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Gayle L. Eskridge

Aurelia Garcia

Arbitrator/Mediator

GAYLE L. ESKRIDGE, the principal of ESKRIDGE LAW, was a litigation and trial attorney from 1988 through 2022, representing individuals, corporations and partnerships, employees and employers, wealth management firms, financial advisors, investors, developers, and municipalities. With broad litigation and trial experience, Ms. Eskridge has managed hundreds of cases and now dedicates her practice to serving as a Mediator and Arbitrator in the areas of Employment, Business and Real Estate Law.

Location: Los Angeles, California and Rancho Cordova, California
Phone: 310/303-3951 and 916/898-1469

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Both ESKRIDGE LAW & MEDIATION and Gayle L. Eskridge have held AV ratings from Martindale-Hubbell every year since 2001 and have been designated an AV Preeminent 5.0 out of 5 Peer Review Rated Attorney every year since 2015.  An AV rating identifies a lawyer or firm with very high to preeminent legal ability. The AV rating is a reflection of expertise, experience, integrity and overall professional excellence.

Ms. Eskridge has also been designated a Martindale-Hubbell Top Rated Lawyer in Litigation every year since 2015, and a Martindale-Hubbell Labor and Employment Law Top Rated Lawyer every year since 2015. Ms. Eskridge has also been designated a Martindale-Hubbell Women’s AV Preeminent Attorney every year since 2011.

Ms. Eskridge has been designated a California Super Lawyer for every year since 2012. (Only 5% of all attorneys in California ever receive such a distinction.)

Ms. Eskridge has also been designated as one of the Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers is regarded – by both the legal profession and the public – as one of the most credible measures of legal integrity and distinction in the United States.  Inclusion in Best Lawyers symbolizes excellence in practice.

Ms. Eskridge has also been designated a Top Attorney in Southern California by Los Angeles Magazine. Ms. Eskridge has also been selected a California Top Ten Attorney in the Litigation, Lawsuits & Disputes Division by the American Institute of Legal Counsel.

Ms. Eskridge has been designated as one of America’s Most Honored Professionals – Top 1% in every year since 2011.  She has also been designated one of the Top Women Attorneys in Southern California every year since 2012.

Ms. Eskridge is a mediator certified by the Los Angeles County Bar Association Dispute Resolution Services, Inc.  Ms. Eskridge has served as a Settlement Conference Officer for the Los Angeles Superior Court, and as a Member of the Los Angeles Superior Court Mediator Panel.  Ms. Eskridge is also a Pro Tem Settlement Conference Judge with the Sacramento Superior Court.  Ms. Eskridge is currently a member of the American Arbitration Association Mediator and Arbitrator Panels, a Professional Member of the Southern California Mediation Association, a Senior Mediator with Mediate.com, a member of the California Dispute Resolution Council, a member of Arbitrate.com, and a member of the Association of Attorney-Mediators.  Ms. Eskridge has conducted over 250 mediations. Ms. Eskridge has served as an Arbitrator in over 150 arbitrations.

Ms. Eskridge is admitted to practice in all the courts of the State of California, including all the United States District Courts in California. Ms. Eskridge holds a Juris Doctorate degree from National University School of Law.  Her legal studies were distinguished by three American Jurisprudence Awards – in Constitutional Law, Real Property Law and Remedies, and by an F. Lee Bailey Moot Court Award.

Ms. Eskridge is active in the Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA).  She is a former Chair of the LACBA Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee, which is one of the most esteemed ethics organizations in the country.  Ms. Eskridge was previously a long-time member of the LACBA Judicial Appointments Committee, which investigates and interviews judicial applicants and submits reports to the Governor.

Ms. Eskridge is active in the Sacramento County Bar Association, formerly serving as a member of the board of directors, and on the leadership committees of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Law section, the Labor and Employment Law section, and the Real Property Law section.  Ms. Eskridge has also been Chair of the Sacramento County Bar Association’s Membership Committee and a member of its Bylaws Committee.

Ms. Eskridge is or has been a member of:

  • The American Bar Association, including the Dispute Resolution Section (1988 – present);
  • The State Bar of California (1988 – present) – including the Litigation Section (1988 – 2018), Labor and Employment Law Section (1994 – 2018), Real Property Section (1988 – 2018), and Business Law Section (2006 – 2018);
  • The California Lawyers Association (2018 – present) – including the Litigation Section (2018 – present), Labor and Employment Law Section (2018 – present), Real Property Section (2018 – present), and Business Law Section (2018 – present);
  • The Los Angeles County Bar Association – including the Business Law, Real Property, Labor and Employment, and Litigation Sections (1994 – present);
  • The Judicial Appointments Committee (2007 – 2011), and the Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee (2014 – 2023);
  • The Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles – including the Business-Corporations, Real Property, Employment and Labor, Litigation, and ADR-Mediation Sections (2006 – 2018);
  • The Sacramento County Bar Association (formerly on board of directors), including the Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Section (currently on leadership committee), Labor and Employment Law Section (currently on leadership committee), Real Property Law Section (currently on leadership committee), and Business Law Section and Civil Procedure Section (2021 – present), and formerly on the Membership and Bylaws Committees;
  • The South Bay Bar Association (1994 – 2020);
  • The South Bay Women Lawyers Association (1997 – 2000);
  • The California Employment Lawyers Association (2002 – 2020);
  • The National Employment Lawyers Association (2002 – 2020);
  • The American Arbitration Association (2006 – present);
  • The San Diego County Bar Association – including the Business & Corporate Law, Real Property Law, Labor and Employment Law, General Civil Litigation (Chair during 1990-1992), and Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections (1988 – 2015), and the Animal Law Section (1997 – 2015); and editor of Dicta, The Lawyer’s Magazine (1990 – 1993);
  • Lawyers Club of San Diego (1988 – 1994).

Ms. Eskridge has been a guest speaker on a variety of legal topics for the Sacramento County Bar Association, the Financial Executives Networking Group, the South Bay Association of Realtors, the Del Amo Rotary Club, the California Society of Medical Assistants, the Torrance Chamber of Commerce, the Corporate Advisory Committee of the Los Angeles Commission on Human Relations, and other organizations, and has provided seminars on legal issues to numerous businesses.

Ms. Eskridge has also served as an expert witness in employment-related litigation.

Ms. Eskridge has had numerous legal articles published in the San Diego Bar Association’s Dicta, The Lawyer’s Magazine, the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Update, and the Sacramento Bar Association’s Sacramento Lawyer, among other publications.

Ms. Eskridge has provided pro bono services for many years to the Los Angeles Superior Court Alternative Dispute Program, and the Sacramento Superior Court Settlement Program.

Ms. Eskridge is the founder and President of Hercules Animal Rescue, Inc., a nonprofit corporation committed to the rescue and protection of abandoned, lost, and feral animals.  Hercules Animal Rescue Inc. has rescued and found homes for close to 100 kittens since 2006, and has spayed, neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated numerous other cats.  Ms. Eskridge has also done pro bono legal work for other nonprofit animal protection organizations, such as Friends of Cats, Inc. and Emergency Animal Rescue, Inc. In addition to her animal protection work, Ms. Eskridge has provided pro bono legal services for the Cancer Legal Resource Center of Los Angeles, and for victims of HIV and AIDS.

Ms. Eskridge also holds a real estate broker license from the California Department of Real Estate.

During law school, Ms. Eskridge worked full time as a Senior Contract Administrator at a major aerospace company, handling multi-million dollar contracts, both government and foreign.  Ms. Eskridge was the first woman Senior Contract Administrator and also the youngest person ever to be promoted to the position of Senior Contract Administrator at any division of Teledyne, Inc.  Despite working full time during law school, Ms. Eskridge passed the California Bar Examination on the first attempt.

Bar Admissions
  • California, 1988
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California
Education
  • National University School of Law, San Diego, California, Juris Doctor, 1988
  • University of Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri, Bachelor of Arts – With Distinction, Major: Music, 1982
Published Works
  • “Out-of-State Attorneys Participating in Arbitrations in California: Duties of the Attorneys, Co-Counsel, Opposing Counsel, and Arbitrators,” SACRAMENTO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION, SACRAMENTO LAWYER, Vol. 2, 2024
  • “Let’s Get Naked (Mediation – Stripping Yourself of Preconceptions and Implicit Biases),” SACRAMENTO COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION, SACRAMENTO LAWYER, Vol 1, 2024
  • “What Must You Report to the State Bar (or Anyone Else), Regarding Your Professional Conduct and/or Discipline,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, June 2023
  • “Considerations and Potential Consequences of Becoming an Advocate-Witness,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, November, 2022
  • “Whose Money Is It – Attorney Duties Regarding Funds of ‘Other Persons,’” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, May 2022
  • “Out-of-State Attorneys Participating in Arbitrations in California: Duties of the Attorneys, Co-Counsel, Opposing Counsel, and Arbitrators,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, November 2021
  • “New Rules of Professional Conduct Include Much Broader Rule Regarding Civil Rights,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, December 2018
  • “Preserving Former Clients’ Confidentiality in Successive Representation of Clients with Conflicts of Interest,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, March 2016
  • “Attorneys Have a Duty to Adequately Communicate with Their Clients – No Excuses,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, 2015
  • “Malpractice Action by One Client Destroys Attorney-Client Privilege of Jointly Represented Client,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, June 2015
  • “Attorneys Have a Duty to Adequately Communicate with Their Clients – No Excuses,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, April 2015
  • “Attorney’s Duty in Releasing Former Client’s File,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, November 2014
  • “Settlement Agreement Provisions That Purport to Restrict an Attorney’s Right to Practice Law” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, March 2014
  • “Death of a Sole Practitioner: Planning for the Event and Administering the Aftermath,” LOS ANGELES COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION UPDATE, November 2013
  • “To Withdraw or Not to Withdraw – Ethical Issues of the Decision,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, July 1997
  • “MCLE Article:  The Hearsay Rule – Confessions, Admissions and Declarations,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, March 1997
  • “Grounds for a New Trial,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, October 1992
  • “Life After the Verdict,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, August 1992
  • “Firms Can Face Lawsuits Over Client Solicitation,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, June 1992
  • “The Intertwining of the Medical and Legal Communities,” SAN DIEGO PHYSICIAN, April 1992
  • “Ethical Responsibilities,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, February 1992
  • “Damages in Legal Malpractice Actions,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, November 1991
  • “Filing a Motion to Withdraw,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, September 1991
  • “Professional Responsibility”, Editor’s Page, DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, September 1991
  • “Malicious Prosecution”, Editor’s Page, DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, March 1991
  • “Professional Responsibility”, Editor’s Page, DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, February 1991
  • “San Diego County Bar Association Board Briefs,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, October 1990
  • “Jury Nullification – An Interview with Cyrus Zal,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, March 1990
  • “A Blissful Way to Practice,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, February 1990
  • “The Decade in Dicta,” DICTA, THE LAWYER’S MAGAZINE, December 1989
Honors and Awards
  • F. Lee Bailey Moot Court Award
  • Significant Contributions to Legal Scholarship Award
  • American Jurisprudence Award – Real Property Law
  • American Jurisprudence Award – Constitutional Law
  • American Jurisprudence Award – Remedies
  • Certificates of Excellence – Labor Law, International Law and Wills
  • National University School of Law First Year Scholarship
  • Certificate of Appreciation – San Diego County Bar Association, 1990 – 1992
Professional Associations and Memberships
  • California State Bar, 1988 – Present
  • California Lawyers Association, including the Litigation, Labor and Employment Law, Real Property, and Business Law Sections, Member, 2018 – Present
  • American Bar Association, Member, 1988 – Present
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association, Labor and Employment, Business Law, Real Property, and Litigation Sections, Member, 1994 – Present; Judicial Appointments Committee, Member, 2007 – 2012; Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee, Member of Executive Committee, 2012 – 2019
  • The Beverly Hills Bar Association, Member, 2024 – Present
  • The Sacramento County Bar Association (formerly on board of directors), including the Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Section (currently on leadership committee), Labor and Employment Law Section (currently on leadership committee), Real Property Law Section (currently on leadership committee), and Business Law Section, and formerly on the Membership, MCLE, and Bylaws Committees, 2021 – Present
  • South Bay Women Lawyers Association, Member, 1997 – 2000
  • California Employment Lawyers Association, Member, 2002 – 2020
  • National Employment Lawyers Association, Member, 2002 – 2020
  • American Arbitration Association, Member, 2006 – Present
  • Consumer Attorneys Associations for Southern California, Member, 2009 – Present
  • San Diego County Bar Association, Business & Corporate Law, Real Property Law, Labor and Employment Law, General Civil Litigation, Alternative Dispute Resolution Sections, Member, 1988 – Present; Animal Law Section, Member, 1997 – Present; Litigation Section, Chair, 1990 – 1992, and Member, 1992 – Present; Dicta, The Lawyer’s Magazine, Editor, 1990-1993
  • Lawyers Club of San Diego, Member, 1988 – 1994
  • Torrance Area Chamber of Commerce, Member, 1997 – 2021
  • Friends of Cats, Inc., a non-profit corporation, Member, 1992 – Present; Board Member, 1992 – 1994
  • Hercules Animal Rescue, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, President, 2006 – Present
  • Emergency Animal Rescue, Inc., a nonprofit corporation, Member, 1994 – Present
Past Employment Positions
  • Hornberger & Criswell, 1995 – 1997
  • Title Recon Tracking, 1994 – 1995
  • Goode & Peterson, 1993 – 1994
  • William F. Woods, P.C., 1989 – 1993
  • Coppo and Cosgrove, 1988 – 1989
Pro Bono Activities
  • Friends of Cats, Inc., a non-profit corporation, 1992 – Present
  • Cancer Legal Resource Center of Los Angeles, 1999 – Present
  • Hercules Animal Rescue, Inc., a non-profit corporation, 2006 – Present
  • Emergency Animal Rescue, Inc., a non-profit corporation, 1994 – Present