Mediator Resume

AV Rated Martindale-Hubbell; Super Lawyer 2009, 2011 - 2012, 2014 - 2026; AVVO 10.

YokaSmith LLP - Of Counsel

Attorney, Mediator, Arbitrator, Real Estate Broker

Of Counsel, Yoka Smith LLP 2025 - present; Principal, Flynn Law Firm, 2002 - 2025; Mediator and Arbitrator, 1999 - Present; Partner, Fay Flynn & Fay P.C., 1982 - 2002; Hale, Sanderson Byrnes & Morton, Associate/Principal, 1973 - 1982. Principal/Real Estate Broker, Flynn Real Estate Group, 2015 - Present.

Trial lawyer representing dispuants (brokers, agents, insurers and claimants) in real estate disputes including purchase & sale, mold, fraud, disclosures, and commission cases; construction cases representing architects, engineers, GCs, subs, suppliers, bonding and surety companies, insurers, and self-insurers. Cases also included personal injury, aviation, train, bus, trolley, truck, auto, products liability and construction accident defense cases; insurance and bad faith cases; professional negligence and E & O cases including legal malpractice and medical malpractice. Tried 100s of cases and the seriousness and the numbers of cases tried to verdicts are reflected by 15+ reported appellate decisions before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, Massachusetts Appeals Court, USCA 1st Circuit. Sought Certiorari in one case in the USSC.

Mediated 30-plus cases in personal injury, insurance, bad faith, auto, products, construction, general liability, real estate, probate/trust, contracts and business before moving to California in 2014 to open a business in a different field.

Tort, product liability, auto, professional negligence, real estate, HOA, condominium, probate disputes, internal partner business disputes, construction cases with the liability, causation, comparative negligence and damages issues running through them. Indemnification, contribution, workers comp liens, coverage issues, promissory estoppel, donor intent, consideration for a contract are representative examples.

I take a practical approach based on experience. Having sat waiting for jury verdicts for plaintiff and defendant clients so many times has led me to “feel in my bones” the interplay of practical and emotional needs and goals faced by both sides in a court case. My approach is best described as actively engaged in listening, asking questions intended to identify risks to both sides, sharing experience when appropriate, always facilitative at outset, saving evaluative thoughts or comments until parties ask for guidance towards the end of a mediation process. Both sides will have to examine the risks they each face through conversations with me - goal being to let the parties come to a solution - maybe with a bit of prodding.

Comfortable with all appropriate technologies

Boston College Law School (JD); Boston College Industrial & Commercial Law Review; Boston College (AB).

Admitted to the Bar: Massachusetts, California; U.S. District Courts: District of Massachusetts, Central District California; U.S. Court of Appeals: First Circuit, U.S. Supreme Court (1995). Real estate Broker (and Agent), California, 2015 - Present, and past licensure as a Broker in Massachusetts.

American Bar Association (past TIPS' Economics of the Practice of Law Committee, Chair); Los Angeles County Bar Association; San Diego County Bar Association (past Chair, Alternative Dispute Resolution Section); California Association of Lawyers; North County Bar Association (Chair, Litigation Section); National Association of Realtors; California Association of Realtors; San Diego Association of Realtors.

Speaker, “Essential Litigation Skills for Massachusetts Paralegals”, Institute for Paralegal Education, 2003, 2004. “The Legal Investigator as a Witness,” THE LEGAL INVESTIGATOR, August, 2000. “Organizing the Defense File,” ABA’s THE PRACTICAL LITIGATOR, July, 1995. Speaker, “What Makes a Mediation Successful”, Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys May 22, 2013. Speaker and Chair, “Resolving Real Estate Disputes, Part 1 October 13, 2016, San Diego County Bar Association and Part 2 Arbitration November 21, 2016.Speaker and Chair various seminars, programs and presentations at ABA Meetings (TIPS), at Defense Research Institute Annual Meetings and other local conferences including Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys on ADR issues and the Massachusetts Licensed Private Detective Association and at SDCBA on ADR issues. Host, “Talking about the Law” a weekly radio program on WCRN in Worcester MA called 2009 - 2014.

San Diego, Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties Massachusetts.

Hourly Rate: $575.00 Daily Rate: Not provided Study Rate: $350.00/hr Cancellation: $2,000.00/Day Cancellation Period: 2 Days Comment: Daily Rates cap hourly at $5,000 per day or $2,500 per AM or PM session.

English

United States of America

San Diego, California