SAN FRANCISCO, May 13, 2010 - Farella Braun + Martel partner Mark D. Petersen has been appointed chair of the Bar Association of San Francisco's (BASF) Mediation Committee, a part of BASF's Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, for a two-year term.

The Mediation Committee seeks to further the knowledge of its members by developing and implementing programs and training in alternative dispute resolution, with an emphasis on mediation.

Petersen's mediation practice includes serving on BASF's Early Settlement Program; the Contra Costa County EASE Program; the Northern District of California's panel of mediators; the American Arbitration Association's Panel of Mediators (and its panel of Commercial Arbitrators); and as a Judge Pro Tem in San Francisco for mediation of cases going to trial.  In the past five years, he has settled nearly 200 cases as a mediator.  He has completed the American Arbitration Association's Mediator Training, BASF's Advanced Mediator Training, the American Bar Association Advanced Mediation and Advocacy Skills Training, and the U.S. District Court (N.D. Cal.) Advanced Mediation Training Program.  Petersen is a member of the Association for Conflict Resolution and The Mediation Society of Northern California.  He has written numerous materials on mediation and litigation techniques for industry professionals and legal practitioners, and he teaches trial skills with the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. 

Petersen has been a trial lawyer for 28 years, with a broad-based practice that includes construction issues, complex securities cases, consumer fraud claims, employment matters, entertainment law and general commercial litigation. 

He earned his J.D. from Hastings College of the Law, University of California (1983), where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review.  

Farella Braun + Martel represents clients throughout the United States and abroad in sophisticated business transactions and high-stakes commercial, civil and criminal litigation. Founded in 1962, the firm is headquartered in San Francisco and maintains an office in the Napa Valley focused on the wine industry. Farella Braun + Martel lawyers are known for their imaginative legal solutions, dynamism and intellectual creativity. With an unwavering service ethic and interdisciplinary team approach, the firm is committed to advancing clients' objectives in the most effective, coordinated and efficient manner. Farella Braun + Martel is a green business.

Contacts:
Melinda Hepp / Traci Stuart
Blattel Communications
415.397.4811 
[email protected] / [email protected] 

Cheryl Loof
Farella Braun + Martel LLP
415.954.4433
[email protected]