Friday, January 18, 2002
Page 3
Former State Bar Court Judge Michael D. Marcus Joins ADR Services
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Former State Bar Court Judge Michael D. Marcus, who dropped out of a Los Angeles Superior Court contest on this year’s ballot, has joined ADR Services, Inc. as a private judge.
“I’ve always been interested in the dispute-resolution aspect of litigation,” Marcus said yesterday. “It’s extremely effective in saving not only time and expense but also adrenaline.”
Marcus, who supervised the bar court Hearing Department in Los Angeles but was not reappointed by the Supreme Court when his term expired last month, said his new duties with the Century City-based firm are a logical extension of his work with the disciplinary arm of the State Bar.
“I feel I did a very good job of [facilitating settlement] as a State Bar judge and I would like to continue in that area,” he said. His work at ADR Services will center on legal malpractice, attorney fee disputes, and employment law, he said.
The opportunity to become a private judge, he said, was more appealing than that of becoming a political candidate.
Fundraising in general, and asking lawyers for money in particular, is “just an unseemly aspect of the whole process,” he said. “I understand it’s a necessary part [of running] and its just something I didn’t want to get involved in.”
He was particularly pleased to obtain an offer from ADR Services, he said, because it has carved a very strong niche in the area” of alternative dispute resolution.
Marcus, 59, was a State Bar Court judge from 1995 through Dec. 9, 2001. The 1964 UC Berkeley and 1967 UCLA School of Law graduate became a State Bar Court hearing judge in 1995 after 17 years in the District Attorney’s Office followed by 10 years in private practice.
Copyright 2002, Metropolitan News Company