Frank S. Hamlin

Bar Admission(s):

Arkansas (1974); U.S. District Court, Arkansas (1974); U.S. District Court, E.D.Texas (2004); 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (1974); U.S. Supreme Court (1978)

Nature and extent of law practice:

• *Twenty-three (23) years - Tried 80 jury trials, numerous non-jury trials and hearings - handled various appeals and oral arguments in state and federal appellate courts.
• *1973 - 1974 - Legal Intern, Memphis and Shelby County Legal Services.
• *1974 - 1975 - Law Clerk (Two trial judges): closely assisted in decisions in non-jury cases and on motions, observed many jury trials, helped decide and write opinions on administrative appeals.
• *1975 - 1977 - Deputy Prosecuting Attorney: tried many jury and non-jury criminal cases.
• *1977 - 1979 - Private Practice (Four attorney firm): General litigation practice (personal injury, products liability, commercial litigation, domestic relations.).
• *1979 - 1994 - Private Practice (Fourteen attorney firm): commercial litigation; construction litigation; personal injury cases for Plaintiffs; insurance defense; insurance contract litigation; products liability; EEOC litigation; some asbestos, formaldehyde, and dioxin exposure litigation; wrongful termination cases; business fraud cases; and ones involving intentional infliction of emotional distress.
• *1992 - 1994 - Part time mediator and arbitrator.
• *1995 - 1997 - Solo Practitioner: 20% civil litigation practice; 80% mediator and arbitrator.
• *1998 - Present - Full time mediator and arbitrator.

Experience as Mediator, Arbitrator, Master, Judge, etc.:

• *Served as Special Master hearing and deciding small cases for two Circuit Judges in 1974-1975; served as Special Circuit Judge for several Circuit Court Judges in Little Rock, Arkansas on five or six occasions. This involved both jury and non- jury trials.
• *Served as mediator or arbitrator in about 3,800 cases in various states; mediations and arbitrations involving personal injury, wrongful death, products liability with some injuries involving brain damage and permanent and total disability, cases involving over-the-road truck accidents, numerous class actions, medical malpractice suits, nursing home cases (numerous as mediator and arbitrator, including three (3) member panels), construction cases, commercial litigation, securities litigation, employment litigation, wage and hour claims, insurance contract disputes, and disputes involving government entities; two different construction mediations lasted three days and two evenings, both were successfully resolved and each had 15 parties with each represented by counsel; conducted one mediation involving a ten (10) tractor trailer rig (and other vehicles) accident in the fog with many deaths, lasting two days and one night.
• *1995, 1996, and 1997 served on the national Dalkon Shield Arbitration Panel, arbitrating many of those cases; cases were administered by the Private Adjudication Center of Duke University Law School with in-depth written opinions required on all arbitrations.
• *1996 served as settlement administrator and arbitrator in a large dispute between the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Missouri and PFL Life Insurance Company (Aegon Insurance Group) ruling upon 174 cases as arbitrator.
• *1998 set up and administered a claims process for Georgia Pacific Corporation involving numerous property damage claims in Crossett, Arkansas due to hydrogen sulfide gas exposure.
• *2001 served as arbitrator on 120 medical malpractice cases against a former orthopedic surgeon, requiring a damages hearing on each case to divide a $10 million dollar settlement among the 120 plaintiffs.
• *2000 and 2001, served as mediator on approximately 40 cases against American Airlines relating to the crash of Flight 1420 in Little Rock, Arkansas on June 1, 1999; this crash resulted in 11 deaths and injuries to all other passengers.
• *2004 served as mediator on several very large multi Plaintiff and multi Defendant environmental cases involving oil clean up in the oil fields of south Arkansas.

Education and Training:

University of Arkansas (1971), Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (major: Finance and Banking); The University of Memphis (1974), Juris Doctor; Attorney/Mediator's Institute, Houston, Texas, graduate (1993), advanced training (1995, 1996); Mediation and Conflict Management Services, advanced mediator training, St. Louis, Missouri (1995); United States Postal Service Mediator Training (1998, 2000); Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Mediator Training (1999); Duke University School of Law (Private Adjudication Center), arbitrator training (1995 and 1996); National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), arbitrator training, (1999); advanced mediator training in Dallas, Texas conducted by Abrams Mediation and Negotiation, Inc. (2004); Attended numerous advanced mediator trainings through the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and the Association of Attorney-Mediators; attended numerous seminars on alternative dispute resolution.

Other Qualifications:

Have delivered numerous speeches and participated on numerous panels on the subjects of arbitration and mediation at local and state bar meetings and law schools.

Professional Affiliations:

• *National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, Member
• *American College of Civil Trial Mediators, Fellow
• *Association of Attorney-Mediators
• *American Bar Association section of Dispute Resolution
• *Arkansas Bar Association, ADR Committee, former chair and vice-chair
• *Arkansas Conflict Resolution Association, President 1999-2001

Frank S. Hamlin is Arkansas’ longest serving and most experienced mediator, dating back to 1992. He has mediated about 4,000 cases in his career and has served as arbitrator in over 400 cases.

In Hamlin’s legal career, he has served as a judicial law clerk, a deputy prosecuting attorney, and for many years was in the private practice of law. Since 1997, he has been full-time as a third party neutral. In 2006 he was selected to be a Fellow in the American College of Civil Trial Mediators. In 2010 he was selected to be a member of the National Association of Distinguished Neutrals.