David I. Karp, Attorney/Mediator

A full time mediator since about September 2004, David I. Karp maintains a private mediation practice in Van Nuys, CA, and also assists various adjudicative bodies with their Alternative Dispute Resolution needs in Southern California. Karp serves on the Appellate Mediation Panel of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, and on the “Pro Bono,” “Party Pay” and “Probate” mediation panels of the Los Angeles Superior Court. In each of the foregoing contexts, privately and otherwise, Karp applies his skill, training and experience, emanating from a 25 year law practice primarily in real estate and business litigation, to help the disputants reach mutual understanding, if they can, and their own private, consensual resolution of their conflicts with one another.

For three years, Karp also conducted Special Education mediations as a Pro Tem Administrative Law Judge for the Special Education Division of the California Office of Administrative Hearings, which has jurisdiction over conflicts in California between families of special needs children and school districts.

Karp earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1976. He received his Juris Doctorate from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles, in 1979. He conducted a full time law practice in metropolitan Los Angeles from 1979 through August 2004, at which time he turned his full time attention to mediation.

Since 1987, Karp has been consistently given the highest rating available (“AV”) for legal ability, ethics, professional reliability and diligence, through Martindale-Hubbell, Inc., virtually the only nationwide entity that promotes peer ratings of attorneys. By invitation, Karp appeared in Martindale's Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers from 1994-2005, during active law practice.

Karp’s formal mediation training includes, without limitation: “Mediating the Litigated Case” (2003) offered by the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution of the Pepperdine University School of Law (“Straus Institute”) (Cynthia F. Greer, Peter Robinson, Matt Guasco, Randy Lowry, trainers); “Advanced Mediation Skills Forum” (2004) offered by Los Angeles County Bar Association Dispute Resolution Services, Inc. and faculty of the Straus Institute (Randy Lowry, Lee Jay Berman, trainers); “Cross Cultural Skills Training (2006) (Nina Meierding, trainer); “Appellate Mediation” (2007) (Richard Birke, Dana Curtis, trainers). He has attended many other professional courses and conferences offered by the Southern California Mediation Association, of which Karp is a member, and other providers.

In private mediation practice, Karp charges for his services at the rate of $360.00 per hour with a three hour minimum paid in advance, divisible equitably by the number of “sides” in the dispute. Karp charges no administrative fee but does charge a cancellation / rescheduling fee equivalent to 1.5 hrs. of the mediator's time if a mediation session is taken off calendar seven days or sooner before the scheduled hearing date and no substitute matter can be heard in its place. A sample retainer agreement, the terms of which control over this summary, is available upon request.

David I. Karp, Mediation Services
13818 Cumpston Street
Van Nuys, California
818-781-1458 voice
818-781-7733 fax
david@karpmediation.com