As a partner in Carter, Carter, Fries & Grunschlag, Bob Fries represents small businesses, non-profits, and individuals in a wide variety of matters, he teaches negotiation, and he serves as an impartial neutral. His mediation training includes over 400 hours in facilitative, evaluative, and cross-cultural mediation with The Center for Mediation in Law, Stanford Law School, the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution at UC Hastings College of the Law, and the Strauss Institute at Pepperdine Law School.
Before joining Carter Carter Fries & Grunschlag, Bob Fries was a partner, and managing partner, in the law firm of Steinhart & Falconer, where he worked for 30 years. Attorneys have praised his insight and grasp of the psychological aspects of mediation and his ability to assist all parties in seeing things in a clear and realistic light. His mediation skills have also made him a more effective advocate.
Bob has written and lectured on many employment-related subjects, including key handbook policies, EEO concepts, disability, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, ADR, hiring, discipline and discharge (union and non-union settings), drug testing, privacy, independent contractors, wage and hour exemptions, leaves of absence, defamation, and unique California laws and regulations.
He has formerly conducted trainings in these subjects for clients and industry groups. He also has lectured for the Stanford Business School, the Northern California Human Resources Association, the California Hotel and Motel Association, the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, the Litigation Section of the American Bar Association, and the Labor and Employment Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco. He was an Adjunct Professor at UC Hastings College of Law where he taught negotiation.
Experience as a Neutral
- Business disputes
- Contracts
- Fraud
- Personal injury
- Employment
- Discrimination
- Harassment (race, gender, sex, disability)
Education:
- B.A., J.D. Stanford University (Phi Beta Kappa, Order of the Coif). Woodrow Wilson Fellow
- Law clerk to the honorable Robert F. Peckham, U.S. District Court, N.D. California
Memberships
- State Bar of California (Labor and Employment, Litigation, and ADR sections).
- American Bar Association (ADR and Labor and Employment sections).
- Bar Association of San Francisco (Labor and Employment and ADR sections).
- Fellow, College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
- The Mediation Society (President, 2010).
- Northern California Super Lawyer.
- Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent for over 40 years.