Mediation/Arbitration/Settlement Counsel

Professional Liability Dispute Resolution Experience

Judith Meyer has extensive experience mediating and arbitrating professional liability disputes, among others. For more than 20 years, she has been asked to help parties resolve emotionally difficult and complex matters involving allegations of malpractice and negligence in the accounting, legal, and medical fields. Her depth of understanding of the issues involved in these sensitive cases has resulted in her selection as a mediator or arbitrator on a number of ADR panels including the September 11 Victims’ Compensation Fund of 2001. Ms. Meyer’s knowledge of the law, ADR expertise, and listening skills have contributed to her success in this area. Representative Matters

• Accounting & Actuarial Malpractice
  • Corporation terminated its defined benefit pension plan and transferred the assets into a profit sharing 401(k) plan. In doing so, the company’s actuarial consultants failed to advise plan participants of options regarding the distribution of vested benefits, resulting in the company having to cover a potential of $5 million in shortfalls in the accounts of participants
  • Valuation under Rev. Rul. 59-60 of intertwined closely held corporations subsequent to leveraged buy out
  • Detrimental reliance by lender on financial statement prepared by certified public accounting firm which overvalued assets of borrower
  • CPA misinterpretation of application of Subchapter T of the Internal Revenue Code, and attending regulations, resulting in IRS audit of and assessment against agricultural cooperative
  • Improper formula used to value manufacturer inventory, leading to overvaluation and reliance by major lender, default of manufacturer on line of credit forcing manufacturer into Chapter 11 reorganization followed by suit by manufacturer against accounting firm
  • CPA failure to detect on-going embezzlement by law firm manager of firm receivables
  
  
  
• Legal Malpractice
  • Failure of attorney to understand and/or advise client of terms of Joint Tortfeasor Release which reduced $2.5 million verdict to $400,000
  • Failure of attorney to advise client that General Release barred ERISA claim for long term disability
  • Failure to discover value of privately owned companies in marital dissolution
  • Attorney malpractice for failure to register stock offering
  • Failure to present expert testimony at criminal trial, resulting in guilty verdict and imprisonment of client
  • Failure of attorney to perfect registration of trademark of female singing group, resulting in rival group registration of name
  • Attorney malpractice founded on irreconcilable conflict of interest
  
  
  
• Medical Malpractice
  • Craniectomy and removal of brain stem meningioma in 53 year old male corporate executive, subsequent death due to undetected cerebral hemorrhage
  • Surgery on child’s left leg with subsequent vascular deterioration requiring above the knee amputation
  • Multiple back surgeries resulting in permanent paralysis of patient
  • Emotional trauma resulting from sexual involvement of psychologist with patient
  • Failure to detect cervical cancer in PAP smear, subsequent death of thirty-two year old mother
  • Misreading PAP smear slides, failure to detect cervical cancer for two years and destruction of slides in violation of federal law
  • Diagnosis of radiation colitis and subsequent surgeries and colostomy when proper diagnosis contended to be Crohn’s disease treatable by steroids
  • Misdiagnosis of vasculitis, failure to do proper diagnostic tests to locate embolizing atrial myoma causing stroke in 30 year old male

• Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in ADR, Philadelphia Magazine, 2005 and 2006
• Fellow and Board Member, International Academy of Mediators
• Member, College of Commercial Arbitrators
• Judge Pro Tem, Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas
• Adjunct Professor, Cornell Law School 1999-2004
• Active Member, Pennsylvania and Idaho Bars; Inactive Member, California Bar
• Publishes and conducts seminars on ADR, Mediation, and Negotiation
• U.S.D.C., Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Certified Mediator

• Mediator and Arbitrator, J P Meyer Associates, Philadelphia ADR Firm, 1995-2004
• Of Counsel, Bazelon Less & Feldman, 1988-1994
• Neutral, American Intermediation Service, Inc./Judicate Inc., 1986-1994
• Litigation Partner, Los Angeles and Beverly Hills law firms, 1979-1988
• J.D., Cornell Law School, 1974; recipient E.D.P. Carey Legal Writing Award; member Moot Court Board
• B.A., Barnard College 1966