In the legal world, mediation is defined as “an alternative dispute resolution method with a neutral person helping the parties find a solution to their dispute.” But Eric Ivary prefers to think of it as a “time-out” from litigation.

“Many litigants have lost the ability to see the forest for the trees because they’re so wrapped up in the case,” said Ivary, a longtime mediator and arbitrator at ADR Services, Inc. in San Francisco. “Mediation can give the parties a different perspective in looking at their own case. It can be such a relief.”

Mediation is an increasingly common legal approach. Eric Ivary lives in the East Bay and mediates cases throughout the Bay Area. These include personal injury, product liability, employment, civil rights, discrimination and disability. Judges in both state and federal courts frequently mandate pretrial settlement conferences to lower the burden on the courts, Ivary said. In fact, the vast majority of cases — as many as 92% — settle out of court, making mediation an important relief valve for a heavily backlogged legal system. 

But there are many benefits for litigants, too, Ivary said.

“Helping people find what’s in their own best interest can be a challenge, because people can’t always see far enough ahead,” he said. “As a neutral third party, I can tell plaintiffs — most of whom will only have one case like this in their lifetime — how their case might hit a jury.” 

In his cases, Ivary leans into the informality of mediation proceedings to help the parties reach mutual agreement. 

“I try to make it resemble a court trial as little as possible,” he said. “With few exceptions, I don’t do joint sessions, which means I’m talking to plaintiffs and defendants separately in separate rooms. Mediations are confidential by statute, so I take advantage of that and keep things very informal so people feel at ease and comfortable when speaking.”

Earlier legal career

The Alameda-Contra Costa Trial Lawyers’ Association named Eric Ivary the 2026 Member of the year, following his long career as an attorney and then a legal mediator. Credit: Diane Rames

In his more than 15 years with ADR Services, Ivary has mediated upward of 1,000 cases. Prior to being a mediator, Ivary spent more than three decades as a civil trial attorney and was the managing partner at Gwilliam Ivary Chiosso Cavalli & Brewer, the Oakland-based firm he co-founded in 1978 with noted consumer trial attorney Gary Gwilliam. 

“Gary and I were good friends, although we were competitors at two different firms,” said Ivary. “Then the firm he worked for dissolved, and he asked me — I think on a Wednesday — ‘Hey, do you want to come with me and we’ll form our own firm?’ I said, ‘Give me some time to think about it.’ And he went, ‘Sure. Can you let me know by tomorrow?’ And so I just jumped ship.”

As a litigator with extensive trial experience, Ivary tried all types of personal injury, medical and insurance bad faith cases. He now regularly draws on that extensive courtroom experience in front of juries to understand the perspectives of litigants, how prospective jurors might view the case, and works to find solutions that satisfy both parties. 

One case from Ivary’s trial career that he’s particularly proud of involved a medical insurance company that denied treatment of a patient’s multiple sclerosis because the treatment was “experimental.”

“In fact, the treatment had been shown to be effective in a peer-reviewed study conducted by a Harvard professor,” said Ivary. 

The highlight of the case came at trial, Ivary said, when the insurance company’s medical director explained to the jury that the treatment was “too risky” because it caused liver cancer. “So I asked him, ‘How many cases of liver cancer were there?’ And he just looks around sheepishly and goes, ‘Zero.’ When I asked him why he stated it causes cancer, he goes, ‘I made a mistake.’ I saw 12 pairs of eyes rolling into the back of the jurors’ heads. The case was over for them right there.”

After a long career in the law, Ivary said he never expected to find himself back in the saddle. “I was on an indefinite hiatus after stepping down from Gwilliam Ivary, when Lucy Baron (ADR Services’ president) asked me out of the blue if I’d like to come be a mediator,” said Ivary. “I had no real training, but I was intrigued. So I went through the formal education process and started mediating, and I found I liked it more than litigating cases.”

In most civil lawsuits in California, parties can expect to go to mediation after discovery — the phase where both sides exchange documents and evidence — and before going to trial. For plaintiffs heading into mediation, Ivary has this advice:

“Think of mediation as a chance to have your side of the story heard and for you to hear the other side’s views. Mediation is an opportunity to reach a settlement you have directly discussed and agreed to with the other side, instead of having a judge or jury decide the outcome.”

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