Gregory B. Curwen
   
Law Firm: Gierke, Curwen, P.S.
   
Address: 2102 North Pearl Street, Suite 400, Building D
  Tacoma, WA 98408
   
Phone: 253-752-1600
Fax: 253-752-1666
   
E-mail Address: gcurwen@gcdjlaw.com
   
Education:

University of Puget Sound, B.A., 1969;

John Marshall Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, 1974.
   
Court Admissions:

1974, Georgia and U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit;

1975, Washington and U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington;

1981, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit;

1996, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington;

1998, U.S. Supreme Court.

   
Legal Experience
 
and Work History: I entered the practice of law in the State of Georgia, in a suburb of Atlanta in 1974. I began active practice of law in the State of Washington in 1975, and have been with the law firm of Gierke, Curwen, P.S. and its predecessors since that time.
   
Focus of Law Practice: Insurance Defense; Insurance Coverage Litigation; Premises Liability Defense; Municipal Liability; Civil Rights Defense; Products Liability; Health Care; Construction Accidents; Construction Defects; Professional Errors and Omissions; Pharmacy Law; Architects and Engineers Errors and Omissions; Insurance Agents and Brokers Defense; Real Estate Brokerage Law; Employment Discrimination; Commercial Litigation; Alternative Dispute Resolution; Mediation; Arbitration.
   
Professional Associations:

Cobb County (Georgia), Tacoma-Pierce County and Washington State (Member, Special District Counsel, 1983-1995, 2000-2005) Bar Associations;

State Bar of Georgia;

Washington State Defense Trial Lawyers Association;

Defense Research Institute.

Appointments:

Rule 39.1 ADR Panel Member, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, appointed by the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Western District.

Washington State Bar Association, Member Interprofessional Committee 1976-1980.

Pierce County Local Administrative Committee for Discipline, Member and Chairman 1980-1982.

Special District Counsel, Washington State Bar Association 1983-1995.  Special District Counsel, Washington State Bar Association 2000-2005.

Super Lawyer 2000, Washington Law & Politics, August-September 2000.

Master Barrister Member of the Robert J. Bryan Chapter XXV of the American Inns of Court.

   
Alternative Dispute  
Resolution (ADR) Training: American Arbitration Association basic and intermediate arbitration training, Washington State Bar Association and Washington State Trial Lawyers Association and Seminar Training in Arbitration, former member, American Arbitration Association panel, current member of King County Mandatory Arbitration panel, Pierce County Mandatory Arbitration panel, and Thurston County Mandatory Arbitration panel.

Settlement Now, Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced mediator training, Washington State Bar Association and Washington State Trial Lawyers Association and Seminar Training in Mediation Services, former member, American Mediation panel; Advanced Mediation/ADR training through Alan Alhadeff, Esq.
   
ADR Experience: I began providing mediation services in 1983 in both federal and state court cases prior to being appointed as a Rule 39.1 Mediator. I have provided mediation services for the United States Attorney's office in Seattle in the field of professional negligence cases involving medical malpractice and in general liability cases involving premises liability. I have served as an arbitrator selected separately by both plaintiff and defense counsel, as a party designated arbitrator, I have served as a single agreed arbitrator based on the stipulation of counsel, and I have been appointed as a neutral arbitrator in three person uninsured/underinsured motorist panel arbitration proceedings. In the calendar year 1996, I performed 34 mediations through the offices of American Mediation in Bellevue, Washington, plus six additional mediations independent of my membership as a panel member with American Mediation. I additionally served as a designated arbitrator under the provisions of MAR 3.1, approximately 15 times during the calendar year 1996, and served either as a plaintiff, defendant, or neutral arbitrator or a stipulated sole arbitrator in at least 12 additional UM/UIM arbitration proceedings during the calendar year 1996. I was additionally involved in another 12 to 15 arbitrations and mediations during the 1996 calendar year as defense counsel representing clients. Alternate dispute resolution procedures either as an arbitrator or a mediator comprise approximately 20% of my active practice. From 1997 through the present, I have mediated an average of twelve to fifteen cases per year as a mediator and another twelve per year as counsel for various clients. I have also served as an arbitrator on approximately fifteen to twenty cases per year from 1997 to the present.  Additional CLE approved ADR training is scheduled for my completion in 2010.
   
ADR Practice Areas: Civil Rights, Employment, Insurance, Products Liability, Professional Negligence, Torts