I started my legal career as a medical malpractice attorney, primarily representing doctors, nurses and hospitals. At the time, I also handled a variety of personal injury and product liability claims. I therefore developed a thorough understanding of medical issues and the many challenges they can present -- both inside and outside the courtroom.

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In the late 1980's, I broadened my practice to include business, commercial, employment, insurance and real estate litigation. Doing so heightened my interest in business relationships and objectives. I also developed a genuine appreciation for how disruptive litigation can be, as well as a strong appetite for finding practical solutions to legal problems.

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Over time, my practice came to emphasize insurance bad faith and employee benefits

litigation. In 1999, I therefore founded a law firm that principally represented life, health and disability insurers, insurance agents and financial advisors in numerous contexts. Within a few years, a survey of law departments at the Fortune 500 identified my firm as a "Go-To Firm" for litigation. I was later honored with personal recognition as a San Francisco Bay Area "Top-Rated" Attorney in both Insurance Law and Labor & Employment Law, a Northern California "Super Lawyer," and a "Top 50 Attorney" in San Francisco.

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However, around the same time that I founded my law firm, a local court asked that I serve as a specially-appointed mediator. That experience sparked my interest in alternative dispute resolution, so I formally joined that court's panel of neutrals.  I have since been formally trained as both a mediator and as an arbitrator. In addition, I now actively participate on the dispute resolution panels of several federal and state courts in California. 

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For the first 25 years that followed, my professional life was divided between my role as a litigator practicing in state and federal courts throughout California and my role as a dispute resolution neutral.  In 2024, though, I committed to providing dispute resolution services on a full time basis.  

-- Rob Pohls