Today we lost an irreplaceable member of our community, Joe Markowitz, to cancer.
As most of you know, Joe served as President of the Southern California Mediation Association (SCMA) from 2013 - 2014. As President, Joe was the ultimate consensus builder. In fact, one of his "claims to fame” was that he never took a vote during his tenure as president. Instead, Joe committed himself to finding creative solutions to which everyone on the Board could agree.
Joe possessed all of the qualities one would expect in an exceptional mediator.
He was patient, kind, and an excellent listener. The more complex the problem, the more Joe found delight in working to resolve it. He approached every situation with genuine curiosity and kindness. Joe was also a prolific writer, philosopher, and, most importantly, a true believer in — and champion of — peacemaking.
Joe may be gone, but neither he — nor his contributions to SCMA and the larger mediation community — will ever be forgotten.
Joseph C. Markowitz has over 30 years of experience as a business trial lawyer. He has represented clients ranging from individuals and small businesses to Fortune 500 corporations. He started practicing with a boutique litigation firm in New York City, then was a partner in a large international firm both in New York then in Los Angeles, then returned to practicing with a small firm and on his own. In addition to general commercial litigation, Mr. Markowitz has expertise in intellectual property, employment law, entertainment law, real estate, and bankruptcy litigation. Mr. Markowitz has managed his own firm since 1994. Mr. Markowitz was trained as a mediator more than 15 years ago, and has conducted a substantial number of mediations as a member of the Mediation Panels in the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the District Court and Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California, as well as private mediations. He has served since 2010 as a board member of the Southern California Mediation Association.
