Litigation
Jul. 27, 2002
The Peacemaker
San Francisco neutral Michael G. Ornstil admits having a dual personality. He relishes intense competition, a character trait that helped him succeed as a trial lawyer for 12 years. An avid athlete, he describes himself as an "asshole warrior" on the basketball court.
San Francisco neutral Michael G. Ornstil admits having a dual personality.
He relishes intense competition, a character trait that helped him succeed as a trial lawyer for 12 years. An avid athlete, he describes himself as an "asshole warrior" on the basketball court.
"I don't mind being in the middle of a crowd, mixing it up a little bit," Ornstil says.
But he also enjoys his current work as a mediator, convincing parties to avoid further confrontation. Attorneys who have hired Ornstil commend him on his knack for getting along well with people.
"There's definitely a contradiction," Ornstil, 45, says.
His ability to wage war, mellowed by his desire to make peace, contributes to his success in the field of alternative dispute resolution.
"He's hard to book these days," attorney Arthur J. Casey of San Jose's Robinson & Wood says.
In the beginning of a mediation, Ornstil asks open-ended questions and nods his head approvingly at whichever side is making its presentation.
By the close of the session, he's cross-examining the litigants and pretending to make the other side's closing argument.
"If both [sides] are saying at the end of the day, 'What happened to [the] Mike [we thought we knew]?' [then] I've done my job right."
Attorneys who have used his services don't seem to mind him playing the devil's advocate.
In fact, his talent for convincingly arguing both positions helped resolve a tough case for defense attorney Casey.
About five years ago, Casey handled a suit arising from an auto accident.
"It was just the biggest wreck you can have on the freeway," Casey says. "This poor woman was just clobbered by my client's truck."
Although photos from the accident scene looked horrendous and the plaintiff had serious injuries, they weren't as bad as she claimed, he says.
"The objective medical evidence just isn't there," he says.
Nevertheless, the plaintiff wanted big bucks.
Casey doubted he could avoid the courtroom.
"It was the kind of case [that] I went in and swore would never settle," he says.
But Ornstil found common ground, in part, by forcing the defendant's insurance company to recognize the pitfalls of going to trial.
"The carrier says, 'The way he presents it, I could see how a jury would do this,'" Casey says.
Casey doesn't recall the amount of the settlement, but he won't forget the real bottom line.
"All I remember is [that] the carrier was happy," he says.
Having served as a partner at San Francisco's Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, Ornstil's background is in defense work.
But at least some plaintiffs' attorneys don't detect a bias.
Before his first session with Ornstil a few years ago, automotive consumer rights attorney Bryan Kemnitzer worried about Ornstil's neutrality. Those doubts are gone now.
"He's very understanding and appears to be compassionate and concerned," Kemnitzer of San Francisco's Kemnitzer Anderson Barron & Ogilvie says.
Ornstil fosters a comfortable environment that promotes honesty, San Mateo defense attorney Kevin J. Tully says.
"I trust him," Tully says. "I feel comfortable with him. I have confidence in him."
Tully represents car manufacturers in lemon law cases. During the past five years, he's asked for Ornstil's help in dozens of suits.
At times, despite Ornstil's efforts, Tully remains unconvinced about the merits of the opponent's position. But he's willing to settle because Ornstil did his best, he says.
"We reached that sort of grumble grumble," he says.
Growing up the second oldest of six children, Ornstil, a New York native, picked up his mediation skills early in life.
"I sort of was a peacemaker in the family among the siblings," he says.
His older brother instigated many conflicts.
"He used to beat up everyone, and I'd try to break it up," Ornstil says.
But unlike these days, Ornstil couldn't rely on his persuasive skills alone.
Instead, he jumped on his brother's back to stop the fighting.
"There's no reasoning with a 9-year-old when you're an 8-year-old and he's beating on a 7-year-old," Ornstil says.
SNAPSHOT
Michael G. Ornstil
Law school: Hastings College of the Law, 1982
ADR group: Judicial Arbitration & Mediation Services Inc. (JAMS)
Service area: Northern California
Case types: General civil litigation
Career highlights: San Francisco neutral, 1994-present; partner and associate, San Francisco's Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold, 1982-94
Eron Yehuda
For reprint rights or to order a copy of your photo:
Email
Jeremy_Ellis@dailyjournal.com
for prices.
Direct dial: 213-229-5424
Send a letter to the editor:
Email: letters@dailyjournal.com