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Experience

Mediation

Rachel Ehrlich’s multi-faceted background as a casualty and coverage attorney, insurance claims person, underwriter, and executive makes her perspective on mediation unique.  Ms. Ehrlich has a deep understanding of the insurance industry and the factors that motivate both claimants and insurers to settle cases. By establishing rapport with the parties through candid communications, she develops effective resolution plans that are acceptable to opposing parties in mediation.

Strategic Resolution Planning

Throughout her career, Rachel Ehrlich has developed and executed strategic resolution plans for thousands of pre-litigation disputes and litigated cases.  She has undertaken multiple roles in the mediation process: decision-maker, mediator, counsel of record, party representative, and insurance executive with the final settlement authority.  Ms. Ehrlich’s most satisfying work has been the facilitation of negotiated resolutions of multi-party disputes.

Insurance Claims

As a claims executive, Rachel Ehrlich was responsible for ensuring the appropriate handling and resolution of over 20,000 claims, representing hundreds of millions of dollars in reserves. She evaluated matters to determine the merit of the claim, the reasonableness of the alleged damages, and the settlement value of the claim. As an insurance company executive, she established claims handling standards, administered audits, and addressed reinsurance issues.

Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith

As an insurance coverage lawyer, Rachel Ehrlich advised her client-employer regarding appropriate handling and resolution of matters across the country. She drafted insurance policy language, managed insurance coverage and bad faith litigation, and represented insurance companies in coverage disputes and litigation. This insurance coverage experience and expertise adds value to the resolution process, allowing her to understand and address insurance coverage positions that might pose an obstacle to resolution.  Ms. Ehrlich’s expertise includes property, liability, and automobile coverage, regulatory compliance, and good faith claim handling country-wide.

ADR-Related Appointments

Judicate West
– Mediator

US District Court, Northern District of California
– Mediator
– Early Neutral Evaluator

Superior Court of California, Alameda County
– ADR Administration Committee
– Mediator, Civil Mediation Panel
– Mediator, Unlawful Detainer Mediation Program

Superior Court of California, Contra Costa County
– Mediator
– Settlement Mentor

ADR-Related Awards & Recognition

SuperLawyer – Alternative Dispute Resolution
Northern California 2018 & 2019

Negotiation/Mediation Process & Practice
UC Hastings, American Jurisprudence Award & CALI Award for Excellence 1996

Professional Training Relevant To ADR

Mediator Boot Camp (Ethics, Bias, And Mediating With Self-Represented Parties)

Contra Costa County Bar Association, ADR Section
Concord, CA – September, 2019

Top Ten Coverage Decision of 2018 – Impact & Implications

Ordinance or Law Coverage

Truthiness & False Claims Act Liability

Recoupment of Defense Costs:  What is the State of Law?

The Protection Gap in Property Insurance

Ethical Issues Arising Out of Sharing Information
American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar
Tucson, AZ – March 2019

Traumatic Brain Injury: Analyzing Claims
National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies – Claims Conference
Phoenix, AZ– February 2019

Acknowledging and Working Through Racial Bias
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – January 2019

Handling the Handlers (Ways to Best Tailor an Insurance Policy and Warranty Statement to Fit Your Client’s Needs)
American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee WIN
Dallas, TX – November 2018

James Gilliland Symposium:  A Dialogue on Rethinking Dispute Resolution
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – October 2018

Understanding the Role of Body Language in Mediation
The Mediation Society & JAMS
San Francisco, CA – October 2018

What Every Mediator Should Know About Forgiveness
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – October 2017

Who’s Afraid of Real Mediation
Alameda County Bar Association
Oakland, CA – October 2017 

Mediator Practice Tips for Appellate Mediation
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – August 2017

Structured Negotiation: A Twenty Year Track Record Of Resolving Claims Without Lawsuits
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – May 2017

Customizing the Mediation – The Mediator’s Role as Process Architect
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – February 2017

Mediator’s Proposals
The Mediation Society
Oakland, CA – November 2016

Dispute System Design: Underground to Online
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – September 2016

Unlawful Detainer Mediation
California Superior Court of Alameda County and Alameda County Bar Association
Oakland, CA – May 2016

Mediator Malpractice
The Mediation Society
Oakland, CA – May 2016

Making Use of the Behavioral Sciences: The practical implications for mediators of behavioral studies of litigant preferences, attorney handicapping and cognitive biases
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – April 2016

Mediator Certification
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – March 2016

Litigation Tree Analysis – What It Is and How It Can Best Be Used In Mediation
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – March 2016

The Road to Cultural Understanding in a Diverse World: Recognizing and Avoiding Bias for More Successful Negotiations
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – October 2015

Mediation Confidentiality
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – October 2015

Eva Paterson “Race Matters”
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – October 2015

Fee Arbitration
Contra Costa County Bar Association
Concord, CA – July 2015

Impasse
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – June 2015

American Arbitration Association
Higginbotham Fellows Program
New York, NY – May 2015

US District Court ADR Program Mediation Training
Northern District of California
San Francisco, CA – April 2015

US District Court ADR Program Early Neutral Evaluation Training
Northern District of California
San Francisco, CA – April 2015

Unlawful Detainer Mediation
California Superior Court of Alameda County and Alameda County Bar Association
Oakland, CA – March 2015

Challenges and Opportunities of Mediating with Elders and Their Families
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – January 2015

Mediating with Self-Represented Litigants
The Mediation Society
San Francisco, CA – October 2014

Advanced Training Program: Interests
Center for Understanding in Conflict / Center for Mediation in the Law
Mill Valley, CA – April 2014

Mediation and Conflict Resolution
University of California Berkeley
Berkeley, CA – March 2014

Litigation Management Institute
Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM) – Certified Litigation Management Professional
New York, NY – October 2013

Mediation Practice Workshop  American Arbitration Association  San Francisco, CA – 1997

Negotiation/Mediation Process & Practice
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
San Francisco, CA – Spring Semester 1996
– American Jurisprudence Bancroft-Whitney Award
– CALI Excellence For The Future Award

Mediation
University of California, Hastings College of the Law
San Francisco, CA – Fall Semester 1995

Education

University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, CA
Juris Doctor, 1996 – Admitted to California Bar, December 1996
Hastings West Northwest Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, 1993-1996
(Executive Editor, 1995-1996)

University of California, Santa Cruz
B.A. Politics, 1990 – Phi Beta Kappa, Honors in the Major, College Honors