Hon. Lisa Rau (Ret.)

Judge Lisa Rau (Ret.) founded Resonate Mediation and Arbitration LLC in December 2019 after serving for over 18 years on the highest state trial court. At Resonate, Judge Rau uses her judicial expertise as a private mediator, arbitrator, and judge in complex litigated civil cases.  She serves as court-appointed special master overseeing discovery in multiple complex cases.  She also serves as an arbitrator to allocate lump sum settlements among multiple plaintiffs.  Judge Rau offers in-person, online and hybrid proceedings, depending upon counsels' preferences.  Judge Rau also provides neutral case analysis, discovery dispute resolution, and mock trials. 

For more than 18 years, Judge Lisa Rau served as a trial judge and judicial team leader in one of the nation's highest volume jurisdictions, Pennsylvania's Court of Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County.  At the end of her judicial career, she was assigned exclusively to resolve high value and high priority civil matters due to her ability to mediate cases to resolution. Judge Rau was selected to serve as Team Leader, where for 5 years she managed every major civil case filed in Philadelphia County during a calendar year, up to 7,200 cases.  As Team Leader, she resolved hundreds of major civil cases, presided over all discovery matters, handled pre-trial conferences, decided motions, and assigned cases for trial to a team of judges she supervised. Judge Rau engaged in daily settlement conferences that honed her mediation skills and allowed her to develop creative techniques for resolving cases. Throughout her judicial career, she presided over hundreds of trials, mostly civil jury trials. Judge Rau gained insight into case value and trial risks from jury verdicts and settlements.  Judge Rau served on the faculty for the National Judicial College for 12 years teaching evidence to judges nationwide & other countries.

Prior to the bench, Judge Rau was a civil litigator who specialized in complex employment and class action cases in federal court.

• National Judicial College, MA in judicial studies; GPA 4.0 (2019);
  • Thesis: “The Philadelphia Experiment in Civil Case Management–Journey From Disaster to Model Court”
• Stanford University Law School, J.D. (1987) Associate Editor, Stanford Law Review
• Colgate University, B.A., Psychology (high honors) magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa (1981)
• NADN, Advanced Mediation Training, Atlanta, Georgia (2022); Advanced Mediation Training, Montreal, CA (2024)
• AAA, Multi-Party, Multi-Faceted Dispute Resolution: The Online Experience (>15 hours) (2021)
• AAA, Arbitration Fundamentals and Best Practices (2021)
• Straus Institute, Pepperdine University, Mediating the Litigated Case (40 hours) (2020) 
• Center for Understanding in Conflict (2016, 2018, 2019)(>100 hours of mediation training)
• National Judicial College:
  • Professional Certificate in Dispute Resolution Trial Skills (120 hours) (2013)
  • Mediation Course, 2013 (40-hour course for certification as mediator)
  • Professional Cert. in Judicial Development & Gen. Jurisdiction Trial Skills (120 hours) (2009)
• ABA, IAM, AAA various trainings in mediation and arbitration (2020-present)

• American Arbitration Association (AAA): Employment Mediation & Arbitration Panel; Settlement Judge and Special Mastter 
• National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN):  Diplomate Member, Pennsylvania Chapter
• International Academy of Mediators (IAM): Distinguished Fellow
• Court of Common Pleas, Court-appointed Special Master
• International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR):
  • Judicial Panel,
  • Employment Disputes Panel-Northeast,
  • Health Care and Life Sciences Panel, 
  • Product Liability Panel,
  • Philadelphia ADR Panel
• Philadelphia Bar Association
  • Co-Chair - Fee Dispute Committee (2023-present)
  • Co-Chair - ADR Committee (2023-2024)
  • Facilitator - Debt Collection Court Modernization Task Force (2024)
  • Executive Committee of Civil Section (2018-present)
• ABA Section of Dispute Resolution (2020-present)

Please, call for more details.   In most cases, Judge Rau uses a flat fee pricing schedule so that clients can predict the overall cost of the mediation or arbitration.   When clients prefer an hourly rate, Judge Rau is happy to accommodate that request.