Harold D. Paddock III

In his court-based experience and in private practice, Harold Paddock has successfully mediated cases in the fields of personal injury, wrongful death, contracts, foreclosure, workers compensation, land use, eminent domain/appropriation, non-competition clauses, consumer sales practices, and general business litigation. His prior experience as a Magistrate includes presiding over both jury and jury-waived trials. He is the co-creator of the widely duplicated Settlement Week program for resolving civil cases with volunteer attorneys as mediators. As part of helping other jurisdictions set up Settlement Week programs, he has been a mediation trainer.

Mr. Paddock brings 51 years of legal and litigation experience to his private practice as a civil case mediator. Retired from the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, where he was Magistrate and Settlement Week Coordinator, and most recently the Clermont County Common Pleas Court where he served as Court Mediator and Senior Magistrate, Mr. Paddock has decades of experience and training to apply at the mediation table. In his experience as a Magistrate, he has presided over summary jury trials (an experience that would apply to mock trials), resolved discovery disputes, managed complex litigation, created court dispute resolution systems, and designed and used mediation processes for large numbers of foreclosure cases. When in private practice as a mediator, he served as a Special Master in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio for foreclosure cases. 

With a background in science and engineering, Mr. Paddock is comfortable with cases involving high technology, physics, and chemistry. Prior experience with pandemic mediation and other cases has given him considerable experience with Zoom mediation. As a native of Cleveland and having worked in Columbus and Cincinnati, Mr. Paddock can mediate and provide other dispute resolution services in all of Ohio's counties.     

• Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, cum laude, Ohio State University, major-economics (1970) (undergraduate studies included chemistry, physics, and engineering courses which provides a background in science and technology)
• Juris Doctorate, Ohio State University (1973)

• Former Member, Panel of Settlement Week volunteer mediators, United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division
• Former Special Master for foreclosure cases, United States District Court, Southern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.
• Former Member, Roster of Mediators, American Arbitration Association.
• Approved mediator for the United States Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Ohio.  
• Former Member, Arbitration panel, Better Business Bureau AutoLine Program, Former Member, Panel of Dispute Resolvers, American Healthcare Lawyers Association.
• Former approved mediator, Delaware County Common Pleas Court, civil and foreclosure.
• Former Member, Roster of Neutrals, Ohio State Employment Relations Board.
• Former Impartial Hearing Officer (IHO) for the Ohio Department of Education for due process hearings on complaints regarding individual education programs.
• Former Member, Board of Zoning Appeals, Appointed by Westerville City Council. Elected as Vice-Chair.
• Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce, Government Relations Committee, former vice-chair.
• Former Member, Ohio Supreme Court, Dispute Resolution Committee, and ad hoc Working Group on Foreclosure Mediation Statewide Model Program.

Please call for details. Basic rate would be $360 per hour (this divides evenly by 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 parties.) For cases with more than 6 parties, a rate can be negotiated based on complexity and duration of the process.