Nuts and Bolts of Arbitration: Commercial Arbitration

David Coher is a Mediator and Arbitrator at Coher ADR. He brings decades of legal, governmental, and community service experience to his neutral work, including appointments as a court-appointed referee and neutral. David holds a J.D. with honors from Georgetown University Law Center, a B.S. magna cum laude from the University of Southern California, and a Certificate in Dispute Resolution from the Strauss Institute at Pepperdine University School of Law. His legal career spans private practice, corporate counsel work, and legislative service, including roles at Southern California Edison, Ervin Cohen & Jessup, and as Legislative Counsel to a U.S. Congressman.

In addition to his legal practice, David has served in a wide range of public and civic roles. He was a longtime commissioner and chair of the Board of Zoning Appeals for the City of Pasadena and a member of its 2021 Redistricting Task Force. He is an ADR Panel Member for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, and previously served as President of the State Bar of California’s Committee on Group Insurance Programs. David is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court and in the states of California and New York, as well as the District of Columbia.

Aaron Gothelf is Regional Vice President of the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial Division for California. He serves as the National Chair of AAA’s Entertainment Practice, the Western U.S. Chair for AAA’s Technology Practice, and as an Ambassador for the AAA-ICDR Foundation. Aaron is a Council Member for the ABA’s Dispute Resolution Section of which he formally served as Educational Programming Officer. He is Chair of the ABA’s Forum on the Entertainment & Sports Industries, Motion Picture & Television Division, a member of the ADR Committee for the Litigation Section of the California Lawyers Association, as well as a rotating host for the ABA podcast series “Resolutions.”