Joe Markowitz was born in New York City in 1954. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia University in 1976, and a Juris Doctor, with honors, from the University of Chicago Law School in 1979. He was an associate editor of the University of Chicago Law Review, and a member of the Order of the Coif. After clerking for the Honorable Bernard M. Decker of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Joe practiced with the New York City firm of Parker Auspitz Neesemann & Delehanty. He became a partner in 1987, prior to the firm's merger with Morrison & Foerster that same year.
In 1990, after having practiced in New York City for more than nine years, Joe moved to Morrison & Foerster's Los Angeles office. In 1993, Joe decided to remain in Los Angeles, but returned to practicing with a small firm, joining the Los Angeles office of the Orange-County based firm Pettis, Tester, Kruse & Krinsky as a partner. When the Orange County partners of Pettis, Tester decided to re-join large firms, Joe started his own firm in August, 1994.
Joe is a member of the bars of the states of New York and California, and a number of federal courts. He served as chairman of the Legal Committee of the Los Angeles Conservancy, an organization active in historic preservation, and is proud to say that he was instrumental in saving the Cinerama Dome. He participated in a mission to Malaysia and Singapore in 1989, out of which arose a report he co-authored entitled "The Decline in the Rule of Law in Malaysia and Singapore," appearing at 45 The Record of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York 924 (1990) and 46 The Record 5 (1991). He co-authored a report on the Torture Victims Protection Act in 1987, prior to its Congressional enactment. He published an article in the Spring 2008 edition of the ABA Litigation Section ADR committee on the movement to abolish pre-dispute arbitration agreements in consumer transactions. He currently authors three blogs, a general legal practice blog, as well as this one on mediation started in 2009 and another blog on politics, called Hope and Change, started in 2008.
Mr. Markowitz has served as a mediator for more than twelve years, has taken more than 100 hours of courses and seminars in mediation, and is a member of the Mediation Panels in both the District Court and Bankruptcy Court in the Central District of California, as well as the Los Angeles County Superior Court. He is also a member of the board of the Southern California Mediation Association.
For a more detailed resume, go here.
