Joint ADR and Litigation Sections Meeting

Susan G. Feder

Judicate West

Susan Feder is an experienced Bay Area mediator whose practice areas include personal injury, product defect, professional negligence, employment, real estate, commercial litigation, real estate, and cases involving highly charged emotional issues. Susan mediates through Judicate West.

Susan is persistent and diligent, and works with her clients both before and after the mediation to get the job done. She is available to mediate cases throughout the Bay Area.

Prior to starting her own mediation practice, Susan was a commercial litigator at Paul, Hastings, and a litigator with the Legal Department of Bank of America. She has served extensively for the San Francisco Superior Court as a Settlement Conference Officer, as well as for Marin County Superior Court as a settlement panelist. She is the immediate Past President of the Marin County Bar Association, and also serves as co-chair of its ADR Section. She has served as a guest lecturer in Mediation at USF Law School. She regularly presents on Mediation and ADR for numerous organizations. Susan is a graduate of UCLA and Hastings College of the Law.

In addition to serving on the Board of MCBA, Susan also is a board member of The Mediation Society, and was a longstanding board member with Youth in Arts, the leading arts’ education nonprofit in Marin County. Susan splits her time between Marin County and Los Angeles. She is fluent in Spanish as well as French. Her favorite pastimes include biking, hiking, boating and waterskiing.

Hon. Lynn O'Malley Taylor (Ret.)

JAMS

Hon. Lynn O’Malley Taylor (Ret.) joins JAMS as a full-time neutral, bringing over 35 years’ experience as a trial court judge. In 1982, Judge Taylor was the first woman elected to the court in Marin County. She has served three times as presiding judge. In addition, Judge Taylor has served in Contra Costa, Sonoma, Monterey, Napa, Sacramento, and Orange counties and for the last seven years in the San Francisco Superior Court as part of the Judicial Council’s Assigned Judges Program.

As supervising civil law judge in Marin County, Judge Taylor eliminated the court’s civil backlog by settling old cases and managing the remaining cases on realistic time schedules. She encouraged mediation and required settlement conferences for all cases that did not settle in mediation. She settled hundreds of cases in partnership with mediation trained attorneys and experts. While serving in San Francisco, she settled numerous cases assigned to her at the request of other judges.

Treating all with dignity and kindness, Judge Taylor has well-deserved respect from the lawyers and litigants who have appeared before her. She approaches each matter that comes before her with optimism and persistence.

Judge Taylor continues to share her expertise serving as faculty in judicial/legal education programs, including Stanford University Law School, University of San Francisco Law School and the California Judicial College. Most recently she taught a course on Advanced Settlement Conferences at the Center for Judicial Education and Research.

Laura S. Flynn

Murchison & Cumming, LLP

Laura S. Flynn is a Partner in the San Francisco office focusing her practice on commercial general liability and employment law claims. With more than 25 years of experience, Laura's clients have come to appreciate her genuine concern for their best interests. She is an experienced trial attorney who protects and defends her clients and calls out injustices or abuses of the system. Laura is responsive to her clients' needs and takes the time to explain the litigation process so that her clients feel involved.

Recently, Laura defended a client who rear-ended another driver. The case involved a workers’ compensation subrogation claim wherein the workers’ compensation carrier insisted on full recovery of its lien and refused to acknowledge it was not entitled to costs it incurred in association with the underlying workers' compensation claim. The jury came back in 45 minutes with a defense verdict.

Laura attended the University of California, Santa Barbara where she graduated with honors with a degree in Law and Society. She continued onto the University of San Francisco School of Law where she was the Executive Editor of the Law Review. Laura grew up in an Air Force family moving around a lot as a child and attended three years of high school in Germany. She learned to adapt to change and feel comfortable in any situation thrown her way; skills that have served her well in her career.

Laura is a member of the Sausalito Chamber of Commerce when she provides advice and presentations to local small businesses, including businesses in the hospitality industry.

Frank C. Liuzzi

Liuzzi Murphy Solomon Churton Hale & Winnett LLP

Frank is a San Francisco native. He began his career as a litigation attorney in a large Bay Area defense firm, thereafter shifting the focus of his practice to plaintiff. Mr. Liuzzi has extensive mediation, arbitration and trial experience in personal injury, product liability, motor vehicle, premises liability, contract and employment cases. He has also prepared and argued cases before the State Appellate courts.

Mr. Liuzzi is also a faculty member teaching trial practice a at the University of San Francisco School of Law Intensive Advocacy Program. He is the president of the Italian American Bar Association of Northern California. He is a graduate of St. Ignatius College Preparatory and Santa Clara University. He earned his law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1991, where he was vice president of the student body and judicial extern for the First District of the California State Court of Appeal.

Lawrence A. Strick

Strick Schnasse Lawyers

Mr. Strick began his legal career with the San Francisco Firm of Conklin, Davids and Friedman. There, he specialized in medical malpractice and pharmaceutical cases, primarily representing women injured by intrauterine contraceptive devices. Later, as an Associate with John Gardenal, a prominent San Francisco Trial Attorney, he was responsible for handling personal injury cases of all types. Just prior to founding Strick Schnasse Lawyers, Mr. Strick spent two years working for the insurance industry, where he gained valuable insight into how insurance companies evaluate and handle claims. Strick Schnasse Lawyers was founded in San Rafael in 1993.

Lawrence Strick is an active member of the legal community.

Joe Palmisano

Claims Litigation Representative

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