, JD, PhD, Copple & Associates PC, is an arbitrator, mediator, investigator, and litigation strategy consultant. He helps to resolve disputes involving technology and science issues, including intellectual property, biotechnology, information technology, cybersecurity, telecommunications, high tech manufacturing, the environment, and health care. He was on the ground floor applying alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to the rapidly growing cannabis industry. Bob frequently lectures on law and technology issues both in law schools and professional organizations. He has authored more than 40 books and articles including the ABA Treatise, "Biotechnology and the Law" (Editor-in-Chief and coauthor). Bob is recognized as an organization leader, both statewide and nationally, serving as the chair of the board for the Arizona State University (ASU) Center for Law, Science, and Innovation, chair of the ADR Section of the Arizona State Bar Association, and member of the Intellectual Property Section Executive Council, among other positions. Bob worked as a litigator and regulatory negotiator for large law firms in Denver and Phoenix and was Senior Litigation Counsel for Motorola. In addition, he was a judicial law clerk for a Federal District judge and for a state supreme court chief justice. He received his BA, MA, and JD from the University of Nebraska, and his PhD from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bob was the executive editor of the Nebraska Law Review and is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/US).

mediates commercial, contract, real estate, civil rights, ?attorney-client, environmental, trademark, copyright, unfair competition, insurance, employment, and personal injury disputes. Before becoming a mediator, Mr. Blackman was a partner in the Los Angeles office of McDermott, Will & Emery. Prior to joining MWE, he was a partner at Kadison, Pfaelzer, Woodard, Quinn & Rossi, also in Los Angeles. His law and mediation experience covers an eclectic group of practice areas focused in general business matters and litigation, with particular emphasis in the areas of contractual disputes, unfair competition (including trademark and copyright matters), wrongful termination; real estate (including entitlements and development matters, land use disputes, nuisance, and water rights), First Amendment matters (including libel, slander, and invasion of privacy), administrative agency matters, professional negligence, voting and civil rights, airports and aviation matters, and environmental law. Mr. Blackman received his law degree from the University of Southern California, where he was a member of the Southern California Law Review.

Lee Jay Berman began as a full-time mediator 30 years ago and has successfully mediated over 2,700 matters as a private, independent commercial mediator. Chambers USA ranks him among the top 13 commercial mediators in the U.S. in their “Band 1.” He has been voted by his colleagues into Who’s Who Legal, who has also named him one of the 10 Global Thought Leaders in Commercial Mediation in North America. The Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel honored him with their 2024 Counsel of the Year Award for Excellence in ADR. The National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN) named him their inaugural “Distinguished Neutral of the Year” in 2017. He is a AAA Master Mediator for employment matters, a national panelist on their commercial, construction, and entertainment panels, and a select mediator on their ICDR mediation panel for international disputes. He is a Distinguished Fellow with the International Academy of Mediators, and a Charter Diplomat with the NADN. Also, a popular trainer, Lee Jay founded the American Institute of Mediation after seven years as Director of Pepperdine Law School's “Mediating the Litigated Case” program (ranked #1 nationally). He has trained mediators, judges, attorneys, and business leaders across North America and internationally, been interviewed on dozens of podcasts, and published numerous articles on mediation and negotiation. The ABA will be publishing two of his books in 2024.