Richard S. Weil - About Richard

Richard S. Weil is a highly experienced litigator, transactional attorney and mediator who is respected for his persistence, creativity, ability to understand and convey different viewpoints and commitment to achieving settlements. Admitted U.S. Supreme Court, New York State and Federal courts, California and the District of Columbia.

After beginning his career litigating employment discrimination cases for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, Mr. Weil opened a litigation and transactional practice that focused on business, employment and real estate. He has litigated over 1,000 cases and tried more than 150.

Mr. Weil began mediating in 1992, attracted by its benefits for litigants: allowing people to focus on real issues, control the outcome and save legal costs. Mr. Weil has mediated more than 250 cases for Federal and State Courts in New York, New Jersey and California, for arts organizations in New York and California and in his private practice.

An active member of the mediation community, Mr. Weil has taken a leadership role, serving on the Executive Committee of the Dispute Resolution Section of the State Bar and the ADR Committee of the City Bar. He has organized ADR programs for mediators and litigators and helped train mediators for the State and City Bar Associations, the Commercial Court, the First Appellate Department and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.

Litigated high impact Title VII cases for the Civil Rights Division of the U. S. Justice Department. In private practice represented and counseled employers and employees in a wide variety of matters, including age, gender, race, disability, sexual preference and national origin discrimination, sexual harassment, pay equality, worker classification, restrictive covenants/non-solicitation, breach of contract and wrongful termination. Negotiated and drafted executive employment and severance contracts and independent contractor agreements. Assisted investigations of harassment and discrimination claims. Defended employers being investigated by government agencies.

Counseled and represented businesses and individuals in a variety of litigation and transactional matters: construction, collection, intellectual property, estate planning and divorce. Counseled companies on policies and practices that minimized litigation risk.

Mediated commercial, breach of contract, wrongful termination, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, disability access, right to privacy, real estate, neighbor disputes, patent rights and business relationship cases for Federal and State courts in New York, New Jersey and California. Arbitrated cases for the American Arbitration Association, the San Francisco Bar Association and the San Francisco Superior Court. Represented clients in mediation and arbitration. Trained mediators for the New York City and State Bars and the Commercial Division of the New York Supreme Court. Mr. Weil recently directed a survey of New York litigators’ views on mediation for the New York State and City Bar Associations. Click here to read this report.

Mediator		U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
Mediator and Early Neutral Evaluator		U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
Mediator		New York Supreme Court Commercial Division
Special Master		New York Supreme Court Appellate Division, First Dept.
Mediator		New Jersey State Courts Statewide Mediation Program
Mediator, Arbitrator and Judge Pro Tem		San Francisco Unified Courts
Arbitrator		American Arbitration Association
Arbitrator		San Francisco Bar Association (Attorney fee disputes)
Mediator		California Lawyers for the Arts
Mediator		Private Practice
Mediation Trainer and Coach		New York City and State Bar Associations, Commercial Division of NY Supreme Court, First Appellate Dept. and Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
Attorney		Representing parties in settlement negotiations, judicial settlement conferences, mediation and arbitration

J.D. Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley (1967)
B.A. University of California at Berkeley (1964) (Football scholarship)

Bar Memberships: New York, California; District of Columbia; U.S. Supreme Court; California Supreme Court; U.S. District Courts for the Northern District of California and Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.

Member: Association of the Bar of the City of New York (ADR, Civil Rights and Labor & Employment Committees; New York State Bar Association (Dispute Resolution Section); AIDS Legal Referral Panel; Board of Directors of Bay Area Classic Learning (Elder Hostel) and California Community Dispute Services. Supernumerary for The Metropolitan Opera and The San Francisco Opera.