Mediator Resume

Seasoned mediator, arbitrator and dispute prevention professional with 40 years experience resolving complex commercial, professional liability and other business-to-business and employment disputes. Former Deputy General Counsel–Litigation and Regulatory Matters at a Big 4 accounting, tax and professional services firm who resolved over 100 lawsuits and government investigations by direct negotiation, mediation and, when necessary, arbitral award or jury verdict. Extensive experience with professional liability claims, including accounting, tax, actuarial, business improvement consulting, and industries, including financial services, banking, securities, insurance and reinsurance, defense and government contracts and consumer products.

Donald Rose Dispute Resolution LLC - Founder and Sole Member

Alternate Dispute Resolution and Dispute Prevention Neutral; Licensed Attorney

Founder, Donald Rose Dispute Resolution LLC, 2020-Present; Principal & Deputy General Counsel-Litigation & Regulatory Matters (2006-2019)/Associate General Counsel (1993-2006), KPMG LLP, 1993-2019; Litigation Attorney, Chadbourne & Parke LLP, 1982-1993.

Four decades of experience as outside counsel, in-house litigator, litigation portfolio manager and risk management leader, together with full time focus serving as a professional mediator and arbitrator provides a strong foundation for mediating and arbitrating complex commercial, contract and lease disputes; professional liability and fee disputes (audit, accounting, tax, actuarial and business consulting); government contractor-subcontractor claims; insurance coverage and claims disputes, federal and state trademark infringement and Lanham Act suits; partnership rights disputes; executive compensation and severance disputes, and employee discrimination and wage and hour suits. Since becoming a full-time neutral, selected or appointed mediator or co-mediator in more than 50 federal and state court cases and, as either chair, wing or sole arbitrator in more than 30 cases, including mediations and an arbitration of international disputes. Twenty-six years with KPMG LLP (US) as in-house counsel, originally as Associate General Counsel and then as Deputy General Counsel-Litigation & Regulatory Matters, litigating and successfully resolving, through direct negotiation and mediation, arbitral award and jury verdict, dozens of client and third-party lawsuits, securities and consumer class and mass actions, pre-suit claims, arbitrations and government investigations and administrative actions arising from the provision of accounting, auditing, tax, actuarial and business performance advisory services to firm clients in a wide-array of industries (including banking and finance, insurance and re-insurance, computer manufacturing and internet services, government contracting, and consumer product manufacturing and distribution) and federal, state and local governments, with damage claims from less than $100,000 to $1.3 billion. Litigated to arbitral award sixteen (16) professional malpractice, breach of contract and fraud claims, trying others to juries, judges and administrative judges. Resolved dozens more partnership rights and employment discrimination claims, including seven (7) partner rights claims through arbitral award. Twelve years’ experience as a litigation attorney with a large New York law firm specializing in complex commercial, securities class and derivative, mergers & acquisition, bankruptcy and insurance litigation for clients in the manufacturing, financial services, insurance, defense and energy industries. Represented clients in international litigations sited in Bermuda and the United Arab Emirates. Areas of Expertise include: Professional Liability (Audit, Accounting, Actuarial, Tax, Business Performance Improvement Consulting); Complex Commercial Transactions and Breach of Contact; Business Torts and Unfair Competition; Trademark and Lanham Act claims; Securities Class and Mass Actions; Insurance Coverage and Claims; Data Protection and Use; E-Discovery; Government Contracting and Compliance; Cross-border litigation.

Member of the following Mediation Panels: AAA National Roster of Commercial Mediators; United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit Civil Appeals Pro Bono Mediation Panel; United States District Courts (USDC) for the Southern District of New York; USDC for the Eastern District of New York; NYS Supreme Court, Commercial and Civil Divisions, 1st and 9th Judicial Districts. Experience mediating breach of commercial contract and lease claims, professional negligence and billing disputes, trademark infringement and Lanham Act claims, business tort and fraud claims, government contractor-subcontractor disputes; executive compensation and separation and employee discrimination and retaliation claims (race, age, sex, gender, caregiver, ADA under Title VII, NYSHRL, NYCHRL and N.Y.C. Admin Code) and wage & hour (FLSA, NYLL) cases.

Trademark litigations, including a declaratory judgment action by family-owned clothing manufacturer against a major motion picture studio; an action by online digital OEM manual and assembly instructions media company action against finance/credit card company over use of identical corporate name; Lanham Act and state infringement claims by franchisor of ethnic-oriented ice cream parlors against foreign ice cream manufacturer claiming rights in same name; a suit by an international clothing purveyor against online retail platform alleging unauthorized use of registered marks in sponsored advertising and post-domain URLs directing shoppers to competing products sold on retailer’s site; Defense subcontractor’s $100MM+ breach of contract claim against prime contractor arising from government’s failure to return computer hardware and electronic devices following expiration of subcontract; Multi-party claims to finder fees in connection with insurance company’s recovery of 30-year-old foreign sovereign debt; Declaratory judgment action brought by industrial equipment manufacturer to establish, based on secondary evidence, insurance company obligation to defend and/or indemnify against asbestos-related personal injury claims based on a lost excess umbrella liability policy allegedly issued in the 1970s, which policy the defendant insurer denied issuing. Insurance coverage, premium payment and claims disputes, including failure to defend claims, arising from property-casualty insurance, comprehensive general liability insurance, health insurance plans, vehicle liability insurance and worker compensation insurance policies; Party-appointed mediator to jointly select mediator-arbitrator to conduct "binding mediation" of dispute over rights to rock band IP between shareholders of closely-held entertainment corporation; Action by employee health benefit plan against foreign airline-insured and broker alleging breach of implied contract, fraud, conversion and quantum meruit for diverted, unpaid premiums; Breach of contract and constructive termination claims and counterclaims arising from involuntary separation of private company CEO involving issues of unpaid compensation, repayment of loans from CEO to company and from company to CEO and treatment of shares and options held by CEO; Wrongful termination and religious discrimination claim by income partner involuntarily separated by major accounting firm; Age discrimination and unlawful employment acts claims brought by former CFO against major law firm; International breach of contract action by Vietnamese clothing manufacturer against NY distributor; Breach of contract and professional malpractice claims in dispute between attorney and former client; Action by freelance video content creator against hiring website owner and corporate officers under New York City’s Freelance-Isn’t-Free Act; Declaratory judgment action by a nationwide telecom provider-lessee against property owner-lessor to compel lessor consent to lessee’s application for NY Fire Department rooftop access to upgrade equipment; and Employment discrimination and retaliation claims under federal, NY State and NY City laws involving claims of race, age, sex, gender, caregiver, religion and disability discrimination and wage & hour law non-compliance brought by employees and executives in varied businesses settings including restaurants, a not-for-profit entities, finance companies and investment banks university medical centers, construction and publishing companies.

I have over 100 hours of formal mediation and conflict prevention training in facilitative mediation and the use of evaluative techniques. But in reality, how I mediate is equally influenced by a pragmatic approach shaped by my extensive litigation and mediation experiences over a 37-year career as outside litigation counsel, in-house litigator and, ultimately, as a Deputy GC-Litigation and risk manager for a Big 4 multi-disciplinary professional services firm. For over two decades, I mediated as an advocate/party representative resolving dozens of complex, high-stakes litigation matters in cost-effective and creative ways, often in mediations conducted by many of the nation’s pre-eminent mediators. Tasked with cost-effective resolution of the firm’s litigation portfolio, I initiated early case assessment and valuation practices enabling early mediation of claims based on a clear and unbiased understanding of the facts, law, costs to defend and the risk of loss at trial. Those practices drove down firm litigation-related costs by more than 40% over 10 years. Now, as a mediator, I draw on those experiences to address the particular needs of the parties in each dispute I mediate. I believe preparation is key to success in mediation - for the parties, for counsel and for the mediator. I work hard to be as prepared as I can be and to understand the critical facts underlying the parties’ dispute and each party’s interests and needs affecting how the case can be resolved. I work to help each party recognize critical facts and legal principles and to assess, objectively and realistically, the impact they have on the party’s likely litigation outcomes. In my opinion, the most critical determinant of whether a settlement can be reached is the degree to which the parties have conducted an unbiased and comprehensive analysis not only of the strength of their case, but equally its weaknesses - and given thoughtful consideration as to acceptable and attainable solutions. In terms of process, I conduct a preliminary conference with counsel to be briefed on the background and status of the case, the principle legal and factual issues, the degree of information exchange between the parties likely to occur ahead of mediation, any logistical issues and to set the schedule for pre-mediation actions and the mediation itself. I request the parties submit mediation statements sufficiently ahead of the mediation session to enable thorough review, and I encourage parties to exchange those statements, while providing me with a separate, confidential statement addressing issues affecting the party's acceptable range of settlement. I then schedule separate pre-session meetings with each party and its counsel in which I pose questions raised by my review of the parties’ mediation statements to better understand the party’s interests and needs affecting resolution, to start to build relationship and rapport with the party and counsel, and, if need be, to request additional information ahead of the mediation session. These pre-session meetings greatly increase the efficiency of the formal mediation session and the chances of resolution. I then hold the mediation session. Where agreement cannot be achieved by the close of the mediation session, where both parties indicate and openness, I may develop and present a written mediator’s proposal presenting terms I believe might be accepted by all parties. I have also settled several difficult cases by facilitating post-mediation negotiation after an "impasse" had been declared.

Comfortable conducting mediations and arbitrations on Zoom and Teams videoconferencing platforms. Successfully completed Clearbrief Academy, May 2025.

Columbia University School of Law (JD - 1982); University of Rochester (BA - 1979).

Admitted to the Bar: New York, First Appellate Department (1983); U.S. District Court: Southern and Eastern Districts of New York (1984); U.S. Court of Appeals: Second Circuit (1990); U.S. Supreme Court (1991).

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators - Fellow, North American Branch, New York Chapter; Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) - Accredited Mediator; International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution - Member, Distinguished Panel of Neutrals, Certified Dispute Prevention and Relationship Manager, Committees: Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Prevention; American Arbitration Association, Commercial and Consumer Arbitration Panels and Commercial Mediation Panel USCA Second Circuit Civil Appeals Pro Bono Mediator Panel USDC SDNY Mediation Advisory Board; Mediation Panel USDC EDNY Mediation and Arbitration Panels; NYS Unified Court System, Supreme Court, 1st and 9th Judicial Districts, Commercial and Civil Division Mediation Panels; New York State Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, Domestic Arbitration and Ethics Committees; American Bar Association Dispute Resolution and Litigation Sections, Professional Liability Litigation Committee.

Panelist, "Ethics for Neutrals: Recognizing the Ethic Issues that Might Slip By - Part 2" presented by the NYSBA, Dispute Resolution Section Ethics Committee, March 5, 2025 Panelist, "Ethics for Neutrals: Recognizing the Ethic Issues that Might Slip By" presented by the NYSBA, Dispute Resolution Section Ethics Committee, December 2024 Panelist, "Mediating Professional Liability Cases - from the Mediator's Point of View," presented by the ABA Litigation Section Professional Liability Litigation Section, October 2024 Panelist, 'Arbitration War Stories Roundtable: Cautionary Tales from Panel, Counsel and Client Perspectives,' presented by the New York State Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section and Domestic Arbitration Committee, December 2023

New York City metropolitan area and Rochester NY. Travel expenses to Boston, MA and Philadelphia, PA, charged at 50%.

Hourly Rate: $800.00 Daily Rate: Not provided Study Rate: $800.00/hr Cancellation: $3,200.00/Day Cancellation Period: 14 Days Comment: Cancellation Fees: Charge one-half booked time if a mediation session is canceled less than 14 business days in advance, which fee will be reduced to the extent time can be re-booked. If cancellation is the result of settlement prior to conducting a scheduled pre-mediation meeting with any party, will forego any cancellation fee if given notice of the cancellation at least five calendar days before the mediation was to commence, or if earlier travel is required, before booked date of departure, though may bill for time actually spent as study or preparation of the case. For any cancellation, non-refundable travel expenses, such as airline tickets or non-refundable hotel expenses, will be due notwithstanding cancellation. Travel Time and Expense: Time spent traveling will not be billed except to the extent time is spent working on the case. No travel expense reimbursement required for travel within NYC metro area. Travel expense in connection with travel to Boston, MA, Rochester, NY or Philadelphia, PA, will be charged at 50%. Where air travel is required, within the contiguous 48 states of the United States, will seek reimbursement only for an economy class ticket on any flight of four hours or less; economy plus or business class on direct flights over four hours or business class on transcontinental or international flights. Where overnight accommodation is required, will stay at hotels priced equivalent to a Hyatt or Marriott. Meals while in transit and when staying out of town will be reimbursed. All travel expenses will be reimbursed at the cost incurred at the date of travel. No commutation expenses for local travel (within NY City metropolitan area) to or from the hearing site will be charged. Travel over 50 miles by use of personal car, may be billed at the IRS approved rate per mile. Requires a refundable retainer in the amount of estimated fees and travel expenses. Billing: Statements of time and expenses will be provided monthly for any month in which there has been activity, and concurrent with delivery of any statement, such statement shall deduct the amount reflected on the monthly statement from any retainer amounts on hand. Further retainers may be required as fees and expenses are incurred and I reserve the right to discontinue providing services should requested retainers not be replenished timely.

English

United States of America

Pelham, New York