Speakers
Lee Jay Berman
Lee Jay Berman is a leading commercial mediator with more than 30 years of experience and over 3,000 mediated civil matters, including high-profile cases. Consistently recognized as one of the nation’s top mediators, he has been ranked Band 1 by Chambers USA (top 16 in the U.S.) and named annually to the Who’s Who of Commercial Mediation and as a Global Thought Leader.
He is also recognized in ADR Times’ inaugural “Who’s Who in ADR,” listing, and honored by the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel with its 2024 Counsel of the Year Award in ADR. Other distinctions include the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals’ (NADN) first “Distinguished Neutral of the Year,” California’s Daily Journal’s Top Neutral recognitions, and multiple awards from the Southern California Mediation Association.
Berman serves as a AAA Master Mediator for employment matters and is on their panels in commercial, construction, entertainment, insurance, and international disputes. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, a Charter Diplomat with NADN, and among the first U.S. mediators certified by the International Mediation Institute.
As founder of the American Institute of Mediation and former Director of Pepperdine Law School’s renowned program, he has trained thousands across five continents. A prolific author and speaker, he has written widely and has two books forthcoming with the American Bar Association. Beyond mediation, he supports cancer and children’s charities, UCLA athletics, and serves on nonprofit boards dedicated to health and child welfare.
Phyllis Cheng, Esq.
Phyllis Cheng is a neutral at ADR Services, where she mediates employment, civil rights,and other matters. She also serves on the mediation panels of the California Court ofAppeal (Second and Sixth Appellate Districts), and the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, where she led its mediation practice group for four years.
Ms. Cheng served in the administrations of four California Governors. She was Director of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH, now renamed the Civil Rights Department), where she oversaw hundreds of historic settlements and judgments. She was in private practice on both the plaintiff and defense sides, Partner at DLA Piper,Deputy Attorney General in civil rights enforcement at CalDOJ, and Vice Chair of the Fair Employment and Housing Commission. For more than 20 years, Ms. Cheng has been a regular columnist on cases pending before the California Supreme Court for the California Labor & Employment Law Review, where she was also Managing Editor, and is responsible for a daily employment case law alert. She is author of the Rutter Group’s California Fair Housing and Public Accommodations book, and was a contributing editor on various chapters of its Employment Litigation practice guide. She is a Fellow of The College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and was the State Bar’s 2012 Ronald M.George Public Lawyer of the Year.
Angela Reddock-Wright, Esq.
Angela Reddock-Wright is a nationally respected mediator and neutral with Signature Resolution and has extensive experience in employment law, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and wage and hour disputes. An attorney for over thirty years, Angela has been a full-time neutral since 2019 and began her path to becoming a neutral in 2010.
As a former litigator and high stakes workplace and Title IX investigator, her mediation practice also encompasses Title IX matters involving K–12 schools and higher education institutions involving claims of discrimination, harassment, sexual abuse and misconduct, hazing, and bullying.
She also handles complex cases involving governmental entities, public sector and law enforcement agencies, and religious institutions, in addition to mass tort, class action, and Multidistrict Litigation (MDL) matters. In addition to her day-to-day mediation practice, Angela is available to serve as a court appointed neutral (formerly called “special master”), settlement claims and allocations neutral, consent decree or other oversight monitor in these and similar disputes.
Angela received her early training as a neutral at the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at the Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, in addition to her past role as an arbitrator and mediator with the American Arbitration Association.
She is a Distinguished Fellow with the International Academy of Mediators, fellow of the College of Labor & Employment Lawyers, and member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. She is a past president of the Southern California Mediation Association and adjunct faculty in the Employment Mediation Clinic at USC Gould School of Law.
Angela has been named a Best Lawyer in America for employment law and mediation and has been named a Southern California Top 50 Woman Attorney, Employment Lawyer, and Super Lawyer for multiple years, among other honors.
She is a graduate of UCLA School of Law, Amherst College, and the Brentwood School of Los Angeles. She is a former public affairs fellow with Coro, and business and community fellow with the German Marshall Fund.
Angela has served in public office (the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees) and has served on numerous government and non-profit sector boards, along with bar association boards. She is an active member of her civic and church community, and believes that, to whom much is given, much is required.
Angela is the author of the book, The Workplace Transformed: 7 Crucial Lessons from the Global Pandemic, host of the radio show and podcast Legal Lens with Angela Reddock-Wright, and frequent speaker on various topics on employment and Title IX law and other legal topics, women in law, and issues of equity in the workplace and the practice of law.
Angela is a proud wife, daughter, bonus mom, and nana, and enjoys traveling and simple times and pleasures with family and friends. She feels privileged to be a mediator and to work with parties only on a daily basis to assist in bringing resolution to their matters.
Michael D. Young, Esq.
Michael D. Young, Esq. was at the forefront of the mediation movement, beginning his mediation training in 1989 and developing a mediation practice that complemented his trial and litigation practice. After more than 25 years as an employment, intellectual property, and business litigator and trial attorney with a national law firm, Mike left his litigation practice in 2011 to join Judicate West full-time helping parties resolve disputes through mediation.
Mike never stopped learning or sharing, immersing himself in the mediation profession, taking and teaching mediation courses around the world, serving as the President of the International Academy of Mediators, and teaching ADR courses as an adjunct professor at USC Law for almost a decade and at Pepperdine’s world-renowned Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. Since joining Judicate West, Mike has mediated and resolved thousands of cases in all areas of the law, but with a particular focus on employment, intellectual property, environmental and business disputes.
Mike continually seeks to create mediation processes that better and more efficiently meet the needs of lawyers and their clients alike, and has earned a reputation for his creative and “out of the box” techniques. He is known to settle contentious and complex disputes in innovative ways that the parties themselves had not previously considered. He prides himself on tirelessly following up and developing solutions tailored to each case. Mike is a believer in paying it forward through his teaching, public speaking and writing, and his more personal mentoring of new mediators.
Attorney’s have praised Mike’s creativity and doggedness. Said one attorney following a difficult employment mediation: “Your ideas were very creative, and your no-nonsense approach was exactly right for this case. I’ve been in over 200 mediations from all perspectives, but the job you did this week really stands out.” Commented another: “Mike was very effective in building credibility with both plaintiffs and the defense in an emotionally charged case involving several plaintiffs. He was able to get to the heart of the issues and put the parties on a path to resolution while giving everyone an opportunity to be heard. His tireless follow up and accessibility was crucial to the resolution of the case.” Said a third: “I have used mediators for over three decades, and Mike came up with approaches, ideas, and solutions that were new to me. That mediation was a success because Mike Young refused to let it fail.”
Andrew O. Smith, Esq.
Andrew O. Smith, Esq. is a full-time neutral and mediator with extensive experience in litigation and alternative dispute resolution. After nearly 25 years as a litigator in Southern California, he now helps parties reach practical, early resolutions with a calm, collaborative approach. He has represented Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, small businesses, and individuals, giving him a broad perspective on the issues and motivations at play in complex disputes.
Smith previously served as managing shareholder in the Los Angeles office of a prominent multi-state law firm and has participated in more than 1,000 mediations as either a mediator or attorney. He is recognized for facilitating open dialogue, communicating effectively, and working efficiently toward cooperative outcomes.
He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Pepperdine University School of Law and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Florida State University. He is admitted in California and has been recognized by Super Lawyers for his work in alternative dispute resolution.