Biography

Scott Buell is a full-time mediator and successful trial attorney who has tried dozens of criminal and civil cases in New York City and the Bay Area for more than three decades.

Before relocating to California, Mr. Buell was a criminal defense attorney at the Legal Aid Society of New York City and at New York County Defender Services and the Assistant Director of the Legal Aid Society of New York City, Parole Revocation Defense Unit. During this time, he honed the skills necessary to represent often unpopular clients on an uneven playing field against adversaries with vastly greater financial and political resources. In 1996, he successfully negotiated the dismissal of an extradition warrant involving a 1952 chain-gang escapee in an extradition matter between New York and Florida that garnered national attention.

Since relocating to California in 2001, Mr. Buell was in-house trial counsel for three major insurance carriers. Over that time, it became increasingly clear that a trial, even for the ‘winner’, is all too often expensive, time-consuming, uncertain, and anxiety-ridden. Mediation emerged as the safest and most cost-effective way to control and resolve differences. 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 175 hours of certified mediation and advanced mediation training. He serves as a pro tem settlement conference panelist in Marin County Superior Court, Sonoma County  Superior Court and Sacramento County Superior Court. He has mediated hundreds of cases involving personal injury, property disputes, business/partnership disputes, employment issues, class actions, consumer contracts, unlawful detainer and civil harassment.

Mr. Buell is admitted to practice in California, New York and the United States District Court, Northern District of California. He is the 2024 President of the Marin County Bar Association and Chair of the MCBA Judicial Evaluation Committee. He is also a two-term former Chair of the MCBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section.

He resides with his wife, Grace, in Marin County.