Victoria Pynchon

Current

Complex Commercial Mediator and Arbitrator at ADR Services, Inc.
Arbitrator on the Expedited Commercial Panel at American Arbitration Association
Member, Distinguished Panel of Neutrals at Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution ("CPR")

Adjunct Professor at Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution
Founder-Author at Negotiation Law Blog & IP ADR Blog (Sole Proprietorship)
Educator and Trainer at Pynchon Negotiation Training Services
Pro Bono Community Mediator at West Hollywood Dispute Resolution Services
Settlement Officer at United States District Court, Central Dist. of Cal.
Editor-in-Chief at r.kv.r.y. quarterly literary journal
Attorney-Mediator at Settle It Now Dispute Resolution Services (Sole Proprietorship)
Coach at National Institute of Trial Advocacy

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8 more...

Past

ADR Neutral (Mediator/Arbitrator) at Judicate West
Former Board Member; Newsletter Editor at Southern California Mediation Association
Partner at Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft

Attorney at Hancock Rothert
Attorney at Buchalter Nemer
Attorney at Pepper Hamilton

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3 more...

Education

Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine U. SOL
University of California, Davis - School of Law
University of California, San Diego

San Diego State University-California State University

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1 more...

Recommended

10 people have recommended Victoria

Connections

500+ connections

Industry

Law Practice

Websites

Victoria Pynchon’s Summary

My legal practice is now strictly limited to serving as a commercial litigation (or arbitration) neutral.

Victoria Pynchon’s Specialties:

My historic legal specialties were insurance coverage, antitrust, unfair competition, patent, copyright and trademark litigation, as well as the occasional securities fraud and consumer class action. I have represented clients in the healthcare, manufacturing, garment, entertainment, insurance, finance, and banking industries.

Victoria Pynchon’s Experience

Complex Commercial Mediator and Arbitrator

ADR Services, Inc.

(Law Practice industry)

March 2009 — Present (5 months)

I mediate and arbitrate the same type of complex commercial litigation I litigated and tried during a quarter century of legal practice, including catastrophic insurance coverage and bad faith disputes; securities fraud; patent, trademark, trade name and copyright infringement actions; antitrust and unfair competition actions and the wrongful termination of executive-level employees. I have also handled nationwide class actions and legal malpractice lawsuits with underlying commercial litigation.
Arbitrator on the Expedited Commercial Panel

American Arbitration Association

(Law Practice industry)

November 2008 — Present (9 months)
Member, Distinguished Panel of Neutrals

Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution ("CPR")

(Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)

February 2007 — Present (2 years 6 months)

At the pinnacle of CPR’s dispute resolution services is The CPR 1,000, the CPRs Panels of Distinguished Neutrals, consisting of 1,000 of the highest quality arbitrators and mediators, with specialization in over 17 practice areas and industries.

As part of CPR’s nomination process, it checks not only the suitability, but the availability of all neutrals that are nominated, as well as disclose any conflicts of interest prior to submission of names to the disputants.

I am also a member of CPR's Diversity Committee.

http://cpradr.org
Adjunct Professor

Straus Institute of Dispute Resolution

(Educational Institution; 201-500 employees; Professional Training & Coaching industry)

January 2007 — Present (2 years 7 months)

In January of 2007, I co-taught Selected Issues in ADR: Employment to law students; MDR (Masters in Dispute Resolution) students and LL.M candidates at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. While pursuing my own LL.M degree at Straus, I had previously guest lectured in the Institute's Negotiation and Settlement Class (on mediation confidentiality) and in its Clinical Program (on professional development). I have also been a guest lecturer on mediation practice at the USC School of Law. I published two academic articles while at Straus, one in the field of restorative justice (the criminal justice system's analog to mediation) and the other on the subjective meaning of money in the settlement of complex litigation.
Founder-Author
Negotiation Law Blog & IP ADR Blog (Sole Proprietorship)

(Sole Proprietorship; 1-10 employees; Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)

June 2006 — Present (3 years 2 months)

I am the founder and sole author of the Settle It Now Negotiation Law Blog (http://www.negotiationlawblog.com) and the founder, and one of four author of the new IP ADR Blog (http://www.ipadrblog.com). The Negotiation blog gets more than 5500 "hits" per month. The IP ADR Blog just went live this month.
Educator and Trainer

Pynchon Negotiation Training Services

(Law Practice industry)

January 2006 — Present (3 years 7 months)

Full- or half-day negotiation training

Learn:
1. the social psychology of conflict
2. the cognitive biases that prevent us from obtaining the best deal
3. the basics of distributive and interest-based negotiation
4. negotiating from a position of weakness
5. gender and ethics issues in negotiation
6. cross-cultural negotiation
7. dealing with difficult people
Pro Bono Community Mediator

West Hollywood Dispute Resolution Services

(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)

January 2005 — Present (4 years 7 months)

I do my ADR-neutral pro bono work as a community mediator with the West Hollywood Dispute Resolution Service. I not only derive the most fulfillment from doing this work (mediating mostly neighbor-to-neighbor and family disputes) but I am able to use the full range of my transformative mediation skills by serving my local community in this fashion. I highly recommend to all mediators that they locate their local community, public-school-peer or victim-offender mediation programs to satisfy their professional pro bono obligation. You will receive far more than you give.
Settlement Officer

United States District Court, Central Dist. of Cal.

(Government Agency; 201-500 employees; Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)

January 2005 — Present (4 years 7 months)

I serve as a Settlement Officer for the United States District Court for the Central District of California where I primarily assist the parties and their counsel in negotiating settlements of trademark, copyright, patent, unfair competition, antitrust, securities fraud and class action litigation. My Settlement Officer profile can be found by pasting the below link in your browser. http://www.cacd.uscourts.gov/cacd/AttySetPan.nsf/d2a66336794a5d8388256cb700642211/490ef055128c9c1a88256fb10060c7de?OpenDocument
Editor-in-Chief

r.kv.r.y. quarterly literary journal

(Non-Profit; 1-10 employees; Fine Art industry)

September 2004 — Present (4 years 11 months)

the r.kv.r.y. quarterly literary journal ipublishes high quality literary fiction and non-fiction, as well as poetry, photography and fine art. The journal's theme is recovery from any type of repressive or oppressive condition, be it internal or external, political or personal. We endeavor to publish the journal four times each year. For submission guidelines, see http://www.ninetymeetingsinninetydays.com.
Attorney-Mediator
Settle It Now Dispute Resolution Services (Sole Proprietorship)

(Sole Proprietorship; 1-10 employees; Legal Services industry)

April 2004 — Present (5 years 4 months)

I founded Settle It Now Dispute Resolution Services as soon as I learned the mediation skills necessary to help lawyers settle their commercial litigation, litigation that I had been prosecuting, defending and trying for twenty-four years. Like too many litigators, I hated negotiating settlements and vastly preferred hand-to-hand combat in the courts. What I didn't know was how much I would enjoy and how naturally inclined I was to negotiation once I learned the basic skills, skills I didn't pick up in 24 years of on-the-job training. Though I am now a panelist with the Southern California ADR Services firm Judicate West, I continue to mediate (and sometimes to arbitrate) commercial disputes through Settle It Now. My areas of expertise include insurance coverage, general commercial, patent, copyright and trademark litigation, as well as unfair competition, antitrust and consumer class action disputes.
Coach

National Institute of Trial Advocacy

(Non-Profit; 11-50 employees; Professional Training & Coaching industry)

August 1995 — Present (14 years)

I have been teaching NITA's three-day deposition skills training course since 1995. In 2002, I also began teaching its week-long beginning trial advocacy course. I have had the privilege of working with some of the brightest and best educated young lawyers whose firms underwrite their participation in these programs. It is always a pleasure.
ADR Neutral (Mediator/Arbitrator)

Judicate West

(Privately Held; Alternative Dispute Resolution industry)

July 2005 — February 2009 (3 years 8 months)

Panelist at Judicate West ADR Services

(Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Legal Services industry)
Former Board Member; Newsletter Editor

Southern California Mediation Association

(Law Practice industry)

2004 — May 2007 (3 years)
Partner

Hancock Rothert & Bunshoft

(Law Practice industry)

1996 — 2004 (8 years)
Attorney

Hancock Rothert

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Law Practice industry)

1994 — 2003 (9 years)

While an associate (and later a partner) at Hancock (now Duane Morris) I primarily handled high-stakes environmental insurance coverage litigation, generally as lead attorney for lead counsel. Litigating "bet the company" cases with at least a dozen co-defendants provided me with leadership and consensus building skills that are critical to my present career as a mediator (and sometime arbitrator). While at Hancock, I also handled consumer class actions, antitrust and unfair competition cases, as well as the occasional legal malpractice action involving an attorney's for law firm's alleged negligent handling of commercial litigation.
Attorney

Buchalter Nemer

(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Law Practice industry)

1989 — 1993 (4 years)

As an associate attorney at the Buchalter firm I handled my first environmental insurance coverage cases, primarily dealing with the clean-up of toxic waste sites and contaminated chemical plant, rocket testing and refinery facilities and the land on which they operated.
Attorney

Pepper Hamilton

(Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Law Practice industry)

1986 — 1990 (4 years)

I was an associate litigation attorney in the Los Angeles office of this 100+ year old Philadelphia law firm. Though I had earlier represented a cable television company and several businesses in unfair competition and trademark infringement actions, it was here that I gained the bulk of my intellectual property experience, practicing with, among others, registered patent attorney, Les Weinstein. While at Pepper Hamilton I played a key role in litigating to successful resolution cases in the food and beverage, consumer product and medical equipment manufacturing, entertainment, engineering, health care and commercial real estate fields. It was also at Pepper that I gained the bulk of my experience in handling securities fraud cases and where I spent the majority of my practice in the federal courts.

Victoria Pynchon’s Education

Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine U. SOL

LL.M. , ADR , 2004 — 2006

I was privileged to study with some of the best thinkers, writers, educators and scholars while studying for my LL.M in Dispute Resolution at the Straus Institute. I also had the great good fortune to spend my externships first with Judge Alexander Williams, III, full time settlement judge for the Los Angeles Superior Court and second with Judges Carl West and Victoria Chaney in the Los Angeles Complex Court. These co-mediation experiences with Judges gave me a judicial officer's viewpoint on the settlement and trial of commercial litigation -- a view point I had previously lacked having never served as a bench officer.
University of California, Davis - School of Law

1977 — 1980

Activities and Societies:

Order of the Coif; Finalist and Best Brief Award, Environmental Moot Court Competition; extern, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, tutor to first year law students (torts); Mock Trial Attorney for California Highway Patrol Cadet Trial Training Program; American Jurisprudence award in Labor Law.
University of California, San Diego

B.A. , Literature , 1973 — 1975
San Diego State University-California State University

English 1970 — 1973

Additional Information

Victoria Pynchon’s Websites:

Victoria Pynchon’s Interests:

negotiation, mediation, arbitration, law, settlement, litigation, business, intellectual property, patent infringement, copyright infringement, trademark, tradename, trade dress and unfair competition litigation, insurance coverage, technology, manufacturing, garment industry, healthcare industry

Victoria Pynchon’s Groups:

Los Angeles County Bar Association, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Beverly Hills Bar Association, Southern California Mediation Association, Federal Bar Association, LACBA Intellectual Property Section, Women Lawyers of Los Angeles, Legal Blogging, Professional Women's Network, Professional Women's Network

Obama for America
Patent Law Group
Insurance Coverage
Legal Blogging
Professional Women's Network of So.Cal.
Women For Hire
Mediators and Peacemakers
Leadership for Lawyers
UC Davis School of Law Alumni Group
The Legal Networking Group
Pepperdine University School of Law and MBA Graduates
SPANS Negotiations Forum
Get Up Girl Women's Coaching Groups & Workshops
Lawyers and Other Professionals Interested in Getting Published for Business Development
Talk It Over Radio Show Fans
The Greater American Arbitration Association (AAA) Connection
Lawyers & Legal Professionals using JD Supra
Legal Innovation
Internet Defamation
Insurance Geeks
Commercial and Industry Arbitration and Mediation Group
LA Mediators
Universal Consensus: Global and Cross-Cultural Leadership
Woman's National Democratic Club