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MAP Background Information provided

286==Name: Judge Leslie C. Nichols (ret.)
Address: ADR Services Inc.
  100 1st Street, Floor 27
  San Francisco, CA 94105
Telephone:(415) 772-0900        
Email: judgenichols@adrservices.com
Website: www.judgenichols.com
Fees: $600 per hour
Other Costs:  Please contact Judge Nichols case manager at ADR Services Inc in San Francisco: 415-772-0900 or San Jose: 408-280-7883 to obtain current fees.
BAR Number:0000000
Current Status: Retired Judge/Justice
Subject Matter:
  • Business / Breach of Contract
  • Employment
  • Insurance
  • Legal Malpractice
  • Medical / Dental Malpractice
  • Personal Injury / Other
  • Real Estate / Eminent Domain
  • Other: I have experience in each subject matter listed above based on my 35 year service as a Superior Court Judge, and five years as a mediator, case educator, settlement officer, and arbitrator- pro bono and privately engaged .
Mediation
Training:

 		San Francisco Superior Court Settlement Conference Officer Training

United States District Court, Northern District of California: Training for Early Neutral Evaluators and Mediators (33 hours)

American Bar Association Section of Dispute Resolution Arbitration Institute (Philadelphia) and Advanced Mediation and Advocacy Skills Institute (Houston) (24 hours)

Arbitrator Certificate Training by Ron Kelly, Bar Association of San Francisco (20 hours)

“Negotiating Mastery”, “Critical Communication Skills in Negotiation”, “Effective Non-Verbal Communication”, Stanford University (18 hours)

“Mediating the Litigated Case”, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution (45 hours)

“Introduction to Mediation in the Business Setting”, Harvard Law School (20 hours)

“Mediation: A Skills Based Program”, CJER (40 hours)
Other
Education:

 		 University of California, Hastings College of the Law, LL.B. 1966.
Stanford University, B.A. 1963.
Mediation
Approach:

 		 Please see Daily Journal Profile, April 1, 2022.
https://www.adrservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ADR-Services-Inc-DJ-4-1-22.pdf
Other
Information:

 		 Judge Nichols spent the first two years of his legal career as a Staff Attorney with the San Mateo County Legal Aid Society. Thereafter, he transitioned to private practice, maintaining a general trial and appellate practice in the law partnership of Nichols & Ambler. His work focused primarily on civil, family, and criminal matters heard in State courts, with a lesser portion of his cases heard in Federal courts. He tried over forty cases to verdict or judgment, in addition to handling countless pre- and post-trial matters along with a smaller number of administrative hearings and arbitrations.

Judge Nichols served as a Judge of the Superior Court for 25 years, handling settlement conferences, and pre-trial, trial, and post-trial matters involving civil law, family law, juvenile delinquency and dependency, probate and mental health, and criminal law.

Over the course of his judicial career, Judge Nichols has presided over court and jury proceedings in complex litigation and CEQA; served in family court for four years, including a term as Presiding Judge of the Family Court Division; served as Presiding Judge of the Juvenile Court for two years, and later as Presiding Judge of the Appellate Department; sat on assignment by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court; spent two years in civil law and motion; was Supervising Judge of the family resources division; and spent one year in criminal law and motion.

Judge Nichols served as Assistant Presiding Judge of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, followed by two elected terms as Presiding Judge from 1997 and 1998. As Presiding Judge, he oversaw the unification of the Superior and Municipal trial courts in Santa Clara County.

Following his retirement from the bench in 2009, Judge Nichols served in the Assigned Judges Program until joining ADR Services, Inc. in 2019 as a full-time mediator, arbitrator, and referee.
Brief
Thumbnail:

 Active trial lawyer before service as Superior Court Judge in Santa Clara County presiding over every kind of case in all divisions for 25 years, CEQA Judge for 13 years, Supervising Judge in Family Court, Presiding Judge in Juvenile Court. Also presided over complex and coordination cases. Served Chief Justice presiding over cases in 33 of California's 58 counties. Post retirement extensive experience through private engagement and pro bono ADR Services to U.S. District Court and Bay Area Superior Courts.
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