Description of Practice
Jane B. Garzilli helps parties resolve employment law claims and interpersonal clashes in the workplace, and mediates a broad variety of court cases and business and legal disputes. Areas of concentration include employment, higher education, entertainment, and contract. Jane's employment work also includes counseling, facilitating and training management and employees. Her conflict coaching work is set in university, media, entertainment and other institutional and corporate contexts.
Mediation Experience
In private practice as a full-time neutral since 2000, Jane is president and founder of Garzilli Mediation. She mediates misunderstandings, conflicts, and claims in the workplace, as well as a range of complex contract, business and partnership legal disputes. Employment disputes include discrimination, sexual harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, defamation, and wage and hour issues. She specializes in cases with emotional and psychological components.
Jane trains parties to develop conflict resolution skills on the job through greater awareness of themselves and others, and so increase their satisfaction and productivity. Sometimes this conflict coaching involves working with participants over a stretch of time as they establish more effective ways of communicating and addressing conflict. She helps faculty and employees of colleges and universities resolve disputes and formulate plans for the future consistent with their institution's mission and values. For businesses and organizations without a regular ombudsman, Jane provides comparable services on a part-time, outsourced basis.
Consistent with her desire to give back to the community, Jane serves in a pro bono capacity on the Los Angeles County Superior Court Mediation Panel, on the California Lawyers for the Arts Arbitration and Mediation Services (AAMS) Panel, and on the Attorney-Client Fee Dispute Arbitration Panel for the Beverly Hills Bar Association. She conducts dispute resolution workshops for the Southern California Mediation Association, the American Bar Association, and the State Bar of California.
Academic Experience
As Adjunct Professor of Law at Pepperdine University since 2001, Jane teaches "Negotiation and Settlement Advocacy" and "Dispute Resolution in the Entertainment Industry".
The Straus Institute at Pepperdine University School of Law engages her to consult on curricular and accreditation matters on an ongoing basis. She also represents them as a judge/arbitrator at the Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna, Austria. Three years ago she conducted a comprehensive curricular review for the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, while serving on an interim basis as its Assistant Director.
Professional Background
Jane is a veteran of years of legal and business experience in the entertainment industry. Prior to becoming a neutral, Jane was Vice President of Business Affairs at Hollywood Pictures, a division of The Walt Disney Company, and before that at Columbia Pictures. Early in her career she served as counsel to Atlantic Records.
Education and Credentials
After graduating with honors from Vassar College with a B.A. in psychology, Jane earned a J.D. at New York University School of Law. In 2003 she received an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University School of Law.
While training as a dispute resolution specialist, Jane interned at the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution in New York City, and Los Angeles Superior Court.
In 2006 Jane studied workplace mediation at Cornell University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. She also completed a course of study in organizational ombudsmanship with the International Ombudsman Association.
Professional Practice
Jane's style is generally informal, her overall approach geared to the context and the wishes of the parties in each case.
She adheres to the Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators adopted jointly by the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR), the American Bar Association (ABA) Section on Dispute Resolution, and the American Arbitration Association (AAA), available at http://www.abanet.org/dispute/news/ModelStandardsofConductforMediatorsfinal05.pdf.
While Jane's contributions are informed by her legal expertise and education, she neither offers nor intends to provide legal services or advice.
Memberships
Jane is a member of the California and New York bars.
She has been active as Committee Co-chair for Programs on the ADR Committee of the California State Bar Business Law Section and as a Board Member of the Southern California Mediation Association (SCMA). She is also an Affiliate of the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) and a Practitioner/Educator Member of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR).
