Testimonials

"Judge Karlan is the best! He is sympathetic, smart and spent a lot of his off-the-clock time to settle the matter and made himself available. Thank you."

"Judge Karlan’s tenacity, effort and skill were outstanding. Judge Karlan doggedly kept after both sides to get the parties back to mediation after an unsuccessful first mediation. His consistent follow-up and persistence was the key to ultimately reaching a settlement in a very difficult case. I have no hesitation in recommending Judge Karlan to serve as a mediator. Thank you again for your efforts."

"Judge Karlan is one of the best and most sought-after mediators in Southern California. I have been using Judge Karlan for a few years now, and routinely receive positive feedback about him from opposing counsel who have just met him for the first time. He's outstanding."

"Carmen and Judge Karlan demonstrated a particularly effective "bedside manner" with some difficult personalities. You have to see through what everybody is claiming and see what really is fueling people's anger or need to litigate. Some people may be running on emotion, but their claims may not be that viable. To be a good mediator, you really have to cut through that stuff and see what's at the bottom of everybody's reasons for litigating and know how to deal with counsel. So, it's a lot of finessing personalities, and I just thought they did a really good job with that."

"Judge Karlan ultimately managed to settle our case nine months after the initial mediation session. I think we all thought 'This case is never going to settle', and I was just planning on trying it. But he stayed on both sides, and I would get these periodic phone calls. He was very persistent. It took nine months to do it, but he did it, and some mediators wouldn't do that. They'd get a little frustrated, and they'd think, 'The case is never going to settle. That's fine. You guys try it'. But he just continued to work with us in a very high-level, professional way."

"Judge Karlan is a very smart guy, and he is incredibly business-oriented. He came up with some ideas that neither party could see. There’s no mediator I’ve worked with that works harder than Judge Karlan. For one of our cases, we had a several-day mediation, and he was a dog on the bone. He would not let it go until he got it resolved."

"I’ve appeared before hundreds of judges, and I’ve never appeared before a finer judge than Judge Karlan, and those talents really have extended on to his role as a mediator. He’s an extremely smart person. He’s very creative and thinks outside the box and gets great results, He’s very conscientious, and he’s sincerely interested in the case you have with him. He treats it like a matter before the U.S. Supreme Court."

"I thought Judge Karlan was a great judge, but he may even be a better mediator. Judges have hundreds of cases they’ve got to deal with, and he handled that very well and very professionally with great judicial demeanor. But now that he’s doing mediations, he just has more time. He has more time to spend on one individual case. He gets to know the lawyers; he gets to know the parties. So while I think he was an outstanding judge, he may turn out to be an even better mediator."

"I was fortunate to try Judge Karlan’s first case when he was assigned to the Santa Monica Courthouse. It was a contentious commercial unlawful detainer trial. Judge Karlan brought to both counsel’s attention a fact we both overlooked and which resulted in settlement. I was also before Judge Karlan over the years on other matters. Judge Karlan mediated a case that another judge brought to him, which also involved extremely difficult clients (and in that case, an equally difficult opposing counsel). I was amazed that Judge Karlan was able to settle the case. Judge Karlan is smart as a whip, incredibly insightful, and anticipates issues. He did so with an incredible judicial temperament that was always respectful to all parties and counsel. I would wholeheartedly recommend Judge Karlan for any matter, including complex litigation, entertainment, intellectual property and real estate matters."

"had the privilege of appearing before Judge Karlan and felt the benefit of his organized, well-reasoned and respectful approach not only to applying the law but also to running an efficient courtroom (with a volume of 500+ cases pre-pandemic and possibly as many as 800 post-pandemic), all to the satisfaction of the lofty goals of administration of justice."

"Judge Karlan brings the finest legal mind, unmatched real world experience, an extraordinary work ethic and the finest people skills imaginable to mediation. I say that based upon my recent mediation experience with him. His use of his experience and talents resulted in the settlement of an extremely difficult and emotional dispute."

"Very impressed with the experience as well as the effectiveness of our mediator"