David A. Hoffman    

David A. Hoffman is the founding member of Boston Law Collaborative, LLC, and teaches the Mediation course at Harvard Law School, where he is the John H. Watson, Jr. Lecturer on Law.

David’s practice is focused on resolving conflict in business, family, and employment cases. He has served as mediator and/or arbitrator in more than a thousand commercial, family, employment, construction, personal injury, insurance, and other business cases.

David has published two books on the subject of dispute resolution: Massachusetts Alternative Dispute Resolution (with Prof. David Matz) (Butterworth Legal Publishers 1994, 2d ed. 1996) and Bringing Peace into the Room: How the Personal Qualities of the Mediator Impact the Process of Conflict Resolution (with Daniel Bowling) (Jossey-Bass 2003).

David is the past chair of the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution and a founding member of the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council. In November 2004, David was chosen as one of the "Top 100 Lawyers" in Massachusetts in Boston Magazine's SuperLawyers Directory and has been consistently named a Massachusetts SuperLawyer since the listing began. David is also listed in the book “The Best Lawyers in America” – he is one of only 19 lawyers in Massachusetts who is listed in five or more categories: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Arbitration, Family Mediation, Collaborative Law (Family), and Collaborative Law (Civil).

Before founding BLC, David was a litigation partner at Hill & Barlow where he practiced for seventeen years. Before that (in reverse chronological order), David clerked for then-Judge Stephen G. Breyer, graduated from Harvard Law School, established a woodworking business in upstate New York, and pursued American Studies as a graduate student. David and his wife of thirty-one years live in a co-housing community in the suburbs of Boston. All of these experiences – plus being a parent of three children and having his first marriage end in divorce – have contributed to David's development as a mediator, arbitrator, and Collaborative Law attorney.

David's resume

David's publications and articles

David's video links

Law firms that have hired David for mediation and/or arbitration.

Representative cases:

• Mediates commercial and employment disputes, including recent business partnership break-up.

• Mediates family business cases, including recent dispute over allocation of trust holding $20 million worth of commercial real estate parcels.

• Has served as chair of three-person arbitration panel in Hancock-CNA Reinsurance dispute that resulted in post-hearing settlement of $250 million.

• Has served as settlement counsel for officers and management-level employees seeking severance from Fortune 500 companies.

• Serves as Collaborative Law counsel for individuals seeking amicable divorce and amicable resolution of other legal matters.

• Mediates separations and divorces, in cases involving complex financial issues, high-conflict family issues, and other family matters.

• Represents individuals in drafting prenuptial and post-nuptial agreements.

• Serves as "settlement counsel" in business and employment cases - i.e., representing the client solely for purposes of negotiation.

• Served as arbitrator in 180 Dalkon Shield class-action cases.

• Represented large non-profit in design of dispute resolution system for managing 210 claims asserted against the organization.