Big Bear City Arbitration & Mediation Lawyers

I am currently Litigation Director for Denning Moores APC and litigating cases in the areas of Civil Appeals and Writs, Medical Malpractice, Elder Abuse, Wrongful Death, Premises Liability, Real Estate and Land Use, Commercial Contracts, Construction Defect and Complex Business Litigation. Most of my background is in civil appeals and writs, which has given me a unique perspective on trial practice in vast areas of the law.

Before law school I earned an Engineering Degree which has facilitated my ADR practice which is focused on IP and technology disputes.

In addition I am an attorney Registered and specially qualified/allowed to Practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Hi there.

Yes. I'm an attorney. But get those stuffy images and greedy stereotypes out of your head. I became an attorney to help people and I'm here to help you. Too many people don't know the little things that can make all the difference in their lives. Sometimes you just need a friendly neighbor with some helpful insight. So thanks for stopping by- I'm The Attorney Next Door! :)

Calling myself The Attorney Next Door has been a long time coming. You see, law school doesn't teach lawyers how to help people. It teaches us how to think...

Layn R. Phillips, founder of Phillips ADR Enterprises (PADRE), is a former U.S. Attorney and U.S. District Judge. Appointed at age 35 by President Reagan, he presided over 140+ trials in Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas, and sat by designation on the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Earlier, Judge Phillips served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Los Angeles, and at age 31, was nominated as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Oklahoma. After leaving the bench, he spent 23 years at Irell & Manella, focusing on complex civil litigation, internal investigations, and alternative dispute resolution. He later founded PADRE, specializing...

Zev J. Eigen is a labor/employment and entertainment litigator with more than a decade of substantial experience handling complex negotiations, alternative dispute resolution and general contract law. Eigen has developed a particular background in representing clients in the entertainment industry and the restaurant and hospitality industry. He previously served as Senior Counsel to Twentieth Century Fox, where he represented Fox in all facets of its relationships with the entertainment industry labor organizations such as the Screen Actors Guild, the Writers Guild and the Directors Guild. Prior to joining Fox, Eigen worked as an associate with the law firm, Littler Mendelson,...

EXPERTISE IN CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION Mari Frank is an attorney, mediator, Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP), author, professor, and radio show host in private practice in California and Florida. She worked in the District Attorney’s Office, practiced insurance defense law, and had a general civil law practice. She has successfully resolved thousands of disputes as a neutral since 1985. Ms. Frank was the founding President of the Orange County Chapter of the Society for Professionals in Dispute Resolution-Orange County, California. She served for three years as founding Chair of the State Bar of California Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee She is a...

Seth Aronson joined Phillips ADR in 2023, mediating disputes up to ten figures in securities, consumer class actions, privacy, false claims, shareholder derivative, antitrust, RMBS fraud, and complex litigation. He serves on the ADR panel for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Retiring from O’Melveny & Myers LLP in 2022 after 40 years as a trial and appellate lawyer, Seth was managing partner of O’Melveny’s Los Angeles office and chaired its Securities Litigation practice. Ranked by Chambers USA for 20 years, he was named California Securities Litigation Attorney of the Year twice by Benchmark Litigation, a “Top 100 Lawyer”...

Chuck Stevens joined Phillips ADR after a 40-year career as a litigation partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, U.S. Attorney, and neutral in ADR matters. At Gibson Dunn’s San Francisco office, he served as managing partner for six years and was recognized by Lawdragon (2023 Leading Global Litigators), Benchmark Litigation (2024 Litigation Star), and Chambers (Band 1, California Litigation). He was named San Francisco’s Lawyer of the Year for Bet-the-Company Litigation (2019) by Best Lawyers. Chuck founded a boutique litigation firm, handling complex civil cases and qui tam matters. As a neutral, he mediated for the Eastern District of California’s Voluntary...

Margaret B. Seymour, a retired U.S. District Judge (District of South Carolina, 1998–2022), was the first African American woman federal judge and chief federal judge in South Carolina. She served as a U.S. Magistrate Judge (1996–1998) before her district court appointment. Over 26 years, Judge Seymour presided over complex securities, contract, class action, commercial, banking, bankruptcy, employment, discrimination, and environmental cases, as well as criminal matters like drug conspiracies, white-collar crime, and Ponzi schemes. She sat by designation on the Fourth Circuit and participated in two three-judge-panel redistricting cases. She served twice on the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of...

Elliot Brown, a Phillips ADR neutral, is the former managing partner of Irell & Manella LLP. He spent nearly 30 years in IP litigation, counseling, and licensing at a top IP practice. Elliot graduated cum laude from Harvard College (1985), earning Phi Beta Kappa and a John Harvard Scholar award. He studied philosophy of science at Princeton, receiving an MA (1987) and a Mellon Fellowship, where game theory and Daniel Kahneman’s work on bargaining and cognitive bias shaped his approach to dispute resolution. He earned his J.D. magna cum laude from Harvard Law School (1990), serving as a Harvard Law Review...

Clay joined Judge Phillips’ ADR practice in 2011. He graduated cum laude from Pepperdine University (B.A., History, 2006) and earned his J.D. from Fordham Law School (2011). He is admitted to the New York and California State Bars. Clay began mediating small claims in Bronx County Civil Court during law school. With over a decade at Phillips ADR, he now mediates complex disputes involving major companies in areas like antitrust, class actions, intellectual property, environmental, mass tort, insurance, securities, and contract disputes. He has worked on over 500 mediations, assisting Judge Phillips before, during, and after sessions, and directly engaging parties...

Michelle Yoshida, a full-time mediator, arbitrator, and special master since 2007, joined Phillips ADR in 2014. Previously with Judge Daniel Weinstein’s team, she has mediated over 500 disputes with billions in settlements, excelling in complex cases involving securities, insurance, professional liability, ERISA, and trustee issues. Known for quickly grasping legal and factual complexities, she manages large ADR cases with objectivity and determination, finding practical solutions for disputes ranging from personal contracts to major corporate matters. Michelle builds trust and productive relationships with mediation participants. Before becoming a neutral, she was a trial attorney handling complex business litigation, including contracts, insurance, intellectual...

Edwin V. Woodsome, a Phillips ADR neutral, was managing partner of Dechert LLP’s Los Angeles office and head of Global Litigation at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. With over 35 years of trial experience, he has handled consumer fraud, False Claims Act, securities, product liability, trade secrets, employment, antitrust, and intellectual property cases in state and federal courts. He has extensive appellate, mediation, and arbitration experience, including the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California’s mediation panel. Woodsome represented major firms in transportation, banking, technology, aerospace, and entertainment, serving as U.S. national litigation counsel for a global logistics company and...

Gregory P. Lindstrom, a Phillips ADR neutral since 2014, brings extensive litigation and business experience from his roles as a Latham & Watkins litigation partner and General Counsel of The Irvine Company. A full-time mediator and arbitrator since 2012, he specializes in complex disputes, including antitrust, securities, intellectual property, and commercial matters. Born in California, Greg graduated summa cum laude from UCLA (Economics, 1975) and earned his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School (1978), working with Professor Richard Posner. At Latham & Watkins (1978–2008), he became a partner in 1986, managed the San Francisco office, and served on the...

Miles, a Phillips ADR mediator, excels in securities, antitrust, professional liability, mass torts, and complex commercial litigation, closing settlements totaling nearly $3 billion. Previously, he was a renowned trial and appellate lawyer for over 40 years, serving as Global Chair of Latham & Watkins’ Litigation Department. Recognized as a “legendary litigator” by the New York Law Journal, he received its Lifetime Achievement Award and accolades from Chambers USA, Best Lawyers (New York City’s Lawyer of the Year for Securities Litigation), and the Lawdragon 500 Hall of Fame. His economics and mathematics expertise aids in analyzing damages and crafting innovative settlement...