Lizbeth Hasse
Lizbeth Hasse Esq. is an established mediator, arbitrator and settlement master for over 1000 disputes in a wide range of cases. She brings the depth of 30 years experience in intellectual property, business operations, entertainment/media, and technology law firm practice to her ADR work. Ms. Hasse heads up the Weinstein Mediation Group's IP/Entertainment/Media Division. Her background is international in scope and includes teaching in her fields of expertise at internationally renowned institutions.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- 12 years of solid ADR experience; assisted in resolution of over a thousand disputes, including substantial value cases and complex multi-party matters.
- Law practice in intellectual property, entertainment, trade secret, and related areas since 1982, including complex international transactions, licensing, litigation and IP valuations (AV-rated).
- Designs solutions, settlement structures and licenses in resolution of IP, trade secrets, on-going business and similar interests.
- Mediation and process design in litigation at all stages, class action and multiple carrier coverage cases.
- Mediates entity and partnership relations and corporate/board governance.
- Mediates on-going business and entity relations and governance.
- Provides constructive approaches to sensitive relations, confidential celebrity matters and early pre-filing resolutions.
- Brings knowledge and practice to high tech, entertainment, publishing, arts, licensing and international matters.
- Brings a preventative and proactive approach to continuing business enterprises, co-production and cross-cultural relationships.
- Administers settlement agreements as Settlement Master.
- Certified by United Nations Program in Civilian Personnel of Peace-Keeping, Mediators and Election Monitoring at International Faculty of Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, (Advanced Studies in Human Rights and Conflict Management), Pisa, Italy (120 hours).
- American Bar Association Advanced ADR training; training from other quality ADR, arbitration and mediation experts, i.e. California Bar Association, AAMS panel, JAMS, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, California Superior Court training and panel, BASF training and panel.
- Chief and/or team member for numerous international legal development projects worldwide relating to assessment and program design in fields of media law, Rule of Law, intellectual property legislation, legal education, dispute resolution and communications policy.
- Mentor to young mediators and students locally and internationally in ADR practice.
Honors, Memberships and Professional Activities
- Rated AV by Martindale-Hubbell peer-rated law directory (highest rating category); Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers; Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers.
- Fulbright Fellow - Paris, France, Legal Scholar -- research and lecturing (in French) in comparative law.
- Member of Selective Neutral Panels: AIPLA Arbitration and Mediation Registry, Arts Arbitration and Mediation Services Panel; SF County Superior Court ADR Panel; BASF Arbitration and Mediation Panel.
- Member, American Bar Association - Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution Sections.
- Selected Member, The Masters Forum of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University.
- Member, California Bar Association - Intellectual Property, Litigation, Dispute Resolution and International Law sections.
- Member, San Francisco Intellectual Property Association and Women’s Intellectual Property Law Association.
- Member, The Mediation Society
- Publishes articles and lectures in fields of intellectual property, constitutional law, rule of law, negotiation, art and law, citizen diplomacy, international law and travel.
- Trustee and Treasurer, Presidio Graduate School of Management, a pioneering comprehensive graduate education in sustainable management and policy, San Francisco; Head of Intellectual Property Committee.
- Member, Boards of Directors: Heart-to-Heart International Children's Medical Alliance; Track Two Center for Diplomacy; the Russian-American Center; Founding Committee of the Edible Schoolyard, Berkeley, California.
- Selected Member/Participant, Global Potentials Program, Esalen Center for Theory and Research, Berkeley and Big Sur, California.
Representative ADR Matters
- Intellectual Property – numerous cases, including disputes over university’s intellectual property/patent interest in faculty/student project; trademark use by multinational companies; media, high tech, software and hardware patent and copyright infringement; patent infringement involving data privacy and encryption devices; fashion design misappropriation; royalty and accounting resolutions; rights in films and published works; secondary liability claims in copyright infringement; video game licensing dispute; copyright termination issues; copyright royalty disputes with antitrust implications; trademark confusion.
- Entertainment - mediations and/or arbitrations involving members of multi-platinum music groups; film, music and print publishing royalty and accounting disputes; acquisition and misappropriation of publicity; film rights dispute during production; disgruntled author against film production company; early resolution involving tabloids and besieged celebrity; celebrity couple separation agreement; publisher’s decision not to publish accepted manuscript; early resolution of defamation matter; attorney malpractice in entertainment IP context; breach of talent contract; racecar sponsorship dispute; separation of rights, derivative works and copyright disputes involving major studios; settlement master for long-term entertainment resolutions.
- Business/Commercial – numerous breach of contract and unfair competition disputes; employee and customer raiding; resolution of contentious international joint venture valuation and allocation dispute; determination of relationship of real estate brokers; merger and investor disputes; anti-trust actions involving governmental and private claims and asserting domestic and international parties and transactions; buy-sell agreement in on-going business relation; joint agency dispute; numerous contractual disputes; accounting and other professional negligence actions.
- Employment – executive compensation dispute with former medical employer; sexual discrimination cases against airline, law firm and sports entity; statutory wage and benefits class action in petroleum industry; wrongful termination involving disabled employee; termination involving law firm and lawyer; constructive resolution of class actions where potential statutory penalties would bankrupt company.
- Class Action – institutional lender-borrower class action; disputes involving length of class and class cert issues; insurance coverage issues; big pharma security fraud class actions; financial entities and fraudulent reporting; ERISA class actions; part of team resolving: Adelphia bankruptcy, multiple Enron class actions, Dynegy class action.
- Nonprofit/Education – discrimination alleged in public school system; dispute between nonprofits over donors; resolution of nonprofit dispute with a successful merger; issues between founder of charity and non-profit board; nonprofits’ trademark dispute.
- Insurance Coverage – dispute over subrogation language; inconsistencies/differences in policy language between layers of insurance coverage; coverage disputes between film producer and general liability insurer; professional malpractice coverage with underlying IP action.
- Securities – investment adviser’s fiduciary duty; acquisition of company and stock trade; pharmaceutical and off-label promotion allegations; variety of stock-drop Dura analyses; restatement, “leakage” and other fraud and/or §11 cases at different stages of litigation; control person liability; resolution of derivative actions involving governance and fee/cost negotiations; back-dating options resolutions; major securities disputes as team member: Enron; Adelphia; Intermune.
- Other Matters – mediation of issues in first local election since independence in Kirgizstan; mediation of issues involving supplies of Russian goods to Afghan Relief Fund in Uzbekistan; copyright/author’s rights disputes relating to filmmakers of former Soviet Union and international film distributors.
Background and Education
- Senior partner, Creative Industry Law Group, LLP; formerly practiced at Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe, Steinhart & Falconer, and Coudert Brothers in San Francisco (focus on IP, trade secret, licensing, business operations, litigation).
- JD, University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, 1982.
- MA, University of California, Berkeley, Jurisprudence and Social Policy, 1982.
- BA, Wesleyan University, Middletown, CT, Linguistics (emp. Classics) 1977 – magna cum laude, Highest Honors, member of Honors College, Phi Beta Kappa.
- Supported by MacArthur Foundation, Soros Foundation, Rockefeller Fund and USAID to assist in drafting of civil law, media law and IP legislation and designing and assessing Rule of Law programs in African, Central Asian, Eastern European and former Soviet countries.
- Legal advisor to Glasnost Defense Foundation, Moscow Russia, 1989-1993.
- Taught intellectual property, civil law, dispute resolution, comparative law, media law and legal theory as visiting faculty at University of California, Berkeley, University of Paris V, Udayana University (Indonesia), American University of Armenia and for seminars and symposia internationally.
Contact Information
Mediates nationwide and internationally.Primary address: 155 Sansome Street, ste. 500 / San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: (415) 433-4380; (415) 350-4345
Fax: (415) 433-6580
Email: lhasse@jamsadr.com; lhasse@creativelawgroup.com