Biography

Mike Young knows what you are going through.

He also knows what your counterpart is going through.

More than twenty five years in the litigation trenches, handling and trying intellectual property, employment, and complex commercial cases has given Mike a very personal and worm’s-eye view of what you and your clients are facing as you work your way through the difficult, expensive, and at-times downright unpleasant litigation grind of our country’s traditional dispute resolution process. Be it a patent, class action, multi-party, public policy, or single plaintiff case, Mike knows what you have seen, and what is in store for you along the long and often tortuous road to trial…and appeal.

At the same time, mixed within that quarter century of litigation and trial practice is over twenty years experience serving as a mediator, working with you, your clients, and your counterparts, to find that oft-times elusive, even ethereal settlement that leaves all parties better off.

He’s been in your room; he’s been in your counterpart’s room. As a result, Mike gets it. He understands the dynamics of the complex intellectual property lawsuit, the wage and hour class action, the single plaintiff discrimination case, the business or commercial dispute, an environmental mess…and he’s not afraid to use that knowledge to help the parties find, even create, a better tomorrow.

Said one past client:

“We have been a part of hundreds of mediations and rarely have we seen a mediator handle a mix of legal, factual, and emotional issues so capably and in such short time. Further, as the parties related, you made a very positive impression on attorneys and our legal system, for which all attorneys should be thankful.”

Mike’s extensive experience both litigating and mediating intellectual property disputes has included lawsuits involving patents (and design patents), copyright, trademark, trade secrets, counterfeiting, restrictive covenants such as non-compete and non-solicitation agreements, reverse engineering claims, trade dress, customer and patient lists, and even domain name rights. His employment litigation and mediation experience covers the panoply of employment conflicts, including wage and hour class action, claims of wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination (including sex, race, disability, reverse discrimination and age), public policy violations and “whistleblower” matters, among many others. His general commercial dispute experience has included business torts, breach of contract, anti-competitive conduct, qui tam, construction disputes, environmental (including CERCLA, RCRA, CWA, Prop. 65), and more.

Exemplifying his dedication to the dispute resolution community, and his constant efforts to remain “current” with advances in mediation theory and practice, Mike served as an adjunct professor of law in Mediation and Negotiation at the University of Southern California Law School for nearly a decade and at Pepperdine Law School. He was a member of the California State Bar’s Standing Committee on ADR for five years. Mike is also a long standing Distinguished Fellow and past President of the nationally acclaimed International Academy of Mediators.

An AV rated attorney, and a Super Lawyer in ADR, Intellectual Property and Employment law since 2005, Mike remains very active in the dispute resolution community. He writes often on mediation and negotiation issues, has contributed to a number of books on mediation and negotiation, and has been featured on national television as the legal commentator analyzing the surprise jailing of mediation participant Joe Francis of Girls Gone Wild notoriety.