Mediator Christine Kurek finds common ground, one case at a time

Christine Kurek believes every mediation presents an invitation.

Not simply to settle a lawsuit, but to step into someone else's world at one of its most difficult moments.

"When you are asked to mediate a case, you are receiving an invitation to step into someone's world," Kurek said. "It's an honor and privilege to be asked to learn about their situation and help them find a resolution."

That perspective shapes Kurek's work as founder of Kurek Dispute Resolution, where she mediates employment, personal injury, insurance and business disputes. It also explains why, despite maintaining a full-time mediation practice, she devotes significant time to volunteer service with the Los Angeles Superior Court's Mediation Volunteer Panel, Resolve Law LA and the U.S. District Court's Central District mediation program. She was also appointed in 2025 to the Los Angeles Superior Court's ADR Committee, where she helps guide the court's mediation program.

For Kurek, volunteer mediation is fundamentally an access-to-justice issue.

"There are many instances where parties may not be able to afford private mediation," she said. "Just because the case valuation is low doesn't mean that case isn't significant to the individuals involved."

A graduate of UC Berkeley Law, Kurek has spent three decades building a career that spans private practice, in-house counsel and mediation. After beginning at Covington & Burling, she spent much of her career as an employment lawyer at companies including Yahoo!, Activision Blizzard and Verily Life Sciences, a Google affiliate. She also worked on the plaintiff's side before law school, giving her insight into both sides of the courtroom.

That varied background, she said, has become her "secret sauce."

She can tell in-house lawyers, "I've been in your shoes," while helping plaintiffs understand how employers may evaluate a case. Years spent balancing legal, business and interpersonal concerns inside large organizations also taught her to approach disputes pragmatically while recognizing the emotions that inevitably accompany litigation.

Preparation begins well before mediation day.

Kurek considers pre-mediation conference calls one of the profession's most underused tools, giving attorneys an opportunity to share confidential concerns, identify information gaps and develop a strategy for productive negotiations before anyone enters the mediation room--or Zoom session.

When negotiations stall, Kurek often returns to first principles.

Rather than debating who is right, she encourages parties to focus on what they need to move forward, reminding them that her role is not to determine the truth but to help them resolve the dispute. She said she sometimes watches participants visibly shift from reliving the conflict to thinking about settlement.

What she enjoys most isn't simply closing a case.

"My favorite thing about mediating isn't just settling a case," Kurek said. "It's finding the key to resolution."