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    ROBERT N. DOBBINS, LLM, ESQ.

    • Based in Orange County, available Nationwide
    • Available for Mediation, Arbitration, and Private Judging assignments
    >> Contact Case Manager >> Submit an Inquiry >> Submit a Case

    Introduction

    An experienced full time Neutral since 2002, Rob brings an enhanced depth of skills to a variety of mediated and arbitrated matters. Expanding his focus to cases involving medical issues, Rob has been developing his proficiency with medical negligence and elder abuse cases under the mentorship of Master Mediator/Arbitrator Jay Cordell Horton, co-mediating more than 60 of these cases together. Beyond medical negligence and elder abuse, Rob has handled a wide range of major injury cases, and a full spectrum of complex business/commercial, real estate, employment, and financial institution matters. Combining his knowledge of the field and his mediator skills, Rob receives the highest praise for his persistence and patience.

    One attorney commented, "Rob Dobbins is one of the most talented neutrals I know. He is personable, knowledgeable, committed and really connects with the parties." In addition to his work in Southern California, he has close ties to the San Francisco Bay Area as he is Adjunct Professor at UC Berkeley, Berkeley Law ("Boalt Hall"), and an Adjunct at UC Hastings' Center for Negotiation & Dispute Resolution since 2005, teaching negotiation, mediation, and other courses in the ADR curriculum. Rob also conducts continuing education classes on negotiation, mediation, and ethics for lawyers, judges, and organizations throughout the country.

    Practice Areas

    Hobbies & Interests

    In his spare time, Rob enjoys baseball, running marathons, traveling, brewing fine craft ales and drinking fine wines, and the arts.

    Testimonials

    "Mr. Dobbins was kind while being honest and clear to my clients. He helped them to understand the importance of settling without being forceful."
    - Attorney on a Real Property Breach of Contract matter

    "He was friendly, insightful, knowledgeable, and persistent."
    - Attorney on a Complex Business/Contractual Dispute

    "I've been doing this since 1988 and I have to tell you Robert Dobbins is one of the top three mediators I've dealt with."
    - Attorney, Los Angeles, California

    "Rob has an amazing attitude. His patience, professional demeanor, and "never say die" attitude kept both myself and my client engaged in the process."
    - Attorney, Orange County, California

    "Rob showed patience and persistence. A great mediator does not give up and he was a great mediator."
    - Attorney, Los Angeles County, California

    "It was a pleasure to work with Rob. He helped my client understand the process and made him feel comfortable in an unusual situation."
    - Attorney, San Diego County, California

    "Mr. Dobbins was knowledgeable, had read the briefs and didn't waste anyone's time. He understood that in this case liability wasn't the point, that it was just about dollars."
    - Attorney, San Diego County, California

    "The mediator was very patient with my client. The mediator established a connection with the Plaintiff and this was essential to finally getting the case settled."
    - Attorney on an Elder Abuse Dispute

    Read More

    Experience Summary

    Legal Career

    • Mediator/Arbitrator (2002-Present)
    • Adjunct Faculty, University of California, Berkeley Law School (Boalt Hall) (2014-Present)
    • Adjunct Professor, Center for Negotiation & Dispute Resolution, Univ. of California, Hastings Law School (2005-Present)
    • Adjunct Professor, Straus Institute For Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University Law School (2002-Present)
    • Adjunct Professor, Pepperdine University, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution Undergraduate Dispute Resolution Certificate Program (2003-Present)
    • Judge Pro Tempore and Settlement Officer, Orange County Superior Court (1985-2002)
    • Attorney, Private Practice with an emphasis on major injury and death, real property litigation and transactions, business litigation, counseling, transactions; probate, trusts, estates litigation; employment litigation; Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Magnusson-Moss, Unruh Act litigation (1978-2002)

    Education & Professional Affiliations

    • LL.M. Dispute Resolution, Straus Institute For Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine Law School (2003)
    • Master of Dispute Resolution, Straus Institute For Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine Law School (2001)
    • J.D. Southwestern University School of Law (SCALE Program) (1978)
    • B.S., Boston University, School of Communication (1975)
    • Program Faculty & Moderator, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine Law, “Mediating the Litigated Case”
    • Panel Moderator, Hispanic Bar Association “Cuba-America Legal Exchange, Havana, Cuba”: “Preparing Your Case for Settlement in Mediation”
    • Program Faulty/Trainer, International Trademark Association, Mediation Continuing Education
    • Advanced Training, Nevada Supreme Court “Settlement Judges”: “How ‘Who You Are’ as Mediator May Affect Your Ethical Duties in Mediation”
    • Special Counsel and founding member, Deacon Jones Foundation
    • Special Counsel and founding member, Friends of Bear Paw, Big Hole & Canyon Creek Battlefields

    Achievements & Awards

    • Published numerous articles in his ADR career including “The Layered Dispute Resolution Clause: From Boilerplate to Business Opportunity” in the Hastings B. L. Journal; “UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation” in Pepperdine’s ADR Journal; and “Mediation: Through the Eyes of the Mediator, featured on www.mediate.com in April of 2003.
    • Additionally, he was a Program Faulty/Trainer, International Trademark Association, Mediation Continuing Education and a Visiting Scholar for the UN Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) in Vienna, Austria.

    Legal Experience

    • Medical Negligence
    • Elder Abuse
    • Catastrophic Injury
    • Complex Business/Commercial
    • Real Estate
    • Trust & Estates
    • Employment

    Representative Case Information

    Recent Representative Cases

    Business/Commercial

    Complex Commercial

    • Wrongful foreclosure, fraud, violation of HAMP of protected class borrower
    • Complex commercial dispute between Fortune 500 company and Father-Son company involving technology, server site, lease and accounting issues
    • Wrongful foreclosure, injunctive relief against two largest lenders where loan modification was lost when loan servicer was transferred, creating Substantial indemnification issues
    • Action by lawyer against bank for allowing office manager to deposit checks made out to firm's trust account into other than firm's bank account, which included claims of teller involvement and comparative negligence by lawyer

    Contractual

    • Breach of fiduciary duty, negligence by bank that set up an account into which 7 figures were deposited allowing only one of 3 investors to withdraw the entire amount
    • Wrongful repossession, FDCPA, discrimination where bank repossessed car after withdrawing funds from borrower's account, accepting separate payment from borrower, and failing to provide adequate notices (language translation)
    • Equitable and legal remedies breach of contract involving alleged regrading and stock-piling of soil causing adjacent land to be subject to 100 year flood plane in area of federally protected water way
    • Action/cross-action for equitable, legal relief involving multi-family real property sale that did not timely close where, during a short escrow extension, property was destroyed by arson with Buyer implicated in fire.
    • Violation of FDCPA in financing and repossession of car where issues concerned calculation of damages under state, federal statutes
    • Copyright, patent violations, breach of supply contract, scope of right to continue future non-competing production between international companies occupying major positions in spa equipment industry
    • Breach of stock purchase agreement after substantial performance by buyer in reliance on seller's representations
    • Landslide damage caused by million dollar remodel of up-slope property after prior suit for earlier slide damage had been settled
    • Breach of specialty printing contract where resolution included restored business relationship for future work and payment over time for past work
    • Major bank deducted payments twice per month without consent or credit to borrower on real estate loan discovered upon refinance
    • Interference with prospective business, misappropriation of trade secrets involving hybrid seeds where grandsons of company founders on both sides had lost trust, restored through mediation process
    • Exclusive gasoline brand supply contract, Retail Facility Development Incentive Program contract, Retail Technology Incentive Program contract breach involving complex accounting issue
    • Wrongful foreclosure after failure to comply with foreclosure alternatives requirements and loan modification process discrepancies
    • Professional negligence, fraud by architect in "Green Building" standards and failure to obtain permits causing delay and redesign damages
    • Bank drilled open safe deposit box without “justification." Customer‘s family heirloom valuable jewelry disappeared from box. Case involved cap on liability in contract and valuation of missing jewelry.
    • Injuries caused by ex-losing Vape. Products Liability allégations against battery manufacturer, distributor, and shop that sold vape with batteries not intended for vape use.

    Fraud/Misrepresentation

    • Fraud, breach of contract against major finance company for reneging on Trial Period Plan Agreement and refusal to allow loan modification
    • Odometer roll back, Consumer Legal Remedies Act case against RV dealer, with Federal investigations pending and bankruptcy filing, complicated by insurance coverage issues
    • Physician's action against major bank for allowing bookkeeper/CFO to embezzle seven figure amounts by depositing insurance checks into personal account though checks made out to medical practice

    Employment

    Discrimination

    • Hostile work environment, discrimination based on age and physical disability, and retaliation for whistleblowing in FEHA claim against municipality

    Hostile Environment

    • Post "Right to Sue" mediation of sexual harassment case against CEO of major construction company and young female administrative assistant
    • Wage & Hour "Early Legal Assessment" session pre-class certification, enabling parties to clarify claims, narrow issues, discuss resolution alternatives
    • Mediation of Sexual harassment, wrongful termination of long-term legal assistant to prominent lawyer with both personal and professional, sensitive implications

    Wage and Hour Class Action

    • Wrongful termination of long-term Hispanic employee where settlement came only after putting owner and employee together to talk as they had known each other for 30 years and owner never told her why she was fired

    Wrongful Termination

    • Construction defects that included improper grading, drainage, waterproofing of multi-million dollar home
    • Wrongful termination, age discrimination, vacation time accounting involving COO of 50 employee family company
    • Wrongful termination, gender discrimination of 25 year employee
    • Wrongful termination of long-term Hispanic employee where settlement came only after putting owner and employee together to talk as they had known each other for 30 years and owner never told her why she was fired

    Professional Malpractice

    Medical Mal Dental

    • Dental malpractice. Patient's jaw was fractured during dental surgery. Fracture was missed on X-ray films. Found several months later requiring painful complicated surgery with residual scar.

    Medical Malpractice

    • Extravasation from porta-cath during chemotherapy for breast cancer causing deformities and necrosis to non-cancerous breast where amelioration drug not timely given.
    • Persistent vegetative state arising from combined morphine through PCA and intramuscular injection of Dilauded causing respiratory and cardiac arrest against major public entity hospital with substantial MediCal, Medicare liens and MSA required
    • Chorioamnionitis, funisitis where trial of labor allowed to continue in face of troublesome "strip", decelerations, and delayed C-section, where life care plan LVN care damages challenged
    • HIE of new born with causation issue - alleged baby already compromised 24-48 hours before presented to hospital - where radiologist failed to properly calculate BPP numbers estimated by technician
    • Hyperbilirubin, kernicterus baby born with jaundice, where phototherapy and transfusion not done
    • Pharmacy malpractice Avascular necrosis brought on by improper filling of steroids prescription and alleged resulting bilateral hip replacement
    • Aphasia and apraxia caused by intracranial bleed where mother had prior child with suspected NAIT resulting from thrombocytopenia and testing not done requiring special needs education due to cognitive deficiencies. Questions of duty to Mom and to fetus-newborn-child
    • Splenectomy patient, with subsequent bone marrow transplant and Dr failed to assure that vaccination to prevent sepsis was properly given resulting in bilateral amputations of extremities
    • Medical negligence against gastroenterologist and hospital for failure to read HIDA nuclear scan with CCK causing a prolonged delay in cholecystitis diagnosis and cholecystectomy.
    • Post-bariatric surgery complications, where 40 year old plaintiff presented to small hospital ER, resulting in ischemia of small bowels and lifetime TPN and significant MSA numbers.
    • Mediation on the eve of arbitration of medical negligence claim involving a 59 year old non-surgical patient who suffered a spinal cord ischemia and resulting paralysis. Major VA lien complicated negotiations
    • Missed diagnosis of comminuted calcaneal fracture with one year delayed surgery, need for subsequent fusion, and inability to return to construction work.
    • Mediation involving a governmental-entity run hospital. Plaintiff claimed medical negligence resulting from a retained foreign body when a piece of the epidural catheter broke off and was left inside. Two surgical procedures later fragments still remain. Plaintiff also claimed fraud - failure to disclose that the person administering the pitocin was an RN Nurse Anesthetist.
    • Shoulder dystocia case. 11+ # fetus not delivered by C section. Defenses included failure to timely file government claim, causation (expert believes damage was caused by pushing of mother during labor causing injuries), and damages as 2 1/2 year old making substantial progress.
    • Medical negligence case arising from ilioinguinal nerve entrapment and 40-plus day delay in post-surgical clinical exam by surgeon causing permanent nerve injury to patient who was a Dr. permanently precluded from practicing her trade.
    • Disability-accommodations/wrongful-termination case brought by employee who was soon after declared temporarily totally disabled in pending worker's compensation case and remained so for a year post-termination.
    • Case invovled hospitals compliance with ADA, ACA, and related laws requirements for providing deaf patient with language translation through ASL interpreter.

    Real Estate

    Breach Of Contract

    • Breach of real estate purchase contract by Administrator of Estate who cancelled escrow after Mother died before transaction completed
    • Breach of residential lease with five-figure/month rent, reletting damages, and habitability defenses
    • Suit between principal and broker for failing to disclose that principal would be required to pay six figure damages for difference between lease rate and replacement tenant

    Real Property

    • Arbitration of cancelled escrow, deposit refund, specific performance after contingencies waived involving cross-cultural negotiation differences
    • Real estate non-disclosure of rodent infestation in mountain resort home

    Tort

    Defamation

    • Internet defamation action against surgeon by patient, including HIPA violation claims

    Elder Abuse

    • Inadequate staffing with elder fall risk patient who fell, required two comminuted fracture open reduction surgery, and facility provided bed alarm and sitter
    • Elder patient in care facility after leg fracture with intermittent incontinence; facility cited for failures to document, follow plan of care causing open wound from urine soaked fracture sock
    • Financial elder abuse by auto dealer, major finance company putting borrower into loan payment equal to 75% of social security payment
    • Wrongful foreclosure, elder abuse, fraud/forgery mediation against multiple lenders, escrow, title company presenting issues of equitable subordination, loan restructuring, BFP challenges
    • Financial elder abuse involving grad theft by employees of management company retained by the City to manage several city-run/owned elder communities. Victim was immigrant from "a country that no longer exists" whose heirlooms were taken. Impact of events caused serious decline in elder's condition; settlement dollars needed to provide her with a caretaker.
    • Multi-day arbitration wherein plaintiffs claimed Elder Abuse of a dementia resident, general negligence, as well as claims of fraud/negligent misrepresentation (extent of care to be provided under the resident agreement). Expert testimony on standard of care focused on distinguishing between RCFE and CCRC. On the medical side, physicians disagreed about what the initial read of X-rays showed: appeared to be a cortical irregularity or a hidden fracture. Three days later, Elder was found to have a displaced fracture of her hip.
    • Case involved a developmentally disabled adult with claims of adult dependent abuse over a period of 15 years. Among the historical facts generated was the Facility having been cited by the State for violation of the dependent adult's rights which the facility concealed from the family. The dependent adult was severely autistic. Once moved to a different facility he began to thrive.
    • Alleged elder/death case where patient in SNF was found hung by his neck on his "call button" chord. Question of causation in the context of ability to anticipate suicide.

    General Negligence

    • Wrongful death of 17 year old motocross rider against manufacturer of safety equipment designed to prevent catastrophic injury
    • Mediation of case against major bank by daughters of decedent precluded from taking under a Will caused by failure of bank to find decedent's safe deposit box in which Will was located
    • Disabled, dependent adult abuse where facility failed to properly monitor plaintiff in wheelchair, whose chair fell off of ramp causing her to land on her head with resulting catastrophic injury
    • Early morning Slip & fall on phone book placed on apartment stairway with resulting major injury, where plaintiff was visiting a female "friend" not his wife
    • Roadie sustained major injuries when bank of lights mis-loaded on fork lift caused lift to tip over and load to crush Roadie's leg

    PI Auto

    • UIM arbitration with choice of law, stacking policy, and application of Howell in major injury, long term LOE situation
    • Serious multi-motorcycle accident resulting in catastrophic injury to one of two plaintiffs. Case involved very interesting forum non conveniens, enforceability of liability waiver, and choice of law issues. Also involved excess coverage issues. Plaintiffs are residents of Australia; they and their Australian lawyer participated via face time.
    • Case involving out-of-state trucking company that changed lanes into plaintiff's lane on freeway causing her to hit the side wall and spin out across the freeway. Trucking company had substantial SIR, so we were dealing with family money. In-house counsel flew in to manage the negotiation. Post-concussive disorder alleged but back up meds were very limited.

    PI Libel and Slander

    • Libel, slander between life long friends, business partners

    Premises Liability

    • Slip & Fall, knee surgery, with subsequent total knee replacement
    • 34-year-old highly skilled finish carpenter suffered peripheral nerve damage from low voltage shock caused by a defectively designed and packaged product. Plaintiff will suffer pain and hand/arm tremors for life and unable to work more than part-time and not in his chosen trade. Extent of injuries catastrophically changed his life, including the relationships with his spouse and 6-year-old son. Damages in 7 figures.

    Wrongful Death

    • Vascular puncture during micro-invasive back surgery resulting in death from slow bleed with significant causation issues
    • Acoustic neroma surgery, aortic aneurysm causing thrombo-embolic stroke resulting in death
    • Wrongful death due to overdose of prescription opiates against doctor facing federal criminal charges and pharmacy
    • Cardiomyopathy death of 25 year old schizophrenic in an experimental drug test, where claim was negligent research presenting significant question about MICRA limits
    • Medical negligence-based wrongful death claim alleging failure to timely diagnose rare HLH disease in pregnant woman who died after premature but successful delivery of son. Causation questions given because death resulted from fungal infection affecting vital organs that was brought about by treatment for HLH. Also involved question of "Lost Chance Doctrine"

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