutral, Jeff handles approximately 200 mediations per year in a wide range of litigated cases. The three principal areas of concentration in Jeff's mediation practice are, in alphabetical order:

• Employment (Termination, Harassment and Discrimination)
• Insurance (Coverage, Allocation and Bad Faith)
• Intellectual property (Entertainment, Copyright, Trademarks, Patents, Unfair Competition and Information Technology)

Additional areas in which Jeff has mediated significant numbers of cases include Securities, Trusts and Estates, Real Property, and all matter of business contract and tort disputes.

Jeff is an internationally-recognized speaker and writer on mediation. He has addressed audiences in the United States, Canada and England for six Sections of the American Bar Association (Business Law, Dispute Resolution, Family Law, Law Practice Management, Litigation and Tort and Insurance Practice section). He has also addressed the Practicing Law Institute, ALI-ABA, the State Bar of California, the Texas Association of Mediators, the North Carolina Bar Association, the California Center for Judicial Education and Research ("Judges' College"), the USC Insurance Law Institute, California Continuing Education of the Bar, the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills Bar Associations, the national seminar series of the Negotiation Strategy Institute, and many other organizations. Several of his recent articles, including the widely-published "Mediation is Not for Sissies," are included in this website.

Jeff teaches Advanced as well as Beginning Mediation Training for the American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution and Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TTIPS), Pepperdine University School of Law, Los Angeles County Bar Association-Dispute Resolution Services, the California Court of Appeals and the United States District Court (Central District of California). Jeff also serves as Adjunct Professor at Pepperdine University School of Law.

In the organized bar, Jeff is a Trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and LACBA-Dispute Resolution Services, Inc. and is a Past Chair of LACBA's ADR Section. He is also Chair of the ADR Committee in the ABA's TTIPS Section, and has served as a Member of the Governing Council of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution and Chair of the ADR Committees in the ABA Sections of Business Law and Intellectual Property Law. Additionally, Jeff is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Southern California Mediation Association and a Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators.

In June, 2003, Jeff was named to the Distinguished Panel of Neutrals of New York's CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution.

In 1998, Jeff was honored as one of only 23 mediators nationwide to be profiled in the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution book, "ADR Personalities and Practice Tips."

Jeff is also one of the editors of Q&ADR, the periodic question and answer column about mediation, arbitration and private judging in the weekly "Extra" section of the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals. When you want the most highly skilled help available to analyze options and make smart choices, contact.