All Rise for Mediator Extraordinaire

Frustrated by years of legal stalling and fruitless bickering, Jerrold S. Oliver had lost his patience.

Squaring off against two dozen sparring attorneys gathered in his Santa Ana courtroom, the Superior Court judge warned: “Pack your bags Monday morning and plan on staying here a while--because you’re not leaving here until we’ve settled this thing.”

Four days later, as one participant recalls, a group of tired yet triumphant attorneys emerged from the court with an agreement for Fullerton to pay $2.5 million to 141 families who alleged that they had been endangered by hazardous wastes at the McColl dump site.

A patient, coaxing mediator on some occasions, a hard-driving, relentless salesman on others, Oliver, 63, has carved during his 18 years on the bench a statewide reputation as a jurist capable of taking on overwhelmingly complicated cases and hashing out settlements.

At a time when the volume and complexity of civil disputes have risen dramatically, the settlements Oliver has helped achieve have saved litigants countless hours--and county taxpayers millions of dollars--by avoiding years-long trials, court officials say.

“If the Superior Court had an American Express gold card,” Assistant Presiding Judge James L. Smith said, “I’d give it to Judge Oliver, tell him to take a few months’ vacation and spend whatever he wants. That’s how valuable he is to us.”

Some in the legal community criticize his occasionally abrasive, take-charge style in settlement talks, a style that one lawyer said inspires a combination of “fear and respect” in litigants. But few if any quarrel with the results produced by a man deemed Judge of the Year for 1986 by the California Trial Lawyers Assn.

A $14-million settlement in the McColl dump site case, payments approaching $30 million to thousands of survivors who claimed the remains of their loved ones had been mishandled at Harbor Lawn Crematory in Costa Mesa, the resolution of a $150-million lawsuit over the collapse of Anaheim-based Heritage Bank in 1984, a multimillion-dollar agreement involving the the huge 1982 Gypsum Canyon fire--all bear Oliver’s imprint.

And it was just two weeks ago that the Whittier native scored his latest courtroom coup: an $8.5-million settlement gained by more than 900 homeowners who maintained that they had been victims of sloppy design and construction work at their Laguna Village condominiums.

“For some reason,” said Oliver, who lives in La Habra, “I’ve always been pretty good at appealing to the logic and common sense of people, which is what the art of settlements is all about. It’s really salesmanship, based on credibility and experience.”

52 Co-Defendants Haggling

Just weeks before the Laguna Village agreement, an amiable resolution to the dispute had appeared all but impossible, as attorneys for the 52 co-defendants haggled over who was to blame for faulty roofing, bad drainage and other problems. With no money in hand from the project’s developers, the leaders of the homeowners group were anxiously preparing to go to court and then endure the appeals sure to follow--with no guarantees of success.

More than 60 attorneys in the case were laboring in anticipation of a trial that could have lasted 18 months. And Superior Court administrators were eyeing their checkbook in expectation of having to spend more than $70,000 to knock down courtroom walls and put in a new seating and sound system to accommodate the huge number of litigants.

When all that was averted during a frantic three days of negotiations in Oliver’s courtroom, it was the judge whom attorneys credited for having forged a “meeting of the minds” where none had existed before.

And even when a last-minute demand by one of the defendants threatened to scuttle the settlement, Oliver appealed to the interests of the entire group in open court to help preserve the deal.

‘Allowing People to Explain’

Daniel A. Nordberg, an Irvine attorney who represented the Laguna homeowners, said: “His skill has to do with allowing people to explain themselves so that they feel comfortable in knowing that people are listening. He’s the best at that.”

By their nature, settlement agreements do not generally leave either side completely satisfied, but rather offer litigants the security of a quick and certain solution rather than a costly investment in the long and uncertain procedure of a trial.

For the 900 Laguna homeowners who agreed to receive $8.5 million over the next 15 years for repairs and reconstruction at the condominium complex, “it was just such a relief to be able to get this thing off our shoulders now,” said Pat Gummeson, president of the homeowners’ association. “To see this through another three, four, five years (in court) was just too much.”

For the attorneys, the settlement was no less a relief. One wrote Oliver to express his appreciation on behalf of both him and his children: “Your efforts mean they will be able to see their father during the next year.”

Experience in Sales

Oliver said his bartering abilities are partly rooted in his days as a salesman of agricultural chemicals, after his graduation from Oregon State University in 1948.

A law degree, three decades in the profession and thousands of settlements later, Oliver said the thrill and challenge of selling a compromise to often-unwilling parties remains a prime motivation.

“I guess I’ve got a stubborn streak,” he said. “When someone comes in here to me and says, ‘We can’t settle this thing,’ that gets my adrenaline going.”

Indeed, lawyers who have worked with Oliver said the judge allows them the freedom to work out a dispute on their own--but always under the realization that if they stray too far into lawyerly squabbling, he will not hesitate to clamp down to get the talks moving.

“He’s a very no-nonsense judge who is excellent at getting right to the heart of these very complex cases,” said Betty J. McMullen, a Tustin lawyer who worked with Oliver extensively on the Harbor Lawn cremation case. “If it’s humanly possible to settle a case, he’ll do his darndest to get there. He leaves no stone unturned.”

‘Knows When to Back Off’

Jeffrey Matz of Van Nuys, lead attorney for many of the homeowners around the McColl dump, added: “He knows when to back off and allow the lawyers do their thing, and he knows when to step in with a strong hand and take charge. That’s a talent you can’t teach.”

Yet some see that as a liability. A lawyer who asked not to be identified asserted that Oliver “tends to take control of the case from the lawyers, and he’ll make demands that aren’t necessarily commensurate with the parties’ concerns.”

But Oliver himself said his main tool is not the force of his personality or his command of the law--both considerable--but rather the cloud of a potentially lengthy trial that hangs over settlement talks.

“Nobody wants to have to go to trial with these enormous multiparty cases--it’s too draining,” he said. “I can plead and cajole and chastise all day long, but if I don’t have the threat of an open courtroom where we’re going to be able to try the case, I’ve lost my best weapon.”

A popular and assertive personality with colleagues, Oliver said he once considered a run for the state Legislature. But that interest, along with more concerted efforts to seek higher judicial posts, fizzled.

Not Politically Active

Oliver had sought the position of presiding Superior Court judge in the early 1980s, in what one judge recalled as “one of our more hotly contested elections,” centering on political affiliations. Oliver is a Republican but said he does not consider himself politically active.

Oliver also sought a position on the 4th District Court of Appeal; while reportedly among the last few finalists, he was passed over several times.

He did have a temporary position at the appellate court this spring, securing settlements in about 38 of the 60 cases he handled there. So impressed was Presiding Justice Harmon G. Scoville that he said: “I think he’s one of the finest settlement justices in the whole state.”

For now, Oliver said he is happy to continue his duties in Superior Court--with added responsibility as of this month for heading the court’s newly created unit handling complex litigation. He also plans to continue lecturing and conducting legal seminars around the state for law groups.

“I’m really happy where I am right now,” he said.

He plans to retire in two years, travel and perhaps redevelop his golf swing. But he also wants to keep up with his law work through part-time private mediation.

“Once you’ve been in there hammering away at those settlements,” he said, “it’s tough to give it up altogether.”