Mastering Mass Torts

Michael E. Dickstein is a distinguished mediator, arbitrator, and alternative dispute
resolution (ADR) expert with over three decades of experience. He earned his J.D. from
Harvard Law School in 1985 and his A.B. from Harvard University in 1981. As the
founder of Dickstein Dispute Resolution, he has mediated a vast range of disputes,
including high-profile class actions, intellectual property conflicts, and employment
disagreements across North America. He has served as a Judge Pro Tem and mediator
for various California courts and has been a lecturer at Stanford Law School since
2005, teaching negotiation and mediation. A former partner at Heller, Ehrman, White
& McAuliffe, he has also published extensively on mediation strategies and best
practices. His expertise is recognized internationally, with teaching engagements
spanning law schools, professional organizations, and corporations worldwide.

Tagore Subramaniam is a nationally recognized commercial mediator specializing in
complex and emotionally charged disputes. Tagore regularly mediates high-profile
matters, including what is believed to be the largest aggregate sexual abuse
settlement with the federal government in U.S. history. His expertise spans sensitive
mass tort, class action, employment, personal injury, construction/product defect,
discrimination, and wage and hour matters.

Tagore began his mediation career working alongside pioneer Jeffrey Krivis and
continues to embrace his philosophy of Improvisational Negotiation, combining a
tailored understanding of party interests with flexibility, strategic thinking, and
creativity.

In his practice, Tagore has mediated thousands of sexual abuse claims of all types,
including clergy, children, alternative religious groups, prisons, and teachers.
Additionally, he has mediated over 100 class and representative actions on wage and
hour matters, involving fewer than 100 to more than 10,000 employees across various
industries such as healthcare, agriculture, energy, manufacturing, apparel, assisted
nursing, transportation, entertainment, education, law enforcement, technology,
construction, and automobile sectors.

As a client advocate, Tagore helped build one of Southern California’s most prominent
employment litigation firms, where he resolved hundreds of class action and single
plaintiff disputes and was regularly recognized among the top employment lawyers in
Los Angeles. Tagore played a significant role on the Los Angeles Superior Court’s Ad
Hoc Wage and Hour Class Action Committee, where he contributed to drafting the
court’s model settlement agreements for class and representative PAGA actions.