About Frank Russo

Frank D. Russo formally opened his mediation and arbitration practice in 2008 after comprehensive training in the field of alternative dispute resolution. He has an established track record of helping parties to end disputes in a variety of areas including insurance, employment, third-party cases, civil, political, personal injury, and workers’ compensation matters. He serves on a number of alternative dispute resolution panels and is a full-time neutral.

As a litigator over 40 years, he resolved over 10,000 cases, while specializing in Workers’ Comp, civil litigation, employment disputes and personal injury law. He founded and managed a very successful law firm, AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and has served as an expert witness, as well as lecturing and writing on legal matters. In addition, Mr. Russo has played key policymaking roles in California, written major legislation in the State Capitol, and served as Chief of Staff to the Chair of the Assembly Rules Committee and as Legal Counsel to the Speaker of the California Assembly. His understanding of the law is profound…having been involved in the crafting of laws and regulations, while serving as a highly-regarded expert in the state’s political process.

Mr. Russo has enjoyed a long career of distinction in the field of Workers’ Comp and has successfully advocated for injured workers from all walks of life. An arbitration panel member with the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, Mr. Russo was first certified as a Workers’ Compensation specialist by the State Bar of California in 1985 and served as a Workers’ Compensation Judge pro tem as far back as 1982. In 1997, he was selected by his colleagues as President of the California Applicants’ Attorneys Association. Mr. Russo has lectured to hundreds of attorneys, judges, and other professionals, and served as the instructor for a comprehensive law school level class on Workers’ Compensation. He also authored a chapter in the Continuing Education of the Bar textbook: California Workers’ Compensation Practice.

Mr. Russo graduated with honors from Yale University in 1973 and received his law degree from Boalt Hall, at the University of California, Berkeley. He completed his comprehensive mediation training and coursework through Steven Rosenberg’s professional program and the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law. He is an Executive Board member of the Alameda County Bar Association Alternate Dispute (ADR) Section and serves as a mediator and arbitrator for a number of programs pursuant to the California Labor Code.

Mr. Russo has never shied away from complex legal matters. He’s built his reputation on his extensive experience handling complicated and difficult cases and his skill in resolving thorny disputes, whether legal, political, or those based upon philosophical differences or raw emotions. At his former firm, the Russo Law Firm, the lawyers refer to cases that have expanded into multiple banker’s boxes, and reached successful settlements, as “Frank cases.”

Throughout his career, Mr. Russo, has been recognized as a natural mediator by his colleagues, and is well-regarded by lawyers who have opposed him in court, as well as those with whom he has negotiated outside of the courtroom. In the state Capitol in Sacramento, he brought disparate interests together in complex negotiations on legislation and the California budget. Mr. Russo’s practical experience and proven track record, coupled with his deep commitment for doing whatever it takes to get to a fair resolution, have earned him the title of “peacemaker”… an acknowledgement of his keen ability for inspiring disparate groups to work together to resolve even the most complex legal disputes.

For a comprehensive Curriculum Vitae, click here.