Meet Our Neutrals — Deborah L. Moskowitz

Trial experience and life experience matter in mediation and arbitration.   The more experience a neutral has, the more circumspect and insightful she or he can be.   Deborah L. Moskowitz brings her experience as a lawyer, managing partner, and entrepreneur to work every day along with broad life experience in general.   Combined with her curiosity, demeanor, and persistence, she can be trusted to excel at the things parties and their counsel need from those they engage to help resolve cases. In addition to being a sought-after neutral, Deb contributes her authenticity, empathy, and energy to her community and lends her talents to organizations making positive impacts, like the Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association.

As you will no doubt glean from what follows, and what you already know if you have worked with her in any capacity, Deb truly cares about people.   We are fortunate to have her on our distinguished panel and hope that you enjoy learning a bit more about her.

What did you do before becoming a mediator?

Before becoming a mediator, I was the managing partner of a large full-service law firm. My personal areas of practice were medical related litigation, hospitality related litigation, personal injury, and employment litigation. I enjoyed working with so many different types of people and cases. 

What did you like most about your prior career?

I loved having the opportunity to mentor young lawyers and to provide a platform for people to expand their practices and personal success. What is important to one person might not be as important to another and I enjoyed being able to help people identify what was important to their specific career and help them meet those goals, even if that took them eventually out of the firm. Seeing folks who started with the firm right out of law school who are considered to be the tops in their fields, plaintiff lawyers, defense lawyers, judges, political advisers, playing a part in that personal development for people was extraordinarily rewarding for me.

What is your favorite part of being a mediator?

My favorite part of being a mediator is helping parties solve problems. No matter what type of lawsuit you are dealing with, it started with a conflict that people or businesses were unable to solve without some sort of intervention. Helping the parties find closure to that issue of conflict is rewarding. 

What are the traits of the greatest lawyers you have known?

Honesty, compassion, humility, grit, and tenacity.

What is something about you not too many people are aware of?

My husband and I have a gourmet hot sauce and condiment company that we started together back in 2009, Fat Cat Gourmet Foods. What started out as a hobby for us has turned into a viable business. We enjoy incorporating the flavors of many of the places we have been fortunate to visit into our products.

What is your favorite movie? Book? Pastime? Sport, etc. and why?

My favorite book is To Kill A Mockingbird. While I have seen the film adaptation and even the stage adaptation many times, I have always loved the book. I always take away something new about the human experience every time I read it. Harper Lee was a masterful writer.