As a mediator, Karen Carrera draws upon her significant breath of knowledge in the following areas of law, gained over 17 years as a litigator, as well as her experience as a mediator. A bilingual Spanish-English speaker, Ms. Carrera has conducted mediations and neutral fact finding investigations and trainings utilizing her linguistic skills.

Employment Disputes — Employment Discrimination » Wrongful Termination »
Sexual Harassment » Wage and Hour Disputes

Business Disputes — Breach of Contract » Fraud and Misrepresentation » Unfair Competition » Antitrust Violations » Securities Violations » Entertainment Law » Construction Defects » Commercial Landlord/Tenant » Partnership Issues » Neighborhood Disputes »
Public Nuisance » Disputes Between Neighbors

Family Disputes — Elder Law and Elder Care » Divorce » Child Custody » Dependency/Children and Family Services

Personal Injury — Slip and falls » Negligence » Products Liability » Intellectual Property » Trade Secrets » Copyrights » Trademarks » Licensing » Fiduciary Law »
Breach of Fiduciary Duty » Will Contest

San Francisco Bay Area mediator Karen Carrera brings a wealth of experience as a mediator, lawyer and business professional to the resolution of commercial disputes. An accomplished and skilled mediator and negotiator with significant expertise as a business litigator, Ms. Carrera has substantial experience resolving disputes involving commercial transactions, employment, landlord tenant, public nuisance, construction, fraud, intellectual property, entertainment law, fiduciary law and personal injury.

Fees & Reservation Policy - Karen Carrera offers services as a mediator for litigated actions and pre-litigation conflicts, such as workplace or landlord/tenant disputes. Fluent in Spanish, Ms. Carrera also offers Spanish-speaking services.

Hourly Rate - $300 per hour is charged for pre-mediation review of materials submitted by the parties; substantive telephone conferences or meetings, if any; time spent during the mediation session and any post-session time authorized by the parties. There is no administration fee.

Travel Time and Expenses - There is no charge for travel time to and from a mediation session in the Bay Area. Mediations held outside the Bay Area are negotiated on a case-by-case basis.

Minimum Reservation and Deposit - The minimum amount of time that may be reserved is 3 hours. A deposit of $900 is required to reserve a half-day mediation; a deposit of $1,500 is required to reserve a full-day session. The date requested for the mediation session will be confirmed only upon receipt of the deposit. If the total fee for the actual session (together with pre-session preparation and other authorized services) is less than the deposit, the balance will be refunded. If the total fee exceeds the deposit, counsel will be invoiced after the mediation session.

Cost Sharing and Payment of Fees - The Mediator’s fees and expenses will be shared equally by each party participating in the mediation, unless otherwise agreed by the parties and made known in writing to the Mediator. The respective law firms representing the parties shall be directly responsible for the fees and costs associated with the mediation. All mediation fees shall be paid within 30 days of the date of the invoice for mediation services.

Cancellations/Rescheduling Policy - If a scheduled mediation is cancelled or postponed within 10 days or less before the day of the scheduled session, the canceling or postponing party(ies) will be charged for 2 hours of mediation services, unless the time can be re-booked. If the parties do not agree on which party is the canceling party, the charges will be split equally between them.

Co-Mediation

Co-mediation means that you have the advantage of having two mediators working together as a team to assist you in resolving your conflict and arriving at a resolution which is satisfactory to all parties involved. It increases the likelihood of arriving at a solution which is a win/win for all and arriving at it sooner rather than later.

There are numerous advantages to working with two mediators, too many to fully discuss here, but a few of which are:

Co-mediation is an effective form of mediation for all types of disputes. It is particularly useful in conflict resolution involving family matters, decisions involving the care of elderly family members, landlord-tenant disputes, neighbor disputes, sexual harassment disputes and other employment disputes, complex commercial business or real estate matters or inter-personal disputes and disputes which involve multiple parties or multiple issues and with other types of disputes. In all these matters you have co-mediators at your disposal working as a team working on your behalf. The effect of this is generally to save you time and money; the more parties involved, the more complex the dispute, the more effectively two mediators can assist you with the interpersonal and/or business issues than one mediator is able to do as quickly. This saves you time. This saves you money. This helps you resolve your conflict faster and move on with a solution in hand.

The mediation team which is working on your behalf can represent your diverse characteristics such as male/female, Anglo/Latino and other characteristics including personality, style and approach. You are more likely to feel heard by and relate to at least one of the mediators (if not both) and develop a feeling of trust that your concerns, your needs and your feelings about the conflict are being fully heard in the dispute and are reflected in its resolution.

You have the advantage of the combined skills of the mediators, which includes their legal and other experience and expertise, their life experiences, their outlook and personalities and the diversity they bring to the table. The ability of the mediators to facilitate your conflict resolution and problem solving is enhanced by their combined experience, which can be both complimentary and divergent enough to provide the subject matter expertise, life experience, style and approach which is required to help you resolve your conflict.

Your co-mediators can operate as a “check and balance” upon each other to address any biases either of them may have, provide each other with perspective, and they are able to combine their skills, experiences and expertise as people, consultants, attorneys and mediators in the most effective manner to facilitate your mediation process.

Your co-mediators are a team. They work together. Anything you say in confidence to either of them remains completely confidential unless you specifically give them permission to reveal the information. You may feel more comfortable, for whatever reason, confiding directly in one or the other mediator, but will have the advantage of and sense of security obtained by knowing that both mediators share between themselves the information you have provided in total confidence between them. For instance, you may feel more comfortable revealing certain information directly to a woman than to a man, but have the advantage of having that information known by both mediators, and unless you specifically give your permission, have that information remain confidential.

Co-mediation provides you with role models. Co-mediators interact with each other with respect, treat each other with dignity, listen to and hear one another, communicate with one another in a productive and respectful manner and exercise problem solving skills and behaviors which they will encourage you to employ for yourselves. You will benefit from the interaction and role modeling you see displayed before you by the mediators themselves.