Greg David Derin - Biography

Education

Greg is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, from which he received an A.B. degree with Highest Honors in 1976. Greg received a J.D. degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall School of Law in 1979, where he was on the Editorial Board of the California Law Review and was a Charles Mills Gayley Fellow.

Teaching and ADR Training

Photograph by Abigail Smigel

For the last five years, Greg has assisted Professor Frank Sander and Washington, D.C. mediators Linda Singer and Michael Lewis in teaching the prestigious “Mediation Workshop” at Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation. Greg has received mediation training through highly respected programs including the Harvard Law School “Mediation Workshop,” Pepperdine University School of Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Ken Cloke’s Center for Dispute Resolution, The Center for Dispute Settlement in Washington, D.C., Dispute Resolution Services, Inc. of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the International Academy of Mediators and the Section of Dispute Resolution of the American Bar Association.

Organizations

Greg is a Past Chair of the California State Bar Standing Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution. He is a member of the CPR Panel of Distinguished Neutrals (Los Angeles and Entertainment Panels), the California Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, and the Mediation Panel of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. He is a Practitioner Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution, a Platinum Member of the Southern California Mediation Association, and a member of the dispute resolution sections of the Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County and American Bar Associations.

Mediation Experience

During his career as a mediator, Greg has successfully assisted parties in resolving hundreds of complex matters. He is often called upon to resolve disputes after previous attempts at settlement have proven unavailing. Parties consistently attribute their successful resolutions to Greg’s persistence, attentive and open facilitation of a process designed to encourage creative solutions, and his broad substantive knowledge and experience. Greg has successfully helped parties resolve matters in a broad range of fields including contract, fraud, entertainment, intellectual property, real estate, employment, corporate and partnership, legal malpractice, product liability, class actions, construction defects, and unfair business practices.

Recognition

Greg was named as a “Power Mediator” in The Hollywood Reporter’s inaugural list of the mediators to whom the entertainment community turns to resolve its disputes. For the past three years he has been recognized by Los Angeles Magazine and Law & Politics as a Southern California SuperLawyer™ in the fields of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property Litigation and Entertainment and Sports Law. Based upon the review of his peers, Greg has achieved an AV rating from the Martindale Hubbell Law Directory. Greg is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in California, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Ninth and Federal Circuits, and the United States Supreme Court.

Legal Experience

In 1979, Greg joined the law firm of Dern, Mason, Swerdlow and Floum, where he practiced for ten years, becoming the Managing Partner of the firm’s litigation department. Upon the dissolution of Dern, Mason in 1989, Greg became a founding member of Del, Rubel, Shaw, Mason & Derin, where he remained until opening his own office in 1997. Greg is experienced in all phases of litigation, having handled matters before federal and/or state trial or appellate courts in California, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wyoming, and before the American Arbitration Association, California Labor Commissioner, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, California Regional Water Quality Control Board, California State Water Resources Control Board, and the National Association of Securities Dealers.

Litigation

Greg has litigated matters in diverse substantive areas, concentrating on entertainment and intellectual property, breach of contract, real estate, labor and employment, corporate and partnership, product liability and general business disputes. He serves as principal outside litigation counsel to a major talent agency, was lead local counsel in Southern California to a Fortune 500 company in connection with a series of product liability matters involving a medical device, and has tried cases as varied as a class action concerning a real estate development, a multi-million dollar construction defect matter, and talent agency disputes.

Community Service

Dedicated to youth activities, Greg has served in a variety of volunteer positions aimed at promoting the development of young adults. He is the Vice President of Youth of the Pacific Southwest Region of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and has served as a volunteer Big Brother and a long time successful Little League Baseball and AYSO Soccer coach. Greg also serves as a Vice President and member of the Board of Directors of Valley Beth Shalom Synagogue and as a member of the International Board of Directors of The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. A founding member of the West Los Angeles Cal Alumni Club, Greg has served as Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors of the (U.C. Berkeley) California Alumni Association.