Mediator Resume

Former Judge and bilingual professional neutral with strong background in dispute resolution with over 30 years of civil litigation experience, including complex business disputes, product liability, personal injury, toxic torts and medical negligence.

Weiss, Saville, Medinilla & Houser, P.A. - Arbitrator, Mediator, and Partner

Neutral, Mediator, Arbitrator

Arbitrator/Mediator/Partner, Weiss, Saville, Medinilla & Houser, P.A., 2025-Present; Judge, Superior Court of the State of Delaware, 2012 - 2025; Cabinet Secretary, Department of Services for Children, Youth and Their Families, 2009 - 2013; Owner/Principal, Rapposelli & Gonzales, 2004 - 2009; Associate, Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, 2000 - 2004; Associate, Wilson, Halbrook & Bayard, 1999 - 2000; Owner/Principal, Vivian L. Medinilla, P.A, 1996 - 1999; Supervising Attorney, Delaware Volunteer Legal Services, 1994 - 1996; Risk Management Assistant, A.I. du Pont Children’s Hospital (Nemours), 1989 - 1990; Manager, Neurosurgery, P.A., 1988 - 1990.

Bilingual in English and Spanish with over three decades of legal experience, both on Delaware’s highest court of general jurisdiction and in private practice. During a 12-year term on the Superior Court, presided over hundreds of jury and non-jury trials and served on the Court’s Complex Commercial Litigation Division, which is dedicated to the adjudication of business disputes. Managed dockets that included mass torts, asbestos, product liability, medical negligence, and other civil litigation matters. Served as the Cabinet Secretary for the Department of Services for Children, Youth & Their Families, and led the State agency on efforts to improve the child welfare, juvenile justice, and child mental health systems. Seventeen year civil trial attorney and president and owner of the state’s first multi-lingual civil litigation law firm with focus on personal injury, workers' compensation, wrongful death, product liability and catastrophic injury cases. Also served as risk management assistant for A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital (Nemours Health) and assisted hospital administration with medical-legal issues.

Mediated disputes between parties to include complex commercial litigation as well as claims involving legal and medical malpractice, product liability, asbestos, wrongful death, including sexual assault, trafficking, elder abuse, nursing home negligence and construction matters.

In complex commercial litigation matters, representations and warranties, fraud, unjust enrichment, estoppel, statute of limitation/laches claims, contract interpretation, and other damages and remedy disputes. Legal and medical malpractice issues involved statute of limitation, general and specific causation issues in product liability, asbestos, toxic tort, etc. Liability and damage issues in wrongful death, nursing home and medical negligence claims.

Having obtained certifications specializing in ADR from AAA/ICDR, the Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law, the National Judicial College, and the Superior Court of Delaware, my approach is to engage the parties, determine their priorities, and structure the forum, questions, analyses, etc. to achieve an efficient resolution where compromise is owned by the parties that seek it. Because of my years on the bench and with over 30 years of civil litigation experience, the parties often request that my role be evaluative.

All virtual forums are acceptable.

Delaware Law School (JD, cum laude - 1993); University of Delaware (BS, Business Administration, Minors: International Business and Spanish - 1988).

Admitted to the Bar: Delaware (1993); Supreme Court of Delaware (1993), Supreme Court of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (1994); U.S. District Court: District of Delaware (1994); U.S. Court of Federal Claims (2003); U.S. Supreme Court (2001).

Association of Court-appointed Neutrals (ACAN). American Bar Association (ABA), Judicial Division, National Conference of State Trial Judges, Past-Chair; NAWJ Vice-president of Districts; Delaware State Bar Association, Executive Committee, (Sections of ADR, Women and the Law, Workers’ Compensation, Multi-cultural Lawyers and Judges); American Inns of Court (Richard S. Rodney Inn and Randy J. Holland Workers' Compensation Inn).

Panelist for Preparing for Mediation, Small Firms & Solo Practitioners ADR and Family Law Conference, March 2025. Panelist for Trends in Mediation and Arbitration, Walsh Rubenstein Seminar on Ethics and Professionalism, February 2025. Panelist for The Role of the Judiciary and Timely Views from the Bench, Mass Torts Made Perfect (MTMP) Conference, October 2024. Latin American Law Student Association (LASLA) Keynote, Delaware Law School, October 2024. Delaware Living History: Agents of Change, Wilmington University Law School. Panelist for the Civil Rights and Social Justice Symposium; The Impact of Collaboration and Advocacy, September 2024. Panelist for Exit Strategies, Resolution Options and Dealing with the “Tail”, Annual MDL Judicial Summit, June 2024. Presenter: Mediation, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Delaware Law School, March 2021-2025.

Delaware

Hourly Rate: $750.00 Daily Rate: Not provided Study Rate: $750.00/hr Cancellation: $750.00/hr Cancellation Period: 2 Days Comment: Cancellation - 5 business days

English; Spanish

United States of America

Wilmington, Delaware