Daily Journal Verdicts & Settlements

"Neutral Relishes Developing Creative Solutions"

Mediator A. Joel Klein has always been good at math.

That's why during a morning jog, Klein, a former engineer, got the idea to demonstrate the risks of litigation for a stubborn plaintiff by playing a game with a bag of coins.

He took 50 pennies, colored seven pennies black to represent the chances that the client would lose the case in litigation, and put the pennies in a bag. He put a $50 bill on the conference table and asked the plaintiff to pick a penny. A plain penny meant that the client could take the $50 bill. A black penny meant the client would have to pay $6,000 to Klein.

The plaintiff refused to pick a penny. Two hours later, he agreed to resolve the matter.

"I'm very good at math, but not everyone is good at math and understands the risk analysis," Klein, 67, said. "I found a way for this gentleman to understand the incredible disparity [in money involved] by using that game I created."

Klein, a mediator for 13 years, said the fun part of mediations is coming up with such creative solutions. He has been with Judicate West in Los Angeles for most of his years as a neutral, focusing on complex business, employment and personal injury disputes.

Klein's love of creative problem-solving comes from his three decades in the business world as the founder of two hospital management companies before becoming a mediator. He said his business background gives him an edge over other mediators.

"I kind of understand how the business world thinks because I was a big part of it," Klein said. "It helps me understand, be insightful and be able to empathize, to talk to the CEO of a company and say, 'I've been there.'"

Klein, who was born and raised in Chicago, worked as an engineer for Illinois Bell after receiving his undergraduate degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1961. Soon, he became determined to practice law and took night classes at Loyola School of Law in Chicago, receiving his law degree in 1967.

He also began to take an interest in business opportunities. Klein became involved in the health care industry in the 1970s, founding Systems Development Services, which he sold to Petrolane, a California company. He started a second hospital management company, Comprehensive Care Corp., which was publicly traded.

Klein moved with his wife and two children to California in 1970 to develop his company on the West Coast, as a part of the acquisition deal with Petrolane.

"Originally, I thought I was going to practice law, but I got so involved with being financially rewarded with my business activities," Klein said.

Even so, he said he used his law degree every day as a businessman and developed the negotiation skills he later used as a mediator.

"Basically, all my activity in the business world was negotiating contracts and negotiating acquisitions, so I was a deal maker the whole time," he said.

Klein left the health care industry in the 1990s, after becoming uncomfortable being the voice to patients for insurance companies and managed-care providers, which were becoming increasingly strict with the amount of patient coverage they were willing to provide.

"You had to just deal with trying to provide services and making a profit without providing the quality that went with it, which was not what I wanted to do," Klein said.

He turned to mediations, becoming a full-time neutral in 1994, as a way to use the fun part of business, the deal making, to help people.

In business and employment disputes, the challenge and the enjoyment are in figuring out how to resolve the problem while preserving the relationships, he said.

The case in which Klein used the bag of pennies to illustrate his point involved a business owner suing a longtime family friend, who was also the controller of the business, for embezzlement.

"This longtime friend was devastated. The owner of the business was very, very angry. They were almost like brothers," Klein said.

His ability to handle such sticky business disputes successfully is one reason why business and real estate litigator Robert Orr of Sawyer, Orr & Sawyer in Long Beach is a repeat customer.

"He's been extremely effective dealing with not only the legal issues but the personal and relationship issues," Orr said. "I find myself, whenever I have those cases, recommending him to opposing counsel as someone uniquely gifted at dealing with those."

Orr said he brought a case to Klein in 2006 that involved a real estate dispute between a mother and daughter.

"He's a very good listener. I think clients in those cases want someone to hear them," Orr said. "He responds to what he hears in a very noncondemnatory, nonaccusing way."

Daniel E. Kenney, a personal-injury and business attorney with Harrington, Foxx, Dubrow & Canter in Los Angeles, said Klein brings a real-world wisdom to his mediations because of his business background.

"Lawyers are not the most practical people. They do things that are not the most business-savvy," Kenney said. "He talks more about being practical about litigation."

Klein said his specialty is in developing multiple solutions to a problem so that the parties can consider more than one option.

And it's often not about the money, he said. In 2001, he mediated a case between a casino and a frequent customer, who sued after she tripped on the premises. The casino wanted to keep the plaintiff as a customer but was unwilling to pay the amount she desired for liabilities. Klein said he came up with the solution of having the casino offer the plaintiff a lifelong VIP parking pass, which would cost the casino nothing but would provide the customer with the validation she desired.

"She was thrilled," Klein said. "It provided her with the acknowledgment that she was important."

Thomas S. Ingrassia, with Pettit Kohn Ingrassia & Lutz in San Diego, has had Klein mediate his employment law cases, such as those involving sexual harassment. Ingrassia said Klein comes into his sessions with a low-key demeanor and good preparation. He also is dedicated to his profession, having taken on a case for Ingrassia on the eve of a vacation, Ingrassia said.

"Joel was going away on a ski trip the next day," Ingrassia said. "All the way up the mountain, he was helping us out."

Klein gives back to the profession by mentoring UCLA law students for a mediation program at the school. He said he allows students to sit in on his mediations.

"When I was getting started, I was desperately looking for a mentor, where I could learn by reality, not by role playing," Klein said.

But he also said he winds up gaining valuable insight from the students, who critique his mediations and who mediate cases themselves under his observation.

"[Mentoring] helps you focus on the important things that make the mediation process work," Klein said. "It's not just rewarding and satisfying, but a good learning experience for me."

Biographical Information

Age: 67

Affiliation: Judicate West

Location: Los Angeles

Areas of specialty: Complex business, employment, personal injury

Rate: $350 per hour

Some of the lawyers who have used Klein's services are Michael Eyre, Rice & Rothenberg, Long Beach; Thomas Ingrassia, Pettit Kohn Ingrassia & Lutz, San Diego; John Kirby, Law Offices of John D. Kirby, San Diego; Rob Orr, Sawyer, Orr & Sawyer, Long Beach; Mark Simpkins, Law Offices of Norman Rasmussen, Long Beach; Shelby Crawford, Harrington, Foxx, Dubrow & Canter, Los Angeles; Thomas Hood, Hood & Reed, Huntington Beach; Daniel Kenney, Harrington, Foxx, Dubrow & Canter, Los Angeles; Frank Konecny, Law Offices of Frank Konecny, San Francisco; Robert Parsons, Finer, Kim & Stearns, Torrance; and Sandra Stern, Law Offices of Sandra B. Stern, Woodland Hills.

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ROBERT LEVINS / Daily Journal
By Rebecca U. Cho
Daily Journal Staff Writer
This article appears on Page 1 of Verdicts and Settlements. Friday February 8, 2008.

Rebecca U. Cho
Staff Writer, Los Angeles Daily Journal
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