Nicholas DeWitt has been an attorney for over 25 years, specializing in business litigation, employment, and product liability cases – for the past five years, serving as a neutral in these areas. He graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in business, and received his law degree cum laude from Loyola Law School where he was an editor on law review and elected to both the St. Thomas More and Alpha Sigma Nu honor societies.
From 1980 through 1984, Mr. DeWitt served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles, where he prosecuted hundreds of federal criminal cases, tried over 15 jury trials, and argued numerous appeals in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Between 1984 and 1998, he was with the law firm of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in Los Angeles (elected to partner in 1988). Mr. DeWitt held numerous management positions at the Paul Hastings’ firm, including serving as the Vice-Chair of its national litigation practice for three years and serving on its national practice management committee for five years. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and as an adjunct faculty member at Loyola Law School (where he taught Trial Advocacy and Criminal Procedure), and Southwestern University School of Law (where he taught Legal Ethics).
In 1999, Mr. DeWitt started his own law firm, specializing in mediating and arbitrating cases involving employment issues (including class action wage, hour and overtime cases, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, disability discrimination, partnership disputes, compensation, and stock option issues), business disputes (including breach of contract, unfair competition, trade secrets, real estate, commercial leases, franchise disputes, and business fraud), and personal injury cases (primarily catastrophic injuries).
Mr. DeWitt is a neutral with the American Arbitration Association (serving on its Mediation, Employment, Commercial, and Class Action panels) and Alternative Resolution Centers in Los Angeles. In addition, he is a neutral with Dispute Prevention & Resolution in Hawaii (www.dprhawaii.com). He has lectured about the mediation process at Pepperdine University School of Law’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, and at numerous organizations and law firms.
Mr. DeWitt has a long history of charity and pro bono work – he currently serves on the Board of Wheels For Humanity (serving as its president in 2002) and the Rancho Los Amigos Hospital Foundation, and has previously served on the Board of the Disability Rights Legal Center (serving as its president between 2002-2004), the Consumer Advisory Panel for Southern California Edison, and Casa Colina Hospital Foundation.
Mr. DeWitt is a firm believer in alternative dispute resolution, and that mediation or arbitration presents a valuable and vital alternative to litigation. As an arbitrator, Mr. DeWitt requires early disclosure of documents and an exchange of witness lists, with a summary of expected testimony. He expects the parties to cooperate in discovery (while reminding them that there is no automatic right to discovery), and is inclined to set time limits on any depositions taken. Mr. DeWitt asks the parties to stipulate to foundation and authenticity issues and to reach agreements on as many issues as possible in advance of the arbitration. In other words, Mr. DeWitt expects the arbitration process to be more efficient and less costly than litigation. As a mediator, Mr. DeWitt expects the decision makers to attend the mediation or, if that is not possible, to be available via telephone at any time during the mediation. He employs various styles as a mediator, depending on the needs of the parties and nature of the case, with the goal of reaching a binding settlement at the earliest opportunity.
Mr. DeWitt is available for arbitrations, mediations, settlement conferences, as a discovery referee, special master, neutral fact finder and for private trials. |
