Scott S. Markus, Esq.

Biography

Scott Markus, San Diego County's first full-time attorney-mediator, facilitates settlements of complex litigation throughout Southern California. Since 1992, Mr. Markus has successfully mediated more than three thousand disputes involving personal injury, insurance, employment, real property, business, construction and many other subjects.

He has worked with countless Fortune 500 companies, insurance companies and government agencies at the city, county, state and federal level and with the top consumer attorneys throughout the region. Through his guidance, parties have reached settlements ranging from $1000 to $10 million.

Mr. Markus strives to be part of the solution, not the problem with regard to protracted, expensive, emotionally draining civil litigation. His perseverance has established him as one of California's most dedicated and enthusiastic Neutrals.

Mr. Markus has a J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law (1980) and a B.A. from Middlebury College, VT (1977). Raised in Cleveland, he has lived in San Diego since 1980.

Primary Areas of Focus

Personal Injury

Wrongful death and serious injury matters involving product liability, industrial accidents, premises liability, toxic substance exposure and motor vehicle accidents.

Insurance

Coverage, bad faith and subrogation issues.

Professional Liability

Legal, medical, realty, engineering, financial, business and accounting fields.

Employment

Wage and hour matters (including class actions), sexual harassment and discrimination (e.g., race, age, gender, sexual orientation, disablility), wrongful termination, public policy violations, the ADA and other issues.

Real Property

Residential non-disclosure cases and those involving commercial leases and commissions, boundries and easements and CC&R's.

Business

Breach of contract, franchise disputes, business dissolution, unfair competition and more.

Contstruction

Contracts, delay claims and public works.

Fees

1. PER DIEM FEES. 

a. Per Day
Mr. Markus charges between $4,800 and $6,800 per day for his professional services in the Pacific Southwest, depending on mediation venue. Full day matters generally start between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. The amount charged includes pre-mediation consultation, all travel time and expenses, one and one-half hours of reading time and eight hours of conference time (surplus reading time is added to conference time). Additionally, there is an administrative fee of $175 per party per day ($300 minimum). Mr. Markus charges for EXTRA TIME as provided in Paragraph 2. 

b. Per Half-day 
Mr. Markus charges between $2,400 and $2,550 per half-day for his professional services in San Diego County, depending on mediation venue. Half-day matters generally start at 9:00 a.m. or 1:30 p.m. The amount charged includes pre-mediation consultation, all travel time and expenses, one hour of reading time and three and one-half hours of conference time (surplus reading time is added to conference time). Additionally, there is an administrative fee of $175 per party per day ($300 minimum). Mr. Markus charges for EXTRA TIME (usually limited to one hour for half-day matters) as provided in Paragraph 2. 

2. EXTRA TIME. 
Mr. Markus charges for extra preparation, conference and follow-up time at $480 per hour. After the mediation has concluded, PMA will send a supplemental invoice which is due and payable upon receipt.

3. THIRD-PARTY FACILITIES COSTS. 
PMA has conference facilities which will comfortably accommodate mediations in San Diego, Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas. At times, PMA may need to rent conference facilities at a cost to the mediation participants. 

4. FEE AND COST ALLOCATION. 
PER DIEM FEES (Paragraph 1), EXTRA TIME (Paragraph 2) and THIRD-PARTY FACILITIES COSTS (Paragraph 3) will be billed to and are due from the mediation participants in equal, pro rata shares unless they agree to a different allocation and notify PMA at the time of billing.

5. DEPOSITS.
Each participant's share of the total amount due must be deposited 21 days before the mediation in order to guarantee the reservation. Otherwise, PMA may offer the date to other potential mediation participants. See Deposit, Cancellation and Postponement Fee Policy.

6. CANCELLATION AND POSTPONEMENT. 
If the mediation is canceled or postponed within 21 days of the scheduled date, the party requesting the cancellation or postponement is responsible for the entire deposit (not just the canceling party's share of the deposit), unless Mr. Markus's time can be rescheduled for another matter.

7. PAYMENT RESPONSIBILITY. 
The attorney and his or her client are jointly and severally liable to PMA (Taxpayer I.D. No, 88-0432563), for payment of fees and costs. The contract to retain Mr. Markus's services is entered into at 402 West Broadway, Suite 900, San Diego, California.

8. EFFECTIVE DATE. 
This schedule is effective for matters scheduled by December 31, 2012.