Biography

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Scott Buell is a trained mediator who uses the skills and empathy gained from representing individuals in David versus Goliath legal entanglements along with the knowledge and experience gained from working as in-house counsel for several major insurance carriers to make sure all voices are heard and to assist in bridging the gap between what is possible and what is achievable.

Mr. Buell has been a successful trial attorney who has tried dozens of criminal and civil cases in New York City and the Bay Area over the past thirty years. Before relocating to California in 2001, Mr. Buell was a criminal defense attorney at the Legal Aid Society of New York City and at New York County Defender Services, and he was the Assistant Director of the Legal Aid Society of New York City, Parole Revocation Defense Unit. This experience allowed him to hone the skills necessary to represent often unpopular clients on an uneven playing field against adversaries with vastly greater financial and political resources. In 1996, Mr. Buell successfully negotiated the dismissal of an extradition warrant involving a 1952 chain-gang escapee in an extradition matter between New York State and Florida that garnered national attention.

Since relocating to California, Mr. Buell was in-house trial counsel for three major insurance carriers in cases primarily involving personal injury, general liability, commercial liability, premises liability and strict product liability. Over that time, it became increasingly clear that a trial, even for the ‘winner’, was all too often expensive, time-consuming and anxiety-ridden. Mediation emerged as the safest and most cost-effective way to control and resolve differences. Why let a decision be imposed upon you by a judge or a jury of strangers? Mr. Buell can help identify and eliminate the impediment to resolving your case and assist you in creating a solution that works best for all parties.

Mr. Buell has received more than 145 hours of certified mediation and advanced mediation training from Steven Rosenberg, Woody Mosten, Ron Kelly and others. He serves as a pro tem settlement conference panelist in Marin County Superior Court and Sacramento County Superior Court; and also works with the Congress of Neutrals mediating disputes through the Contra Costa County Superior Court. Mr. Buell has mediated hundreds of cases involving personal injury, general liability, commercial liability, premises liability, unlawful detainer, civil harassment, consumer contracts and strict product liability.

Mr. Buell received a B.A. in English from Binghamton University in 1983 and a J.D. from Albany Law School of Union University in 1986. He is admitted to practice in California, New York and the United States District Court, Northern District of California. Mr. Buell is a member of the State Bars of California and New York. He is currently on the Board of Directors of the Marin County Bar Association, as well as the 2018 Chair of the ADR Section. He is also a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Contra Costa County Bar Association and the Sonoma County Bar Association.

Mr. Buell resides with his wife, Grace, in Marin County.