Hon. Daniel Weinstein (Ret.) is one of the nation’s preeminent mediators of complex civil disputes. He is a pioneer in the development of mediation and teaches and lectures to fellow mediators and lawyers throughout the United States.

Judge Weinstein is recognized as one of the premier mediators of complex, multi-party, high-stake cases, both in the United States and abroad. He is designated with the highest-level ranking (Band 1) in nationwide mediation by Chambers USA 2016-2024. He is the recipient of the 2014 International Advocate for Peace Award from the Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, whose past honorees have included former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, and Nobel Peace Prize winner Bishop Desmond Tutu. In January 2020, the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, presented Judge Weinstein with the Peacemaker Award, its highest honor. The award was last presented in 2013 to Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 

In addition to his active mediation practice, Judge Weinstein is currently the Distinguished Mediator in Residence at Pepperdine and teaching one week every two months. Additionally, he directs the Weinstein International Foundation in its endeavors in conflict resolution and training in the Middle East, Ukraine, Rwanda, Zambia, Peru and other countries throughout the world.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Designs the process and oversees the resolution of challenging securities class actions, mass torts, intellectual property, antitrust, entertainment law, insurance allocation, environmental, toxic tort, professional malpractice, and venture capital partnership disputes
• Mediates cases with aggregate values of billions of dollars annually (since 1997), while designing innovative processes tailored to unique, complex, and highly sensitive cases
• Founded CASA (Class Action Settlement Administration), a JAMS subsidiary dedicated to the fair and speedy allocation of settlement funds in large scale matters i.e. the Union Oil Carbide settlement, African American Farmers discrimination claims, and compensation and overtime claims in retail industries
• Former California Judge and a founder of JAMS, the World’s largest provider of mediation and arbitration services

Representative Matters

• Antitrust & Competition
• Involving price fixing allegations against multinational oil corporations, cosmetic industry companies, and major financial institutions
• Mediated to settlement several antitrust class actions brought on behalf of direct purchaser plaintiffs and indirect purchaser plaintiffs for antirust damages related to alleged conspiracies by competitor-manufacturers to fix prices in the domestic US and international sales and importation of electronic capacitors.
• Class Action & Mass Tort
Involving borrowers, credit card customers, toxic tort claimants, low cost housing tenants, insurance purchasers, and a wide variety of product liability suits, including:
• Resolution of the KPMG tax shelter class action cases, hepatitis C blood product class, California Phen-fen litigation, and Manufacturers Life vanishing premium cases
• Dispute involving Tyson Foods, Inc., Peco Foods, Inc., Fieldale Corp. and George’s Farms Corp alleging the poultry processors engaged in a conspiracy to suppress chicken production and raise prices in violation of federal and state anti-trust and consumer protection laws
• Class-action case involving a corroded pipeline that spilled an estimated 15,000 barrels of crude oil into the Pacific Ocean in 2015
• Construction Defect
Including  a series of complex, multi-party mediations related to a 58-story skyscraper in San Francisco that opened in 2008 and by 2016 had sunk 16 inches and tilted 2 inches
• Entertainment & Sports
• Involving numerous high profile actors and all studios, major music groups, and entertainers; Rosa Parks v. Outkast defamation case
• Environmental Law
• Hillview Porter; Lockheed; and City of Santa Monica, major environmental superfund cases
• PCL v. DWR, dispute involving the water resources for the State of California and the Monterey agreement
• Human and Civil Rights matters
• Including Black Farmers, Doe v. Unocal, Alien Tort claims, civil rights case regarding pipeline construction in Burma, Holocaust restitution, and racial discrimination
• Intellectual Property
• Disputes including significant cases involving Apple Computer, Intel, Microsoft, Oracle, Motorola, and Hewlett Packard
• International & Cross Border
Involving major disputes in the international financial markets:
• Served as the U.S. Special Representative to Bosnia for privatization to oversee $14 billion transfer of funds to Muslims, Croats, and Serbs (1999-2000)
• Mediated the Swiss Converium case, the Parmalat case involving American banks, accounting firms, and Parmalat Bank in Italy, and the Shinsei Bank financial disaster in Tokyo, Japan
• Currently assigned as mediator in the Vivendi litigation
• Mediated numerous, high dollar figure reinsurance cases in Amsterdam and England, 2006-present, involving all major international insurance carriers
• Mediated disputes for Volvo and BMW
• Resolved litigation arising out of Adelphia, Qwest, and Enron financial “meltdowns”
• Mediated tax shelter cases including international claims involving international accounting firms Deloitte and KPMG, among others
• Other Complex Matters
• Paceco Corp. v. City of Long Beach, public entity litigation
• City of Atascadero v. Merrill Lynch, Orange County bankruptcy case
• 80 death cases arising out of Alaska Airlines flight #261 crash
• Stull v. Bank of America, involving bank escheats funds
• False Claims Act mediation between State Farm and realtors that were affected by State Fram’s mischaracterization of wind damage from Hurricane Katrina as flood damage and shifting its losses onto the federal flood insurance program.
• Securities
• Involving Enron, Homestore, Qwest, Adelphia, Dynegy, Providian, Clarent, Cardinal Health and other major NYSE and NASDAQ corporations

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Recognized as a "Best Lawyers, Mediation," Best Lawyers in America, 2023
• Recognized as a “Best Lawyer” by Best Lawyers in America, 2022, 2024
• Recognized as a "Best Lawyer," Alternative Dispute Resolution Category, Northern California Best Lawyers in America, 2022
• Distinguished Mediator in Residence, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law, 2021
• Peacemaker Award, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine Caruso School of Law, 2020
• Recognized as an “ADR Champion,” National Law Journal, 2017-2018
• Included on "National Mediators" list, Chambers USA America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2016-2024
• Honoree, International Advocate for Peace Award, Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution, 2014
• Recognized as a Best Lawyer, Alternative Dispute Resolution Category, Best Lawyers in America, 2006-2015
• Recognized as a "Top Master," Daily Journal Top California Neutrals List, 2013
• Recognized as a "Top California Neutral," Daily Journal, 2002, 2004-2012
• Northern California Super Lawyer, San Francisco Magazine, 2006, 2009, 2011-2014, 2019
• Recognized as One of the 500 Leading Judges in America, Lawdragon Magazine, 2006
• American Jewish Committee, Distinguished Learned Hand Award, 2003
• Selected as the Bay Area’s Most Popular Mediator, The Recorder, 2002
• San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association first recipient, Distinguished Mediator Award, 1999
• Board of Directors, Environmental Law Institute, 2009
• U.S. Representative to the Bosnian Privatization Commission, overseeing the transfer of $15 billion of state-owned assets to the citizens of Bosnia, 1998-2001
• Co-founder and President of 7 Tepees Youth Program for disadvantaged youth
• Former Chairman of the Northern California CORO Foundation, No. California Special Olympics, and The Midnight Basketball League
• Professor, Mediation Advocacy, Stanford University
• Northern California Selection Commission for Federal Judgeships, Feinstein Committee

Background and Education

• Superior Court of San Francisco, 1982-1988
• Associate Justice Pro Tem, California Supreme Court and the First District Court of Appeal, 1984
• Municipal Court of San Francisco, 1978-1982
• Chief Assistant District Attorney of San Francisco, 1976-1978
• Private practice for seven years, specializing in litigation of federal cases
• L.L.B., cum laude, Harvard University Law School, 1965; B.A., cum laude, Stanford University, 1962