Dan Ben-Zvi goes full-tilt at hisgoals. Always.

A respected trial lawyer, li-censed to practice around the

country and the world, he is known espe-cially for his toughness in entertainmentmatters.

“The way I waged war as a litigator, I nowwage peace as a mediator,” Ben-Zvi says.

And when this warrior-turned-peace-maker needs inspired words, he looks toAbraham Lincoln for a summation of anattorney’s role in society.

“Discourage litigation,” Ben-Zvi saysLincoln urged. “Persuade your neighborsto compromise whenever you can. Point outto them how the nominal winner is often areal loser — in fees, expenses, and waste oftime.”

Not that Ben-Zvi really needs to be re-minded of these tenets.

Law school: Yeshiva University, Cardozo School of Law, 1981ADR group: Independent

Service area: CaliforniaWeb address: dbmediation.com

Case types: Entertainment, contract law, construction, malpracticeCareer highlights: Founder, DB Mediation Services, 1995-present; of-counsel,

Schmeltzer, Aptaker & Shepard, 1990-present; associate attorney,Ribicoff & Kotkin, 1981-86; bankruptcy court extern, JudgeBurton Lifland (Southern District New York), 1980-81

OCTOBER 31, 2001

Pacific PersuadingADRProfile

Dan Ben-Zvi says he now wages peace as a mediator inmuch the same way he used to wage war as a litigator.

BY TOM MORGAN

“I try to better society,” neutral Dan Ben-Zvi says. “Being an attorney [is one] vehicle to thatend. I caught some of the idealism of the ‘60s. People need protectors.

Dan Ben-Zvi

SNAPHOT“I love that quote,” Ben-Zvi, 44, says.

“Lincoln was a really great man.”Ben-Zvi grew up in Elizabeth, N.J., and

graduated from Rutgers University. He en-rolled at Yeshiva University, CardozoSchool of Law in New York City, where heearned his law degree in 1981. He is admit-ted to practice law in New York, Washing-ton, D.C., and California, to name just afew jurisdictions.

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ADR PROFILE: Dan Ben-Zvi’s dispute resolutionpractice attracts Hollywood’s beautiful people.

“The joke was I would only take clientswith a multiple choice or essay questions,”Ben-Zvi says, referring to his admission toso many bars.

Immediately after graduating from lawschool, Ben-Zvi worked with New Yorkbankruptcy Judge Burton Lifland. Ben-Zvisays that the responsibilities Lifland gavehim sometimes were overwhelming. A yearlater, he left the court to work for the high-profile law firm of Ribicoff & Kotkin. Ben-Zvi stayed with the Sen. Abraham Ribicoff’sHartford, Conn., firm for the next five years.

Then, in 1986, Ben-Zvi decided to shakethings up.

He took some time off to travel throughEurope. He went to Israel for the trial ofIvan Demjanjuk, a suspected Nazi concen-tration-camp guard.

In February 1987, Demjanjuk, who some-times was referred to in the popular press as“Ivan the Terrible,” was deported from theUnited States, based on his wartime activi-ties. He was ordered to stand trial for crimesagainst humanity during World War II atthe Israel District Court. It was only the sec-ond such trial in Israel.

Demjanjuk was accused of having car-ried out the deaths of several hundred thou-sand Jews at the Treblinka concentrationcamp. He was charged with crimes againstthe Jewish people, crimes against human-ity, war crimes, crimes against persecutedindividuals and murder.

Ben-Zvi served as an unofficial press li-aison for the proceedings, providing infor-mation about trial developments to mediaoutlets not in attendance. He also took andpassed the Israeli bar.

“[Israeli law] is not as difficult as peoplewould think,” Ben-Zvi says. “It’s prettyclose to American law — a lot closer thanpeople would think.”

Ben-Zvi went to California when the trialended and wrote a theatrical script basedon the trial. Although the dark subject mat-ter did not find a willing buyer in the moviemarketplace, Ben-Zvi landed a stint as anepisodic television writer for the popularweekly drama, “L.A. Law.”

Ben-Zvi admits that, initially, he thoughtof himself as a free-lance adviser to the show.

“I was interested in being a legal con-sultant,” Ben-Zvi says. “But they ended up

hiring me as a writer.”But his trip to Tinseltown

merely was a detour in Ben-Zvi’sjourney through the legal field. Hesays that his goal all along was tobe an attorney and, ultimately, afull-time neutral.

“In 1978, I interned in somethingcalled the Citizens Dispute Programin New Brunswick, New Jersey,” Ben-Zvi says. “Mediators were called‘settlement officers.’ We would meetwith anybody who would make acriminal complaint. That triggered mylove for mediation.”

Ben-Zvi says that the solution tothese cases was not always criminalprosecution.

“I try to better society,” he says.“Being an attorney [is one] vehicleto that end. I caught some of the ide-alism of the ’60s. People need pro-tectors.”

Even beautiful people in glitzyprofessions, apparently.

With a laid-back style and a calm,reassuring voice, Ben-Zvi has gar-nered an impressive reputation in entertain-ment law, though he says he’s not primarilyan entertainment lawyer. Ben-Zvi says that,as a mediator, his main concern is pullingboth sides together. While his clients oftenare professionals in the entertainment field,Ben-Zvi hasn’t limited his practice to them.

Santa Monica trial lawyer Richard DeBrosays he’s known Ben-Zvi for more thanthree years and considers him one of thefinest attorneys he’s ever met.

A few years ago, DeBro represented theMetropolitan Transit Authority in a rapecase that ended in a hung jury. The casewent to mediation and Ben-Zvi stepped inas the neutral.

But things weren’t going well, accord-ing to DeBro. He says that the transit au-thority offered to pay costs as a settlement.The other side fumed.

Just when the negotiations were fallingthrough and the parties were breaking forlunch, DeBro says that Ben-Zvi urged theparties to stay, saying that momentum couldresolve the matter at that point.

“Each side moved, and there was a settle-ment,” DeBro says. “Dan’s tenacious. Other

mediators would have walked away.”Ben-Zvi has found time during the past

five years to volunteer as a mediator for theLos Angeles Superior Court. He says hebecame the first paid volunteer mediatorunder an early mediation pilot program.

Ben-Zvi’s dispute resolution model issimple: He says he tries to get all the par-ties involved. And though cases may resolvequickly or continue for hours or even days,it’s his persistence that he says makes himan effective neutral.

“Focus on the future,” he tells mediationparticipants. “The past is gone.”

Ben-Zvi is comfortable working as thelaboring oar in mediation.

“The parties and attorneys need only beopen and responsive for me to do my workto break down barriers,” he says.

And he likes what he sees in the counselwith whom he works. Ben-Zvi says he’simpressed by the level of professionalismin his colleagues.

“I do think attorneys do what they can toend litigation for their clients,” Ben-Zvisays. “They create long-term relationships,not deals.”

Reprinted for web use with permission of Verdicts & Settlements. ©2001 Daily Journal Corporation. All rights reserved.Reprinted by Scoop ReprintSource 1-800-767-3263