Karin's Resume
466 East 500 South, #200Salt Lake City, UT 84111
Karin Hobbs is known as a proactive mediator with advanced skills in resolving complex and high conflict cases. Ms. Hobbs has mediated over 6,000 disputes including employment, property, contract, domestic, and personal injury cases. Ms. Hobbs has mediated many complex multi-party cases including: a class action sexual harassment case; a case involving 19 plaintiffs and a major corporation; 5 lawsuits all originating from a fire; and a large foreclosure action involving 45 banks, 20 contractors, a title company and a guarantor. More routine mediations involve construction defects, breach of contract, catastrophic injury, complex marital estates, and partnership dissolution matters. Ms. Hobbs has mediated cases in Utah, Arizona and Idaho.
Ms. Hobbs has been a full-time professional mediator for 20 years. Ms. Hobbs began her legal career as Bar Counsel at the Utah State Bar prosecuting attorneys for unethical conduct, conducting disciplinary hearings, and prosecuting nonlawyers for the unauthorized practice of law. She became a law clerk to Judge Pamela T. Greenwood when the Utah Court of Appeals opened its doors in 1987. In 1989, she became a Staff Attorney at the Utah Court of Appeals, drafting opinions for the court, attending oral argument and making recommendations to the court. In 1994, Ms. Hobbs served as Deputy Director of the Utah Division of Child and Family Services, managing implementation of a Consent Decree regarding foster care. She returned to the Utah Court of Appeals to assist the court in researching and creating an appellate mediation office. In 1998, Ms. Hobbs assisted the court in opening the Appellate Mediation Office at the Utah Court of Appeals and was appointed Chief Appellate Mediator where she mediated about 100 cases per year. After 4 years of mediating appellate cases, she moved into private mediation practice. Ms. Hobbs was an Adjunct Professor at the S. J. Quinney College of Law School at the University of Utah from 2001-2003, teaching negotiation and mediation. She also joined the International Academy of Mediators as a Distinguished Fellow in 2001. She was appointed to the Board of Governors of the International Academy of Mediators in 2004 and served as President of the International Academy of Mediators in 2013-2014.
Ms. Hobbs has been named Best Lawyers in America in the specialty of ADR in 2010 - 2019 and has been repeatedly recognized in Mountain States Super Lawyers, and Utah Legal Elite. Hobbs Mediation has been named Best Law Firms in America for 2014-2019. She has been a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) since 2001 and is Past President of the International Academy of Mediators. In addition, she regularly presents at the annual conference of the ABA’s Section on Dispute Resolution. She has served on the Board of Bar Commissioners at the Utah State Bar and was the founding chair of the Section of Dispute Resolution of the Utah State Bar. In 2004, she received the Peter W. Billings, Sr. award for Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution. Ms. Hobbs co-authored an article entitled “Individualized Mediation Design” in the October 2007 issue of “For the Defense.” She also published an article entitled “How to Achieve the Best Results in Mediation” in the American Arbitration Association’s Handbook on Mediation (2006, reprinted in 2010). Ms. Hobbs has taught hundreds of negotiation, mediation and mediation advocacy seminars to audiences such as the Utah, Colorado and Oregon Bar Associations, the National Association of Purchasing Management, the American Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section, and the International Academy of Mediators.
Awards
2004 Peter W. Billings, Sr. Award for Excellence in Alternative Dispute Resolution
2009, 2010, 2011 Mountain States Super Lawyers
2009 - 2019 Best Lawyers in America
2011 - 2019 Who's Who of Business Lawyers in Commercial Mediation
Memberships and Affiliations
Past President, International Academy of Mediators
Board Member, Distinguished Fellow, President-Elect, International Academy of Mediators
Fellow, American Academy of Civil Trial Mediators, 2009 – present
Honorary Host, American Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section Conference, April 13-15, 2011
Seminars Attended and Education
International Academy of Mediator's Conferences:
Looking Outward - Mediation: A New Enlightenment? Edinburgh, Scotland, May 10-12, 2018
The Future is Here, Austin, Texas, November 2-4, 2017
Dispute Resolution on the Edge, Auckland, New Zealand, July 27-29, 2016
Working on Mediation in the City that Works, Chicago, Illinois, October 23-25, 2014
West Coast Stories, Santa Monica, California, May 1-3, 2014
Reaching Concorde, Meeting in the City of Lights, September 19-21, 2013, Paris, France
Resolving Conflicts: A Canadian Perspective, May 9-11, 2013, Toronto, Canada
International Mediation and Peacekeeping: The Next Frontier for IAM, April 17-18, 2012, Washington D.C.
Keeping it Weird in Austin, November 10-12, 2011, Austin, Texas
Communication in Mediation, May 5-7, 2011, Napa, California
Artistry in Mediation: Conflict, Improvisation & Resolution, March 11-13, 2010, Salt Lake City, Utah
What Can We Learn from Each Other, September 10-12, 2009, London, England
Powerful People in Powerful Places, April 15, 2009, New York, New York
San Diego Program, November 13-15, 2008, San Diego, California
When Mediations Go Wild, May 15-17,2008, Coral Gables, Florida
Fear, Anger and Risk in Mediation, October 18-20, 2007, Portland, Oregon
The Philadelphia Conference, May 2-5, 2007, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Home on the Mediation Range: Master Mediator Magic, November 9-11, 2006, San Antonio, Texas
Dialogue at Harvard: Master Thinkers Meet Master Practitioners, April 27-29, 2006, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Perspectives at Dana Point: Meeting of the Minds, November 10-12, 2005, Dana Point, California
Convergence in Cancun, November 11-13, 2004, Cancun, Mexico
Masters Forum with Pepperdine Law School, October 15-17, 2003, Pepperdine, Malibu, California
Advanced Mediation Training, May 2-4, 2002, Boulder Colorado
Harvard Law School, Negotiation Workshop by Roger Fisher, November 1999
Basic/Divorce Mediation Training, March 23-27, 1998
CDR Associates, Mediation Training, Boulder, Colorado, October 1997
J. D., University of Utah, College of Law, 1982-85
Articles Editor, Journal of Energy Law & Policy 1984-85
Teaching Assistant, Legal Writing 1984-85
University of Utah 1977-82, Bachelor of Arts, Communications/Journalism/Public Relations, Minor: Philosophy, Cum Laude, Kappa Tau Alpha, Journalism Honor Society
Publications
“Stories Mediators Tell,” edited by Eric Galton and Lela Love, American Bar Association 2011
“10 Steps for Working the Mediation Process,” National Association of Legal Assistants Journal, Spring 2008
“Individualized Mediation Design,” For the Defense, October 2007.
“Mediation Confidentiality and Enforceable Settlements: Deal or No Deal?” Utah Bar Journal, May/June 2007.
"Attention Attorneys! How to Achieve the Best Results for your Client in Mediation," AAA Handbook on Mediation, 1st Edition (2006), 2nd Edition (2009).
"Utah's Appellate Mediation Office: A New Option for Case Resolution at the Utah Court of Appeals," Utah Bar Journal, December 1997.
"Tips for Practicing in the Utah Court of Appeals," Bar & Bench Bulletin, March 1990.
"In re Utah State Bar Petition: Pursuing a Chimeric and Ultimately Unconstitutional Goal," 11 J. Contemp. L. 547 (1985).