MAP Background Information provided
| Name: | Judge Margaret J. Kemp | ||||
| Address: | 751 Laurel Street, #334 | ||||
| San Carlos, CA 94070 | |||||
| Telephone: | (415) 772-0900 | Fax: | (650) 654-9325 | ||
| Email: | judge17@comcast.net | ||||
| Fees: | $425 per hour | ||||
| Other Costs: | Fees: $425/hour for mediations and arbitrations and $485/hour for discovery referee. Other Costs: Travel time and expenses if outside the Bay Area | ||||
| BAR Number: | 0050881 | ||||
| Attorney: | Non-Attorney Professional Mediator/Arbitrator: Retired Judge/Justice: x | ||||
| Mediation Experience: | Two years plus as a private mediator, four years as full time settlement judge before retirement and before that many other settlement conferences in my 26 years on the bench. |
| Mediation Training: | 2006 - Pepperdine University/Strauss Institute 3-day training in mediating the complex case. 2004 - Pepperdine University/Strauss Institute 3-day training in Advanced Mediation Techniques. 2002 - CJER (Calif. Judicial Education and Research) 3-day advanced mediation training. 2000 - CJER 5-day training in Mediation. |
| Arbitration Experience: | No formal training in arbitration, but I have twenty-six years on the bench which included hearing many bench (court) trials. |
| Neutral Evaluation Background: | None, but I have twenty-six years of evaluating cases as a judge. |
| Settlement Conference Experience: | |
| Subject | Personal Injury: | x | Employment: | x | Business: | x | Real Estate: | x |
| Matter: | Legal Malpractice: | x | Public Agency: | x | Probate: | x | Construction: | x |
| Medical Malpractice: | x | Environmental: | Insurance: | x | Securities: | |||
| Product Liability: | x | Landlord-Tenant / Neighborhood: | Dental Malpractice: | x | ||||
| Foreign Language(s): | Intellectual Property/High Technology: | x | ||||||
| Accoutings: | Conservatorships/Guardianships: | Wills/Trusts: | ||||||
| Other: Fraud and Lemon Law, Eminent Domain and Elder abuse | ||||||||
| Other Education: |
1971 J.D. University of California at Berkeley-Boalt Hall School of Law 1966 M.A.University of California at Berkeley in Political Science 1965 B.S. University of Illinois, Urbana in Education |
| Mediation Approach: |
Initially my mediation approach is facilitative, trying to help counsel and the parties reach their own solution. However, if that is not progressing, I trun to a more directive approach in suggesting possible avenues of settlement and steering the parties toward a settlement. In the end it is my philosophy that I have been hired to aid the parties in reaching a settlement and I do everything I reasonable can to move the parties in that direction. |
| Arbitration Approach: |
I conduct arbitration in a fairly formal manner as though the arbitration were a bench trial in court and I make it clear to counsel and the parties that I expect similar conduct of them. |
| Neutral Approach: |
I have not done any neutral evalautions to date, but generally speaking I would have each side present thier case to me in open session or in separete sessions if they preferred. If the later were preferred then I would clearly delineate what could and could not be disclosed to the other side and then discuss my evaluation with each side separately unless both agreed they wish to do it in a joint session. |
| Other Information: |
2004-2006 Private Mediator with ADR Services, Inc.; 1987--2204 Superior Court Judge, San Mateo County with a full espectrum of judicial assignments; 1976-1987 Private law practice with Thirkell, Pierpoint and Kemp; 1972-1976 Deputy District Attorney, San Mateo County District Attorney's Office; Memberships: Member of California Judges' Ass'n., Executive Board (1981-1983); Secretary Treasurer (1982-1983), Chair, Muncipal Court; Committee (1980), member Ethics Committee (1983-1987); Member of the National and International Associations of Women Judges; Appointed by the Board of Supervisors to the San mateo County Drug and Alcohol Abuse Advisory Board-served 10 years; Recipient of the Judge of the Year Award from the California Corrections, Parole and Probation Officers Association. |
| Brief Thumbnail: |
I most enjoy doing mediations and helping the parties and counsel find solutions to their legal problems. I find it very satisfying to reach a settlement and hammer out an agreement, which will endure an put a case to rest whether it is before the case is filed or just about to go to trial or even while the case is in trial. Finding novel or unique terms of settlement that could not be achieved in a courtroom setting are an especially rewarding part of the process and one that I particularly enjoy. It is my experience that even when the parties are not particularly thrilled with the settlement terms, they understand that by reaching a settlement they have determined their own destiny and not left it to strangers and being a part of that is very rewarding to me. |