Francis J. "Frank" Burke, Jr.

Frank Burke is the founder of Frank Burke Mediation and Arbitration PC, and a panel member of the National Rosters of Arbitrators and Mediators of the American Arbitration Association for Commercial, Large Complex Case and Energy Disputes. He is a Member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, California Chapter, recognized for both mediation and arbitration. He also serves as a Mediation Panel Member of the U.S. District Court ADR Program and on several state court mediation panels. He handles mediation and arbitration matters in person in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento and throughout California and on Zoom internationally.

A full time independent neutral, he applies his 42 years of experience as a business trial lawyer in national law firms having handled a diverse range of business disputes involving varied business sectors in federal and state courts and administrative agencies in 26 states, China and Canada. He has mediated and arbitrated disputes involving individuals and small, midsize and large businesses, including family businesses.

He uses a mix of facilitative and evaluative approaches in mediation, depending on the situation and the parties’ desires. He prepares intensively in advance of each mediation and believes in outside the box approaches and relentless follow-up.

He conducts arbitration hearings with a firm and fair hand, trying for innovative and streamlined ways to receive evidence with a minimum of duplication and undue expense to the parties. He believes in disclosure of witnesses, exhibits, experts and damages theories to be used at trial, with limited discovery of documents and depositions. He follows and applies the law and issues reasoned awards.

Mr. Burke has extensive experience in the following areas of the law:

Business Disputes: Contract, family business, complex commercial, merger and acquisition, class actions and derivative suits, securities fraud investment, accounting and legal malpractice, antitrust, unfair competition and trade practices, healthcare, cannabis, franchise, debtor-creditor, qui tam and False Claims Act, banking and finance, accounting and taxation disputes.

Real Estate Disputes: Real estate purchase and sale, landlord/tenant/lease, COVID-19, partition, environmental, construction defect, boundary line, easement and ADA access disputes

Corporate Governance and Business Dissolution Disputes: Business divorce cases, corporate governance, partnership, LLC and corporate dissolution disputes.

Technology and IP Disputes: Technology, trade secrets and intellectual property, e-commerce and terms of service, computer software, blockchain, ICO, cryptocurrency, e-discovery and cybersecurity, solar industry, energy and utilities disputes

Employment Disputes: Wrongful discharge, sexual harassment, race, age, sex, pregnancy, disability discrimination, wage-hour and whistleblower disputes.

Insurance Disputes: Insurance coverage and business interruption, sexual assault, personal and catastrophic injury, automobile, motorcycle, and truck-trailer accident disputes.

He is a Certified Online Mediator with extensive training and experience in the use of Zoom. He received a J.D. from Harvard Law School, and an A.B, from Cornell University, Magna Cum Laude.