Lee Jay Berman
Mr. Berman began as a full-time mediator 29 years ago, and has successfully mediated over 2,700 matters, many of which were high profile cases. In conducting those mediations, he has facilitated negotiations between some of the very best in the business, and some of the very worst. Aside from learning from workshops and books, Mr. Berman learned from watching over 7,000 attorneys negotiate on behalf of their clients. He has coached many, many attorneys and executives in all forms of business negotiations, and realized that with good negotiation skills, and better communication, most of these disputes would not have needed to retain his services as a professional mediator. Mr. Berman believes that if business people and attorneys on the front lines possessed the most basic negotiation skills, they would see the results in better deals, better working environments, and better relationships.
His credentials: Chambers USA has ranked him among the very top commercial mediators in the U.S. from 2018-2023, recently naming him to their “Band 1” as one of the top 13 mediators in the U.S. He has been voted by his colleagues into the Who’s Who of International Commercial Mediation from 2012-2023, and was recently named one of the 10 Global Thought Leaders in North America. ADR Times also recently named him to their inaugural “Who’s Who in ADR” (Alternative Dispute Resolution). The National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN) named him their inaugural “Distinguished Neutral of the Year” in 2017. California’s Daily Journal twice named him “Top Neutral”. And, the Southern California Mediation Association has honored him with both their Cloke-Millen Peacemaker of the Year (2021) and L. Randolph Lowry Award (2010) for his work as a mediator, trainer, and thought leader in the field.
He is on the American Arbitration Association’s elite Master Mediator panel for employment matters, a national panelist on their commercial and construction panels, and a select mediator on their International Center for Dispute Resolution mediation panel. He is a Distinguished Fellow with the International Academy of Mediators, a Charter Diplomat with NADN, and certified by the International Mediation Institute (one of the first 5 mediators in the U.S.).
Also a popular trainer, Mr. Berman founded the American Institute of Mediation after seven years as Director of Pepperdine Law School's "Mediating the Litigated Case" program (ranked #1 nationally). He has trained mediators, judges, attorneys, and business leaders across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe, as well as in Croatia, Dubai, Jordan, India, Uzbekistan, Australia, and New Zealand, and has consulted with court systems across the U.S., and in India.
Lee Jay has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts, published numerous articles on mediation and negotiation, and the American Bar Association will be publishing two of his books in 2023 and 2024.
His credentials: Chambers USA has ranked him among the very top commercial mediators in the U.S. from 2018-2023, recently naming him to their “Band 1” as one of the top 13 mediators in the U.S. He has been voted by his colleagues into the Who’s Who of International Commercial Mediation from 2012-2023, and was recently named one of the 10 Global Thought Leaders in North America. ADR Times also recently named him to their inaugural “Who’s Who in ADR” (Alternative Dispute Resolution). The National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN) named him their inaugural “Distinguished Neutral of the Year” in 2017. California’s Daily Journal twice named him “Top Neutral”. And, the Southern California Mediation Association has honored him with both their Cloke-Millen Peacemaker of the Year (2021) and L. Randolph Lowry Award (2010) for his work as a mediator, trainer, and thought leader in the field.
He is on the American Arbitration Association’s elite Master Mediator panel for employment matters, a national panelist on their commercial and construction panels, and a select mediator on their International Center for Dispute Resolution mediation panel. He is a Distinguished Fellow with the International Academy of Mediators, a Charter Diplomat with NADN, and certified by the International Mediation Institute (one of the first 5 mediators in the U.S.).
Also a popular trainer, Mr. Berman founded the American Institute of Mediation after seven years as Director of Pepperdine Law School's "Mediating the Litigated Case" program (ranked #1 nationally). He has trained mediators, judges, attorneys, and business leaders across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe, as well as in Croatia, Dubai, Jordan, India, Uzbekistan, Australia, and New Zealand, and has consulted with court systems across the U.S., and in India.
Lee Jay has been interviewed on dozens of podcasts, published numerous articles on mediation and negotiation, and the American Bar Association will be publishing two of his books in 2023 and 2024.