Arbitrator appointed to resolve Dunn litigation

Former U.S. District Court Chief Magistrate Judge Edward A. Infante has been selected as arbitrator to resolve a lawsuit brought by former Executive Director Joseph Dunn.

“The State Bar’s new management team looks forward to concluding the litigation and putting the distraction of Dunn’s claims behind us so we can focus our efforts on fulfilling the State Bar’s most important function of public protection,” Executive Director Elizabeth Parker said.

Dunn’s Nov. 14, 2014 whistleblower lawsuit was ordered to binding arbitration last June. Two full-day mediation sessions that took place Sept. 14 and Nov. 6 were not successful.

At a Dec. 15 court hearing, Dunn’s attorneys withdrew a motion for preliminary injunction to reinstate the former executive director after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael J. Raphael indicated he would deny the motion on its merits.

On Dec. 21, Raphael rejected Dunn’s last-minute request to expand the list of potential arbitrators from which to choose or to resort to another list of arbitrators. Instead, Raphael nominated Infante, whose name was the only one that appeared on the lists of 15 arbitrators that each side had provided to the judge.