About Me. 

In 1970, my high school counselor told me I should consider a job in construction and not waste my time going to college.  However, my football coach told me that with my determination, I could become whatever I wanted.  I decided I to become a lawyer.  My parents could not afford to send me to college, so I worked various construction jobs (carpenter, ditch digger, parts runner, estimator, etc.) to pay my way through school.  Working construction during the summer months in Arizona gave me more incentive than ever to reach my goal of becoming a lawyer.   I graduated from ASU with distinction and subsequently was accepted into Pepperdine University School of Law.

One of my first jobs as an attorney was working for Cruse and Firetag, which was a small law firm that did everything including personal injury work.  While at the firm, I tried all types of cases from personal injury to construction contracts to divorce.   I liked the court room and wanted to expand my court room experience so I went to work for attorney Bill Stinson.  Bill’s practice was dedicated to doing defense work for State Farm Fire and Casualty Company.  I eventually became a partner with Bill and went to trial defending State Farm insureds.  I also represented State Farm Fire and Casualty Company with regards to declaratory actions and tried Brown v. State Farm.  In 1991, I was recruited by State Farm to become a team leader in their newly formed in-house attorney program (Claims Litigation Counsel or CLC).  For the next 26 years I worked with State Farm Fire and Casualty and with State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company defending its’ insureds.  Over my 26 years with State Farm I tried one to three cases a year, arbitrated over 250 cases, mediated over 200 cases, and deposed over 1800 lay and expert witnesses.  I also served as a Maricopa County judge Pro-Tem.  I retired in July 2017.  But, just before my retirement, I was fortunate to try my last jury trial with my son, Mike Roberts (who is now with Wade and Nysather doing Plaintiffs’ personal injury litigation).

After 26 years of litigating cases and teaching trial skills to younger attorneys, I decided to put my experience to work, go out on my own, and start a solo practice doing mediations, arbitrations, and consultations.  In 2017 I formed Bud Roberts Dispute Resolutions, LLC.  To date, I have been able to resolve 95% of the cases that I have had the opportunity to mediate.  I have been retained as a consultant for a number of personal injury attorneys, assisting them with their more complex injury cases and helping them obtain six figure settlements for their clients.

Why you should consider me as your mediator.

A good mediator must have extensive trial experience in order to be able to fairly and accurately assess the pros and cons of a particular case from each side’s perspective. A mediator needs to know the rules of evidence and be able to educate the parties as to what is likely to come into evidence and what will be excluded from evidence.  Evidentiary rulings often determine, or help determine, the value of the case.

Mediators should know medical issues and the experts who typically deal with those medical issues at trial. With my background as a defense attorney, I have dealt with almost every kind of injury imageable and the mechanism for those injuries.  I have experience in litigating motor vehicle accidents, slip and fall accidents, injuries caused by defective products, and injuries cause by animals.  There is rarely a case that is totally unique to me.  I have deposed experts in all kinds of disciplines including medical experts, biomechanical experts, accident reconstructionist, as well as financial experts.  I am familiar with many of the physicians and other experts who typically offer expert testimony at personal injury trials. I am familiar with how they will present to a jury.

I see my main strength for mediating your case as being able to negotiate with Insurance companies.   After all, I spent 26 years negotiating with my employer, on behalf of their insureds, in order to see if I could settle their case.  I know how insurers assess the value of cases and can speak their language.  During my time at State Farm, I worked with personal injury attorneys daily and know how important their clients are to their future business.  Over my 40 plus years with being admitted to practice law in Arizona, I have built a reputation of being fair and honest.