Paul Crost

i practiced labor and employment law for 40 years, representing unions and employees. i also represented, counseled, and defended employers in employment matters, including litigation. i represented and defended the firm’s union clients in their capacity as employers. wrongful termination, sexual harassment, ada and discrimination claims came to my desk as the unions’ defense attorney. this experience afforded me the opportunity to practice employment law from both plaintiff/worker and defendant/employer perspectives. as a mediator in employment disputes, i draw upon that experience to both understand and empathize with both parties. my goal as a mediator is not just to get a resolution; it is to have all parties come away from the mediation knowing that i have listened to them and have understood their positions. while i might guide parties to what i believe would be a wise decision, i do not try to impose my views on them. bullying a participant is just not my style. in cases where a plaintiff has overblown concepts of the value of his or her claim or where defendants cannot accept the potential liability of litigation, i often am able to get them into a “range of reasonableness” by establishing a level of trust that allows me to deliver the “bad news” in a manner that is acceptable to both parties. i consider myself semi-retired. my wife and i travel about 10 weeks a year, and we are education volunteers at the long beach aquarium of the pacific. i have also volunteered as a small claims court judge and do pro bono mediations for the u.s. district court and the california appellate court. appeals involving anti-slapp and slapp-back cases have become a mediation specialty based on my extensive experience litigating these matters, including a successful defense of my firm in a malicious prosecution slapp-back case before the supreme court in wilson v. parker, covert & chidester (2002) 28 cal. 4th 811; 50 p.3d 733; 123 cal. rptr. 2d 199.