Frank Burke

Mr. Burke has 42 years of experience as a business trial lawyer in major national law firms, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in a diverse range of business disputes in federal and state courts in 26 states, China and Canada. As a full-time neutral, he has had significant experience mediating and arbitrating disputes involving individuals and small, midsize and large businesses, including family businesses. He handles mediation and arbitration matters in person in San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland, Sacramento and throughout California and on Zoom internationally. 

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

​Online Dispute Resolution: Mediate.com has recognized Mr. Burke as a Certified Online Mediator. Mr. Burke is available to handle matters remotely via Zoom. He has had extensive training and experience in the use of Zoom and uses it successfully. Zoom has been well received by parties and can lead to considerable savings in travel time and expenses.

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, 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, whistleblower disputes.

​Insurance Disputes

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

• A.B., Cornell University 1972 (Magna Cum Laude in Economics)
• J.D., Harvard Law School 1975
• Bar Admissions: State and Federal Courts in Arizona and California

• American Bar Association, Sections of Dispute Resolution, Litigation and Business Law
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers
• State Bar of California
• California Lawyers Association
• Bar Association of San Francisco
• Santa Clara County Bar Association, Co-Chair, Section of Real Property and Business Law
• The International Council for Online Dispute Resolution

Mediation: $6,000 full day, $3,000 half day.

Arbitration: $600 per hour.