Adler Mediation/ADR

John S. Adler is a San Diego-based full-time mediator and arbitrator who brings over 40 years of employment law counseling, litigation, trial, and ADR experience to his mediation and arbitration practice. John has represented hundreds of individual plaintiffs, as well as Fortune 500 companies, labor unions, public employers and non-profits, during a career that focused on handling labor and employment matters with dedication, distinction, and great success.

John has successfully arbitrated cases for the American Arbitration Association since 1990, and conducted his first mediation in the 1990s. John is a graduate of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University.

Your “Been There” Mediator

October 29, 2019

Mediation Strategy: Past Negotiations Can Help Current Preparation

Years ago, I was involved in contract negotiations with an NFL Team. We were negotiating on behalf of a defensive lineman — a position that generally gets little recognition or respect. Yes, it might have been easier and more lucrative to be negotiating for the quarterback. If this was an inherent shortcoming in our situation, we accepted it. Our financial demand was based on comparative analyses and perceptions of value, both current and future, given we were negotiating a multi-year deal. …

July 22, 2019

My Approach to “Relaxed Rules of Evidence” in Arbitration

Among the oft-cited criticisms of arbitration is the application of “relaxed rules of evidence.” This criticism is generally verbalized in the context of posing a potential obstacle to success. In my 30+ years of arbitrating cases, I have never seen, or heard of, any case being decided on the basis of evidence that would have been inadmissible in court. Furthermore, the “relaxed rules" approach to admissibility of testimony and documents in arbitration is, in my experience, similar to what the …