Hon. Bernard Kaufman, Ret.
Judge Kaufman has served as a mediator, arbitrator, judge pro tem and discovery referee since his retirement from the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1994. He has resolved a wide variety of complex, multi-party disputes as a neutral. Judge Kaufman’s mediation and arbitration experience includes cases involving business/commercial; construction defects; employment law, including sexual harassment and unlawful termination; health care; personal injury; probate; professional malpractice and other tort liability issues; and real estate. He has served frequently as a judge pro tem in family cases and has handled case management and resolution of large matters as a discovery referee.

Judge Kaufman’s judicial experience spans nearly two decades on the Los Angeles Superior and Municipal court benches. He had a general civil practice for 22 years and was a partner at the law firm of Gainsley, Winkler, Kaufman & Ward until 1975. He specialized in transactional business and corporate matters, probate and family law cases and his clients included financial institutions and brokerage firms as well as employers and employees of retail and manufacturing companies.

ORGANIZATIONS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:

  • Current Member: California State Bar, Los Angeles County Bar, Pasadena Bar associations
  • Former Member: Executive Committee and numerous statewide committees of the California Judges Association; Los Angeles Superior Court Executive Committee.

SPECIALIZES IN:

Complex disputes including business/commercial, construction defect, employment, family law, health care, personal injury, probate, professional malpractice, and real estate.

EDUCATION:

  • UCLA Law School, 1953
  • UCLA, Political Science, 1950

AVAILABLE LOCATIONS:

Throughout California.