Sidney Kanazawa, Esq.
Sidney Kanazawa, Esq.
Mediator/Arbitrator
Sid Kanazawa is a mediator, arbitrator, trial lawyer, and bridge builder bringing people
together even when it seems impossible. For over 40 years, he represented plaintiffs and
defendants, locally, nationally, and internationally, in jury and non-jury trials, arbitrations,
administrative proceedings, crises, mediations, and negotiations.
Sid builds bridges to take parties from anger and distrust to curiosity and hope. In the largest
oil spill in the Port of Los Angeles, Sid quelled an angry mob and settled 600 claims within
two weeks of the spill and all 2,000+ within three months. For plaintiffs and defendants, he
has resolved multi-million matters over lunch and wrote about it in a 2004 article entitled,
"Apologies and Lunch" which has been republished multiple times. Recently, at the Edelman
Children's Court, he has engaged parents negotiating their parenting time and has converted
their long-standing hate, anger, and distrust into solid agreements in nearly 100% of the
mediations he has handled.
ORGANIZATIONS & ACHIEVEMENTS
- General Counsel, National Asian Pacific Bar Association, 2007-2017
- Recipient, Diversity and Inclusion Award, Litigation Counsel of America, 2019
- Named "Most Influential Minority Attorneys," Los Angeles Business Journal, 2018
- Recipient, McGuireWoods, Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award, 2017
- Board Member, Product Liability Advisory Council, Inc., 2015-2018
- Board Member, Japanese American Bar Association, 2014-16
- Recipient, President's Award, National Asian Pacific Bar Association, 2014
- Recipient, G. Duffield Smith Outstanding Publication Award, DRI, 2007
- Chair, Vice Chair, Program Chair, Trial Tactics Committee, DRI, 2005-2010
- Named to "Southern California Super Lawyers," Class Action, Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters, 2004-2019
- Prolific speaker, panelist, instructor and author on a wide range of topics for legal organizations and publications nationwide, including diversity and inclusion; product liability, mass casualty and cross-border dispute resolution; and negotiation, deposition and trial skills
PRACTICE AREAS
Matters involving admiralty, anti-trust, business/contract, class action, construction defect, education, employment, entertainment, environmental, family law, government, intellectual property, manufacturing, natural disasters, personal injury, product liability, real estate, sports medicine and moreEDUCATION & TRAINING
J.D., University of Southern California Gould School of Law, 1978B.A., University of Hawaii, Education, 1974
Harvard Program on Negotiation
Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution (Pepperdine Law School)
Southern California Family Mediation Program (Edelman Children's Court)
Asian Pacific American Dispute Resolution Center
Los Angeles County Bar Association
FINRA
Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs Mediation Program (Stanley Mosk Superior Court)
Dan Simon Transformative Mediation Program
U.S. District Court, Central District of California Mediation Panel
Mr. Kanazawa is available nationwide.
