Rachel Ehrlich

About Rachel

Rachel Ehrlich mediates nationally, resolving matters with settlements that range from zero into nine figures. She focuses on insurance coverage and bad faith, catastrophic injury and wrongful death, construction, landlord-tenant, and complex commercial disputes. Counsel on both sides bring her the cases they expect to be hardest to settle: many parties, layered coverage, competing indemnity claims, and entrenched decisionmakers. As one lawyer put it: “You have a gift to get things done. It’s rare. ... Both plaintiffs and defendants agree on that.”

She arrives knowing the facts, the law, and what matters to the people making the decisions. Command of the merits lets her test each side’s assumptions candidly and credibly. She discusses risk in terms the decisionmaker can act on, whether that is an individual plaintiff, a claims professional, a volunteer board, or a C-suite executive.

She is skilled with the human side of a dispute. In wrongful death, sexual abuse, habitability, and first-party insurance cases, grief and anger can matter as much as liability. Her patience, respect for everyone in the room, and sense of humor help defuse tension and keep the parties at the table.

Insurance is where many negotiations stall, and it is where Rachel can be most valuable. Attorneys have called her “the insurance whisperer.” She has worked on every side of the table: as coverage and casualty counsel, claims professional, underwriter, and insurance executive with final settlement authority. As a claims executive, she was responsible for the handling and resolution of more than 20,000 claims representing hundreds of millions of dollars in reserves. As a result, she understands how carriers authorize settlements and what policyholders and claimants need before they can say “yes.”

Rachel doesn’t stop when the session ends. Many of her cases settle in the days, weeks, or months afterward, and she stays involved until the agreement is signed. She also developed Seriatim Mediation™, which works like that follow-up without the lengthy opening session, and matters often resolve before a traditional session would take place.

Areas of Focus

• Abuse / Molestation / Sexual Assault
• Business / Contractual
• Class Actions
• Construction Defects & Mold
• Employment
• Government Liability
• Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith / Insurance Agent & Broker Liability
• Landlord-Tenant / Habitability
• Mass Torts
• Personal Injury
• Professional Liability
• Real Estate
• Subrogation

Career

• 2014–presentFull-time NeutralMediates litigated and non-litigated matters
• 2013–2014Chief Claims Officer & Vice President, CAMICO Mutual Insurance CompanyManaged the claims department of a national mutual insurer providing professional liability and employment practices liability coverage to CPAs
• 2009–2013Senior Vice President, US Casualty Claims, Navigators Management Company (now a brand of The Hartford)Also Vice President, Specialty Claims (2009–2012). Managed national departments handling primary and excess casualty, personal lines excess, automobile, environmental, and commercial surety claims
• 1997–2009Managing Counsel, Construction Defect, Claim Legal Coverage, The Travelers Indemnity Company (2005–2009)Also National Team Leader/Coordinator for Regulatory Compliance (2004–2006), Claim Legal Coverage Counsel (1998–2005), and Staff Attorney (1997–1998), formerly Dwain W. Bird & Associates
• 1996–1997Associate, Robinson & Wood, Inc.Civil litigation of tort and business disputes, including patent and trademark infringement, legal malpractice, bodily injury, and insurance coverage and bad faith
• 1996Judicial Extern to the Honorable Sandra Margulies, Alameda County Superior Court, Law & Motion Department
• 1994–1996Law Clerk, Maloney & Associates (Aetna Staff Counsel)
• 1992–1993Assistant Underwriter, Wexford Underwriting Managers
• 1991–1992Claims and Office Administrator, American E&S (now RT Specialty)

Court & Bar Panel Appointments

• Mediator, United States District Court, Northern District of California (2015–present)
• Mediator, California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District
• Superior Court of California, Alameda County: Mediator, Civil Mediation Panel and Unlawful Detainer Mediation Program; ADR Administration Committee (2016–present)
• Superior Court of California, Contra Costa County: Mediator and Settlement Mentor
• Arbitrator and Mediator, California State Bar and Contra Costa County Bar Association Fee Arbitration & Mediation Programs (2015–2018)

Education & Admissions

• J.D., University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings) (1996); Executive Editor, Hastings West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law & Policy (1995–1996)
• B.A., Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz (1990); Phi Beta Kappa, Honors in the Major, College Honors
• Admitted to the State Bar of California (1996) and the Supreme Court of the United States

Professional Affiliations

• National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN), Member (2022–present)
• California Dispute Resolution Council (CDRC), Board of Directors (2023–present)
• ABA Section of Dispute Resolution, Committee on Mediator Ethical Guidance, Co-Chair (2019–2022); Appointed Member (2015–2022)
• ABA Section of Litigation, Member
• Alameda County Bar Association, Member
• Women Lawyers of Alameda County (WLAC), Member and Mentor (2025–present)
• The Mediation Society, Member (2014–2025); Board of Directors and Treasurer (2018–2019)
• Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), Member (through 2021); CLM Claims College: Dean, School of Claims Mediation (2015–2019); Executive Council Member (2014–2016) and Faculty in Alternative Dispute Resolution (2015–2017), School of Construction
• Contra Costa County Bar Association, Member (through 2019); Bar Association of San Francisco, Ethics Committee (through 2019)

Leadership & Service

• University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, Board of Trustees (2024–present)
• UC Law SF Alumni Association, Board of Governors (2018–2024); President (2021–2022); President-Elect (2020–2021); Co-Chair, Student Liaison Committee (2019–2020)
• Mentor to UC Law SF students and alumni in job search and career planning (2007–present)

Achievements & Awards

• Super Lawyers, Alternative Dispute Resolution, Northern California (2018–present)
• Certified Litigation Management Professional, Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (2013)
• American Jurisprudence Bancroft-Whitney Award & CALI Excellence for the Future Award, Negotiation/Mediation Process & Practice, UC Law SF (1996)

Writing

• “Mediators Speak,” quarterly column, ABA Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee (2022–present)
• “How To Make Remote Mediation Work For Your Cases”, SFTLA The Trial Lawyer (Summer 2020)
• “Alert for Attorneys Who Represent Clients in Mediation”, Alameda County Bar Association (February 2019)
• “New Attorney Duties When Going To Mediation”, Bar Association of San Francisco (February 2019)
• “Your Own Mediation-Confidentiality Agreement”, CAALA Advocate, Volume 45, Number 8 (August 2017)
• “Questions Every Litigator Should Ask About Mediation Confidentiality”, American Bar Association, Section of Litigation Woman Advocate Committee Vol. 21, No. 4 (Summer 2016)
• “Effective E-Signatures: Tips on Navigating the UETA”, Daily Journal Corp. California Lawyer (December 2015)
• “Shhhh! The Big Risk Associated With Mediation Confidentiality That Nobody Talks About”, Mediate.com (September 2014)
• “Independent Counsel (Walk-In or Reservations Required?)”, CLM Litigation Management (Winter 2014)

Speaking

• “Where’s all the Insurance Money?”, West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Seminar (Anaheim, CA, May 2025)
• “Bridging the Gap Between CGL and Builders Risk”, American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee CLE Seminar (Tucson, AZ, March 2025)
• “Tips, Tactics and Techniques at Mediation”, Nationwide ESS – Defense Counsel Summit (Scottsdale, AZ, March 2024)
• “California Insurance Law Year in Review – 2023”, Bar Association of San Francisco (Virtual, January 2024)
• “Mediation Coach: Training For California Labor Commission”, UC Law SF (Virtual, Various Dates 2021)
• “No More Failed Mediations”, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies – Claims Conference (Phoenix, AZ, February 2019)
• “Contrasting Mediation Perspectives: Claims Executives and Mediators”, DRI Insurance Coverage and Practice Symposium (New York, NY, December 2017)
• “Mediation”, Stanford Law School (Palo Alto, CA, April 2018)

Professional Training

Outside the Office

When she’s not mediating, Rachel is cooking, listening to audiobooks, spoiling her sister’s kids, and keeping the peace between a dignified senior rescue German Shepherd and a younger Bouvier des Flandres who is determined to get the Shepherd to play.