San Juan Capistrano Arbitration & Mediation Lawyers

After spending nearly a decade working in Europe and Asia for large international law firms, I recently opened a lean law firm in Los Angeles focused on resolving commercial disputes through arbitration & meditation. My main focus is handling matters with an international element and working with social impact entrepreneurs. I often work with social enterprises that incorporate a social mission into their business models, particularly smaller, more entrepreneurial companies. Given my experience abroad and my commercial background, I am able to provide strategic guidance that addresses my clients’ legal and commercial objectives, particularly for those doing business in Asia. I have...

James (Jim) Parke has practiced law in California for over 45 years. Jim graduated from California State University, Fullerton in 1975 and from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1978. An esteemed expert in all areas of family law, Jim has spoken on several family law-related topics throughout Southern California and regularly contributes to divorce recovery workshops. He has also written several articles related to family law. Jim understands the psychological aspect of family law and he knows the importance of helping a client pass through the dissolution process as quickly, painlessly, and fairly as possible. He is diligent, caring, and works...

Mr. Helm, a Phillips ADR neutral, has mediated disputes up to ten figures in securities, class actions, shareholder disputes, corporate transactions, mass torts, professional liability, land use, sexual misconduct, ERISA, and intellectual property. He serves on the PG&E bankruptcy mediator panel and studied mediation at the Straus Institute. Previously, he was on the U.S. District Court, Central District of California ADR panel. A panelist on the American Arbitration Association roster and Institute for Transnational Arbitration advisory board, Mr. Helm has arbitrated business and consumer disputes and advocated in complex arbitrations involving asset management, trade secrets, and international investments. Before Phillips ADR, Mr....

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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”...

Andra Greene, a Phillips ADR neutral, has mediated OR COMEDIATED disputes from seven to 11 figures in NUMEROUS AREAS INCLUDING mass torts, class actions, EMPLOYMENT, securities, sexual misconduct, insurance, and intellectual property. She spent 35 years at Irell & Manella LLP, leading the Class Action Defense practice and serving as managing partner of the Newport Beach office and on the Executive Committee. A seasoned trial lawyer, Andra handled complex litigation in class actions, professional liability, employment, business torts, securities, and intellectual property in state and federal courts. She often represented lawyers and law firms. Recognized as a “Top Woman Lawyer in...

Niki, a Phillips ADR neutral for six years, brings 25 years of experience in complex litigation, claims administration, mediation, arbitration, and special master roles. A protégé of Judge Layn Phillips, she has co-mediated hundreds of cases, applying his innovative practices in mediations she leads and in court-appointed special master roles nationwide. Before Phillips ADR, Niki was Vice President of Client Strategy & Development at a national class action claims administrator. For nearly 15 years, she litigated securities fraud and complex commercial cases at a national class action law firm, securing court-approved settlements in high-profile matters. She also represented defendants in insurance...