Susan Exon – Mediator, Arbitrator & ADR Consultant

Studies show that the most successful mediators are those who develop a rapport with mediation participants, and the most satisfied parties are those who have prepared well for mediation. Susan Exon strives to achieve these goals. Since mediator style is not the best predictor of successful mediations, she offers a 360-degree style in which she suggests ideas for mediation preparation, facilitates communication and serves in a directive capacity as needed. Susan brings to the table patience, perseverance, perpetual optimism and past experience since 1998.

Practice Areas

• Online Dispute Resolution
• Legal Malpractice
• Employment and Wrongful Termination
• Breach of Contract
• Real Estate and Construction Defect
• Business Torts
• Unfair Competition
• Personal Injury
• Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith Defense
• Civil Rights
• Equal Protection
• Municipal (Public) Law.

Education

• Master of Laws, Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University School of Law, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution (2006)
• J.D., University of Wyoming College of Law (1989)
• A.S.B.D. Central Pennsylvania College (1978)

ADR Philosophy

Studies show that the most successful mediators are those who develop a rapport with mediation participants, and the most satisfied parties are those who have prepared well for mediation. Susan Exon strives to achieve these goals. Since mediator style is not the best predictor of successful mediations, she offers a 360-degree style in which she suggests ideas for mediation preparation, facilitates communication and serves in a directive capacity as needed. Susan brings to the table patience, perseverance, perpetual optimism, and past experience since 1998.

Professional

Susan has been licensed to practice law in the State of California since 1990. As a business litigator while she practiced at Best, Best & Krieger, LLP, her areas of emphasis included: real estate and construction defect, business torts, unfair competition, municipal (public) law, trademarks and trade names, wrongful termination, civil rights, equal protection, antitrust, RICO, redevelopment, and CEQA. Susan served as a Judge Pro Tem for the San Bernardino County Small Claims Court during 1999-2000.

Today, Susan mediates and arbitrates on a full-time basis, both privately and as part of several panels. Her cases range from about $10,000 to $10,000,000. Susan is Professor of Law Emerita at the University of La Verne College of Law, where she retired in June 2020 after 21 years of teaching Mediation, Negotiation, ADR, Civil Procedure, Professional Responsibility, Remedies, and related seminars. She has more than 30 years of experience as a business litigator, law professor, practicing mediator, and arbitrator.

Susan speaks frequently on ethical and ADR topics; she has been a featured speaker for the PBS television show, Contemporary Legal Issues. She has published extensively on mediation ethics and civil procedure topics. Her textbook, Advanced Guide for Mediators, was published in 2014 and is available on Amazon. Her current research explores how mediators can develop trust and rapport in an online dispute resolution environment.

Susan served as co-chair of the Ethics Committee for the American Bar Association’s Section of Dispute Resolution for several years until 2013, served as an invited member of the Section’s Ethical Guidance Committee (2010-2019), and on a Civil Procedure panel of experts for the Legal Education, ADR, and Problem-Solving (LEAPS) Task Force.

Court & Private Dispute Resolution Panels

• MC-3 Certified Mediator
• American Arbitration Association (AAA)
• California Arbitration & Mediation Services (CAMS)
• California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.)
• RCBA Dispute Resolution Service, Inc. (DRS)
• Riverside County Superior Court

Professional Affiliations and Civic Work

• Invited Member, ADR Committee for the Riverside County Superior Court
• Member, American Bar Association
  • Former Co-Chair, Ethics Committee, Section of Dispute Resolution
  • Former Invited Member, Ethical Guidance Committee, Section of Dispute Resolution
  • Invited Member, LEAPS Task Force.
• Member, Riverside County Bar Association
• Member, San Luis Obispo County Bar Association
• Member, Association for Conflict Resolution
• Judge Pro Tem, San Bernardino County Small Claims Court, 1999-2000
• Soroptimist International of Riverside, member 1991-2008 & 2016-present; President, 1994-95; Committee Coordinator for five-state Golden West Region, 1996-98

General

Born and raised in Pennsylvania, Susan worked as a paralegal before matriculating to law school in Wyoming. Susan is a nationally known ADR expert and author. She has two children and four grandchildren. In her spare time, Susan enjoys traveling, baking, gardening, and outdoor activities.

Publications

Books and Book Chapters

• Book chapter in Mediation Ethics: A Practitioner’s Guide (Omer Shapira, ed., American Bar Association 2021).
• Advanced Guide for Mediators (2014 Carolina Academic Press).
• Teacher’s Manual to Advanced Guide for Mediators (2014 Carolina Academic Press).
• Commentary in Mediation Ethics: Cases and Commentaries 297-302 (Ellen Waldman, ed., Jossey-Bass 2011).

Law Review Articles 

• Building Trust Online: The Realities of Telepresence for Mediators Engaged in Online Dispute Resolution, 49 Stetson Law Review 109 (2019) (co-authored with Soomi Lee).
• Ethics and Online Dispute Resolution: From Evolution to Revolution, 32 OHIO STATE JOURNAL ON DISPUTE R 609 (2017).
• Maximizing Technology to Establish Trust in an Online, Non-visual Mediation Setting, 33 LA VERNE LAW REV. 27 (2011).
• The Next Generation of Online Dispute Resolution: The Significance of Holography to Enhance and Transform Dispute Resolution, 12 CARDOZO CONFLICT RESOL. 19 (2010).
• The Misnomer of a Mediation Value: Why All Mediators Cannot Remain Impartial, 1 B. ARB. & MED. 164 (2009) (Penn State Dickinson Law School peer review journal).
• The Effects that Mediator Styles Impose on Neutrality and Impartiality Requirements of Mediation, 42 S.F. L. REV. 577 (2008).
• How Can a Mediator be Both Impartial and Fair?: Why Ethical Standards of Conduct Create Chaos for Mediators, 2006 DISP. RESOL. 387 (2006).
• California’s Opportunity to Create Historical Precedent Regarding a Mediated Settlement Agreement’s Effect on Mediation Confidentiality and Arbitrability, 5 PEPP. DISP. RESOL. J. 215 (2005).
• The Best Interest of the Child: Going Beyond Legalese to Empathize with a Client’s Leap of Faith, 24 Juv. L. 1 (2003-04).
• Personal Jurisdiction: Lost in Cyberspace?, 8 COMPUTER R. & TECH. J. 21 (Fall 2003).
• The Internet Meets Obiwan Kenobi in the Court of Next Resort, 8 U. J. SCI. & TECH. L. 1 (2002).
• A New Shoe is Needed to Walk Through Cyberspace Jurisdiction, 11 ALB. J. SCI. & TECH. 1 (2000).

Journal Articles and Shorter Works

• Women in Mediation, 74 RIVERSIDE LAWYER MAGAZINE 20 (MAR. 2024).
• Understanding the Two Dimensions of Mediation Can Help Avoid Impasse, SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY BAR BULLETIN 21 (MAY-JUNE 2023).
• Trusting a Mediator: It Might be Easier than you Think, Blog Post on Mediate.com (Sept. 20, 2019).
• Women in Negotiation, 65 RIVERSIDE LAWYER 15 (Mar. 2015).
• Drafted Ethics Hypothetical and Commentary for ABA Section of Dispute Resolution’s E-Newsletter (Aug. & Sept. 2013).
• Six Building Blocks of Trust: Methodology that Every Mediator, Especially Virtual Mediators Need to Know, December 2011 issue of Riverside County ADR Panel Newsletter.
• · Foreword, Symposium: Forecasting the Future: Cutting Edge Issues in ADR, 33 U. LA VERNE LAW REV. 1 (2011).
• Virtual Virtues: Ethical Considerations for an Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Practice, 17 ABA DISPUTE RESOLUTION MAGAZINE 6 (Fall 2010). Co-authored with DeMars, Rule and Kovach.
• Drafted Ethics Hypothetical and Commentary for ABA Section of Dispute Resolution’s E-Newsletter (Aug. & Sept. 2010).
• Ethical Considerations of Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) Practice, conference paper co- authored with DeMars, Rule and Kovach for the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution 2010 Annual Conference.