Building Bridges

For retired judge Luis A. Rodriguez, mediations with Spanish-speaking litigants work far better face to face.

"With the language and the nuances and the connection in a cultural setting - in-person just creates greater confidence and greater trust bridges rather than in a remote situation," said Rodriguez, who was born in Costa Rica and speaks fluent Spanish.

"And I think the attorneys like it better," Rodriguez continued, "because when I enter the room, I have a cultural connection with the client."

Rodriguez's father was an American citizen born in Arizona, and he relocated his family from Costa Rica to San Diego when Rodriguez was 8. Rodriguez said his parents came to the U.S. to build a better life, but he grew up in a community with strong ties to the Costa Rican culture.

The first person in his family to go to college, Rodriguez completed a Bachelor of Arts degree at UC San Diego and graduated from UC Berkeley School of Law in 1980. After passing the bar, Rodriguez worked in private practice for a few years at a San Diego firm but later joined the Santa Ana city attorney's office and then became a senior assistant city attorney for the City of Orange.

Encouraged by colleagues to apply for the bench, Rodriguez was appointed as a municipal court judge by Gov. Pete Wilson in 1994 and then elevated in 1998 to the Orange County Superior Court, where he tackled juvenile, criminal and general civil trial assignments. He retired in May 2014 and joined ADR Services Inc. in September that year.

"I had a desire to transition to a whole new set of challenges," Rodriguez said. "I guess I followed that axiom that 'You don't retire from something; you retire to something."

Handling a roughly 50-50 split of mediations and arbitrations, Rodriguez said he's routinely working on real estate, employment, personal injury and commercial cases .

"I really try to focus on efficiency, which cuts costs," Rodriguez said of his approach to arbitration. "I think attorneys appreciate that, and I've had a lot of repeat customers - no matter what the award."

After more than a decade of private neutral work, and roughly 200 mediations, Rodriguez said he views the work a little differently these days.

"Confidence is the key to that," he said. "Today, I know when I go into a mediation, I have a very good chance of settling the case. ... I've reached outside the box in a number of mediations, and I think the confidence to do that is just a product of experience and gaining new skills."

Before his mediations, Rodriguez likes to receive briefs from all the parties, but he doesn't insist on speaking with counsel unless they request it or the mediator feels there's something significant to discuss.

Rodriguez mentioned that the writing in the briefs he receives can be a good indicator about the level of discord existing between the parties, and while he regularly conducts remote mediations online, he said that approach can come with drawbacks.

"With remote, reading the temperature of the room is not as reliable and valid," he said, "when you're trying to gauge how the attorneys view their clients and what their position is."

Rodriguez tries to address some of those challenges early on through a process he calls "creating trust bridges."

"There's no formula, and I don't think AI can generate that," Rodriguez said with a chuckle about his trust-bridging process. "Sometimes it's being very candid. Sometimes it's offering some anecdotes. It just depends who the personalities are. ... But active listening is a very important skill."

Irvine litigator Ali Parvaneh has used Rodriguez to mediate approximately a dozen cases over the past decade, including commercial, personal injury and employment disputes.

"He's very polite, very cordial and brings respect," Parvaneh said. "And I've found him to be very helpful to the attorneys as well as to the clients."

Seattle litigator Jonathan C. Stevens used Rodriguez recently to resolve a difficult commercial dispute, and he also said the neutral was very patient and cordial.

"A lot of mediators have a cordial demeanor, but he has a very genuine, easy style," Stevens said. "And that works for clients - who've maybe been in mediation before, but maybe not. He definitely worked well with the clients and really set them at ease about the process."

Glendale business litigator Mitchell B. Ludwig used Rodriguez recently to resolve a challenging landlord-tenant dispute.

"He's a great guy - great personality, cordial," Ludwig said. "Everybody liked him."

Ludwig was quick to note, however, that the retired judge brings more than just a friendly demeanor to the table.

"He's not a wallflower, and he's not an activist judge. He's the type of judge that pushes you just enough to get the clients to where they need to get to in order to settle the case," Ludwig explained. "He speaks his mind, tells you when he thinks you're wrong, but he doesn't belittle you, and he doesn't force you to accept his terms. He leads the parties to make their own determination of what they want for settlement."

Rodriguez pointed to a specific bit of leverage he returns to often with litigants during his mediations.

"I ask people, 'Do you want to move on with your life and not be embroiled and have all the negative effects that a litigation produces?'" Rodriguez said. "'You want to be happy,' I tell them. 'You don't want to necessarily be correct.' I really try to get that message across."

Parvaneh said Rodriguez's evaluative tactics are especially helpful.

"I find him to be very quick in spotting issues in a case, and he effectively challenged our positions, telling us what our weaknesses were and likewise ... saying, 'I'm impressed with this argument you guys have here,'" Parvaneh said. "He'll tell you point blank where you're right and where you're wrong, and he will give you help in resolving the case."

Stevens noted, meanwhile, that Rodriguez's creative approach helped to keep people talking.

"He nudged the parties, suggesting specifically that, 'Instead of saying it's black and white, maybe let's look at the gray areas,'" Stevens recalled. "I liked that he kept poking - not in a bad way - but just poking to see if he could find some way to just get us off our positions. And this mediation really needed help for the parties and their attorneys to get off their positions."

After more than a decade, Rodriguez said he's still taking a great deal of fulfillment from his work as a private neutral.

"It keeps me mentally sharp," he said. "There's always something new, and I enjoy the challenges. And I just really enjoy resolving cases and helping people out."

Here are some attorneys who have used Rodriguez's services: Ali Parvaneh, Madison Law APC; Jonathan C. Stevens, Law Offices of Jonathan C. Stevens; Mitchell B. Ludwig, Knapp, Peterson & Clarke PC; Thomas M. Gray, Schuering, Zimmerman, and Doyle LLP; William R. Bailey, Bailey Law Corporation