Employment Law

Judge Steven I. Platt (Ret.)

Steven I. Platt served as a judge in the Maryland Courts for over 25 years, with 17 years on the Circuit Court, and is the acknowledged architect of the Maryland Businesses Technology Case Management Program. Mediator and Arbitrator, The Platt Group, Inc., 2007-present; Judge, Circuit Court for Prince George's County, Maryland, 1990-07; Judge, District Court of Maryland for Prince George's County, Maryland, 1986-90; Judge, Orphans Court (Probate Court) for Prince George's County, Maryland, 1978-86; Managing Partner, Platt & Risner, 1976-86.

Steven Platt has taught the use of mediation and arbitration in resolving Business Disputes to Judges and Lawyers both in Maryland and nationally through both The Judicial Education Program of The American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies (served on Judicial Advisory Board), and through The American College of Business Court Judges (Immediate Past- President).

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Mary Louise Preis, Esq.

Mary Louise Preis’s background and experience as a former Citigroup General Counsel of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs for the Consumer Finance North America, a member of the Board of Directors of Citicorp Trust Bank and as Chair of the Board of Citigroup Trust Bank-Delaware uniquely qualifies her to facilitate the resolution of both internal and external disputes involving corporate, governmental and community organizations regionally and nationwide.

Add to this M’s Preis’s experience as Maryland’s Commissioner of Financial Regulation for five years and you have an experienced, knowledgeable Neutral capable of mediating, arbitrating and neutrally evaluating the most complex corporate banking and financial issues, cases and controversies presented.

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Susan B. Bastress, Esq.

Susan’s clients have included the embassies of foreign governments, an international media company, a national retail chain, the institutional investment arm of a foreign government, international hotel owners, and the housing finance authority of a U.S. territory. This work has included expertise in real estate law, including acquisition, sale, financing, property management, retail and commercial leasing, and public and private (commercial and residential) development projects.

Susan also has substantial experience in alternative dispute resolution, having served on the panels of the American Arbitration Association and JAMS, and as founder of the Virgin Islands Mediation Service (VIMS). She has personally mediated more than 150 civil cases involving environmental tort liability, hurricane-related claims in construction disputes and personal injury.

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Andrea Leahy-Fuchek, Esquire

Andrea has had the unique experience of working at the federal, state and local levels, as an Assistant United States Attorney, Chief Counsel to the Governor of Maryland, and an Associate County Attorney for Prince George’s County. She has engaged in all aspects of civil discovery, trials, mediation, and appellate proceedings in the United States District Court for the District of Maryland, The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, the Maryland trial courts, the Maryland Court of Appeals, and the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and brings the knowledge gained from those experiences as well as the skills developed to her role as a mediator and arbitrator.

Andrea was named among Maryland’s top 40 Legal Elite in 2005 and 2006, and was named by Superlawyers Magazine as one of the top attorneys in Maryland and the Washington D.C. area for 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

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