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    EDWIN A. OSTER, ESQ.

    • Available in Orange County, Los Angeles, All of California, Nationwide
    • Mediation Only
    >> Contact Case Manager >> Submit an Inquiry >> Submit a Case

    Introduction

    After 38 years as a litigator, Ed Oster moved out of the courtroom and became a full-time mediator. As a trial lawyer, Ed handled complex insurance coverage, bad faith, commercial and real estate litigation at the highest levels. He tried cases throughout all eleven major counties in Northern and Southern California, in both state and federal court. During that time he gained a lifetime of experience in all phases of civil litigation as well as an insider's knowledge of the insurance industry, all the while earning the trust and confidence of both co-counsel and adversaries who are now amongst his biggest supporters.

    Ed passionately believes that the best settlements are those where everyone has achieved value, and that is what he delivers. His skill as a mediator springs from his natural ability to develop genuine relationships built on mutual respect. A top plaintiff's lawyer in Los Angeles says simply, "Extremely smart. Tough. Fair." A New York partner in a national defense firm observed: "He established almost instant rapport all around, and painlessly got the job done for all of us." A frequent mediation participant put it this way: "If you could go into a laboratory and put together in one person everything you want in a mediator - experience, integrity, intelligence, creativity and personality - you would have Ed Oster."

    Specialties

    Hobbies & Interests

    Mr. Oster spends as much of his spare time as he can with family, is an avid hiker and amateur astronomer, He enjoys reading history, Mark Twain and Sherlock Holmes.

    Website

    http://www.ostermediation.com/

    Testimonials

    He was very impressive. It was immediately noticeable that he is a very experienced mediator. Mr. Oster was compassionate and understanding with my client, which was important for the mediation and helped resolve the matter.
    - Attorney on an Insurance Coverage dispute

    Links and Articles












    Experience Summary

    Legal Career

    • Partner, Barger & Wolen, specializing in insurance and commercial cases (1990-2013)
    • Partner, Cummins & White (1988-1990)
    • Partner, Kranz & Oster, subsequently Oster, Schubert & Rutten (1983-1988)
    • Partner, Bruck, Kranz & Perry (1980-1983)
    • Associate, Cummins, White & Breidenbach, Breidenbach et al (1976-1980)
    • Court-appointed arbitrator, Orange County Superior Court
    • Judge Pro Tem, Orange County Superior Court

    Education & Professional Affiliations

    • Stanford University, B.A., (1972)
    • University of California at Davis, King Hall, J.D. (1976)
    • Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, "Mediating the Litigated Case" (6-day, 2013)
    • Negotiation Institute, Advanced Negotiations for Complex Litigation (2-day, 1988)
    • Mediation Panel, Orange County Superior Court
    • Member, Orange County Bar Association
    • Member, State Bar of California
    • Member, Southern California Mediation Association

    Achievements & Awards

    • College of Claims Mediation, Instructor, Philadelphia, PA (September 9-12, 2015)
    • American Conference Institute, "Alternative Dispute Resolution and Bad Faith Claims", San Francisco, (July 2014)
    • California State Bar Approved MCLE Provider, "Practice Tips for Better Mediation Results: What Works and Why"

    Legal Experience

    • Insurance coverage
    • Insurance Bad Faith
    • ERISA
    • Personal Injury
    • Commercial
    • Real Estate
    • Partnership Disputes
    • Professional Liability

    Representative Case Information

    Recent Representative Cases

    Business/Commercial

    Contractual

    • Dispute involving conflicting ownership percentage claims among 35 law firm partners and compensation formula going forward, settled.
    • Out-of-network medical providers and assignees sought billed-rate reimbursement from health care insurer, consisting of both emergency and non-emergency services. Lead cases settled, establishing framework and formula for resolution of forthcoming claims.

    Employment

    Empl. Class Action

    • Multi-million dollar class claims and penalties for failure to pay overtime, provide meal periods, rest periods, employee expense reimbursement and accurate wage statements, and including PAGA remedies. All claims resolved in two-phase resolution: initial phase open-ended, second phase closing claims period and providing finality.

    ERISA

    • Health care coverage dispute concerning residential addiction treatment excluded under employer's policy but arguably mandated by federal law, conflicting out-of-circuit opinions, case of first impression overlay with continuing claims, replacement policy. Omnibus settlement.
    • Long term disability claim brought in federal court, ERISA status disputed, additional standard of review, scope of administrative record and waiver issues as well as disputed underlying disability, settled initially with reference to new IME, subsequent lump sum

    Insurance

    Bad Faith

    • 3-party healthcare bad faith/coverage dispute for special needs patient through multiple private insurers, coverages, continuing claim issues, settlement preserving overlapping public benefits claim and avoiding reimbursement.
    • 4-party bad faith dispute arising out of additional insured status vis-a-vis construction site accident, concurrent implied indemnity and contribution issues, global settlement.
    • Individual disability claim bad faith dispute with choice of law overlay, settled, venue in Hartford, CN.

    Coverage

    • 7-party, 4 consolidated actions - underlying catastrophic worksite injury, breach of contract, contractual indemnity and declaratory relief coverage actions, multiple sessions, 6 months of post-session follow-up culminating in global settlement.
    • 3-party coverage dispute arising out of premises water damage, multiple policies and carriers with overlapping coverage and claims for property damage, business interruption and liability exposure, settled with high-low structure.
    • High-dollar individual disability policy dispute, initial payments followed by claim denial, subsequent admitted partial disability but continued fraud and non-cooperation defenses, Social Security and Medicare overlay, settled without jeopardizing continuing collateral sources.
    • Pre-litigation, 7-figure property damage claim for vandalism and theft with substantial uninsured component resolved reserving insured's third-party rights.
    • High six-figure life insurance policy proceeds prematurely distributed to new stepdaughter beneficiaries because of unilateral change of beneficiaries without knowledge of spouse/stepmother, the former beneficiary. Policy was community property and despite change of beneficiary, spouse/stepmother had rights to 1/2 of distribution under Nevada law if Nevada law applied. Case filed in California but the parties where domiciled in Nevada, Colorado and California. To obtain agreement of the parties it was necessary to reconcile the choice of law, conflict of laws and insurance law conflicts, as well as the longstanding family conflicts. Case resolved during mediation.

    Professional Malpractice

    Prof Malpractice Accounting

    • (PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY) 4-party dispute brought under FINRA against financial advisors and brokerage firms concerning life insurance, guaranteed payments, vanishing premiums, and lump-sum payment/investment by octogenarian, settled in two parts, venue in Chicago, IL.

    Real Estate

    Real Property

    • Multi-party dispute involving real estate limited partnership for financing, acquisition, development and ownership of mixed-used retail and residential development. Conflicts involved 3 core disputes with multiple sub-parts. Key to successful resolution of what was becoming a prohibitively expensive litigation fiasco was breakdown into more than a dozen discreet components and serial resolution of those.

    Tort

    Catastrophic Injury

    • Severe construction site injury, multiple defendants on res ipsa theory, liability disputed amongst defendants as well as dispute re LOE, multiple sessions, settled for slightly less than $2,000,000.

    Policy Distribution

    • Tractor trailer going full speed plows into 6 vehicles, setting off chain reaction. Limited insurance limit informally offered only if all B/I and PD claims could settle simultaneously without litigation. Major complication was that lacking any discovery, none of the claimants knew of the degree of severity of other claims, so each demanded an over-sized share of the proceeds. Case settled in one session.

    Downtown Los Angeles

    601 S. Figueroa
    Ste 4000
    Los Angeles, CA 90017
    Phone: 213.223.1113
    Fax      : 213.223.1114

    Los Angeles Mediation

    West Los Angeles

    11601 Wilshire Blvd
    Ste 2040
    Los Angeles, CA 90025
    Phone: 310.442.2100
    Fax      : 310.442.2125

    Mediators Los Angeles

    San Diego

    402 W. Broadway
    Ste 2400
    San Diego, CA 92101
    Phone: 619.814.1966
    Fax      : 619.814.1967

    San Diego Mediation

    Santa Ana

    1851 East First Street
    Ste 1600
    Santa Ana, CA 92705
    Phone: 714.834.1340
    Fax      : 714.834.1344

    Orange County Mediation

    San Francisco

    100 Pine Street
    Ste 1950
    San Francisco, CA 94111
    Phone: 415.266.1242
    Fax      : 415.266.1243

    San Francisco Mediation

    Sacramento

    980 9th Street
    Suite 2200
    Sacramento, CA 95814
    Phone: 916.394.8490
    Fax      : 916.394.8495

    Sacramento Mediation

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