Alice D. Sullivan

First Person | Alice D. Sullivan Courtesy of Melissa Jacobs Alice D. Sullivan, a retired California Superior Court judge, plays in a sandbox all week long. Twice weekly, she's playing beach volleyball with her buddies in San Diego; Otherwise, she's mediating or arbitrating disputes between companies and scientists. A former prosecutor who served as a judge for eight years, Sullivan, 60, has added to her existing mediation business an international panel of arbitrators and mediators to handle such cases. She got hooked on the technology angle about three years ago after reading "a million business plans" that entrepreneurs had given to her husband, an angel investor. But her true scientific exposure came when The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, Calif., asked her to join its board of directors six years ago. She says that she finds it "fascinating. In corporate decision-making, you have a process that takes into account an appropriate analysis at the front end. As I see cases, [I think], here is someone testifying, and [I wonder], what were they thinking? I suppose I bring that to the group." How many cases with the new panel have you resolved? About 100. Intellectual property covers patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets. Globalization [of business] and conflict of laws is a perfect catalyst for a mediator: In which country, under whose laws, are you going to settle that? Why do people come to you? Over 90% of all cases settle before trial. The question is, on what day? How much money do you save them? You can do all-day mediation for several thousand dollars. To get a case through pretrial for patent infringement, it can cost $1 million; if it goes to a jury, hundreds of millions. [For us] on a medical device case, it may take three days, [but] I would say most cases can be resolved in a day. It will pale in comparison to what they spend on expert witnesses. It gives everyone a chance to sit at the table and negotiate .... It's an interesting combination of intellectual and emotional strains that have to come together. What do you like about your work? It's quite fascinating; there are some cutting-edge issues here. It's challenging work and very satisfying. You are working with very bright people and you can really be creative. In mediation, you are not required to find the solution that you might find in court. In court, there are usually one or two answers. In mediation, you can fashion an answer. What do you see happening in the future? There will be more disputes coming out of the life sciences industry because of the international patent disputes. In the past 18 months, I'm seeing more technology disputes. The number of intellectual property disputes is rising because of conflicts in the laws around the world, and the globalization of business. What are you learning about humankind? I don't see much of a gender difference. When you get people from business, where they make decisions and have choices to make, they are very good negotiators. It's about money, and they can make decisions about money and move on. Indecision costs money, too. What are you learning about yourself? I think one of the things for a mediator is to be an active listener. The other side of that is, perhaps I'm too patient ... maybe you listen too long, too much, because you are listening for an underlying interest. It's not just what is stated, but what is the interest that is driving that position? Depending on what your personal style is, you could be more frustrated because you want to get to an answer quickly. Sometimes you want to interrupt them ... you have to listen for the parties as opposed to yourself. I've learned that you better be good at that. Why do you think this is successful? The parties are committing themselves and the time necessary to focus, to sit down and work on it with someone who is impartial and who can work on the communication. How does the process work? I get written briefs from the attorneys beforehand. Often, the case as I hear it ... sounds different than what is on the piece of paper. It has everything to do with what you think the facts are and how credible the people are. Often these cases are [those] in which reasonable minds will differ. It's easy to understand why parties are having difficulty getting resolved. Has this work changed you? I think I have less stress than as a judge. People are very grateful when they get disputes resolved, because it's more tension for them than it is for me. You can see the tension work its way down through the course of mediation. It's difficult to get people who've had difficulty working together to get a settlement. I do shuttle diplomacy. What do you do outside the mediation room? My passion is beach volleyball. I play two-man volleyball. It's just wonderful. I play with a group; three guys and I are regulars, and then there are others who join when they can. Do you surf? [No] and I have no excuse. It's right outside my front door. function sendData() { document.frm.pathName.value = location.pathname; result = false if (document.frm.score[0].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[1].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[2].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[3].checked) result = true; if (document.frm.score[4].checked) result = true; if (!result) alert("Please select") return result; } .myradio{background-color : #94bee5} Please indicate on a 1 - 5 scale how strongly you would recommend this article to your colleagues? Not recommended 1 2 3 4 5 Highly recommended Please register your vote

Alice D. Sullivan

The Scientist Staff

First Person | Alice D. Sullivan

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