Craig McCollum

Craig McCollum was the founding attorney at McCollum & Associates. He is a graduate of the University of California at Davis, and received his Juris Doctorate degree from McGeorge School of Law, at University of the Pacific, in 1981, where he graduated with honors and was given a lifetime membership in the Traynor Honor Society.

Having practiced law on the central coast of California since 1982, Craig spent the first eighteen years of his practice with a large, AV-rated statewide law firm. He quickly worked his way up to Senior Partner and in 1987 became Managing Partner of the San Luis Obispo Regional Office. He also oversaw the operations of the firm’s Ventura, Santa Barbara and Santa Maria Regional Offices from 1987 through 1997.

In January 2000, Craig joined Robert Dimitrijevich, another local and highly respected mediator, in creating Just Resolutions, a new mediation and ADR practice serving central California. This new endeavor has proved extremely successful, with an average of over 175 mediations per year.

Craig’s professional career has emphasized civil litigation. He has particular expertise in the following fields:

Real Estate Litigation (from easement and boundary disputes to trespass, crop loss, nuisance and inverse condemnation)

Construction Defect Litigation (both private and public projects, including mold and soils cases)

Governmental Entity Litigation (from dangerous conditions to peace officer liability and civil rights claims)

Product Liability Litigation (from firearms to construction materials to medical devices)

Professional Liability (real estate, medical, dental, chiropractic, director and officer, and legal)

Personal Injury (primarily from defense perspective, but also handled numerous plaintiff cases)

Bad Faith Insurance Litigation

Elder Abuse (including medical or nursing home abuse and fraud in investment schemes)

Employment Litigation (both public entity and private employer/employee disputes, ADA litigation, discrimination, harassment claims)

Craig has substantial experience serving as an arbitrator, mediator, discovery referee and as a judge pro-tem in Mandatory Settlement Conferences for the San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara County courts. Craig has presided as a court-appointed or agreed-upon arbitrator/mediator on over a thousand civil cases. In the last year alone, Craig conducted over 175 mediations. Craig has also received formal training to enhance his mediation, arbitration and negotiation skills through various professional associations, including the Santa Barbara County CADRe program. He has also completed numerous basic and advanced mediation courses at Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute for Mediation, including courses emphasizing construction and real estate mediation. Craig averages in excess of 25 hours of continuing education in the alternative dispute field each year. He regularly presents numerous seminars, training sessions and presentations to local companies, bar associations, and other interested groups. including the Central Coast Trial Lawyers’ Association, San Luis Obispo County Bar Assn, Northern Santa Barbara Bar Assn., the Santa Barbara Bar Association, local real estate boards, and employers and insurance companies.

In Craig’s prior practice as a litigator, he averaged one jury trial annually, and earned a reputation as a skilled advocate. He continues to keep his evidence skills finely tuned and his finger on the pulse of local jury verdicts. This has proven invaluable in terms of his credibility as a mediator among trial lawyers. Craig was also recognized by his clients and adversaries as having excellent case evaluation, negotiation and settlement/mediation skills, as well as a demeanor which facilitates the mediation process.

Member, Southern California Mediation Association
Member, California Academy of Distinguished Neutrals
Member, San Luis Obispo County Bar Association
Member, Advanced ADR Practitioner, San Luis Obispo County Bar Assoc., ADR Section.
Chair, San Luis Obispo Bar Association’s Attorney/Client Dispute Mediation Program
Chair, San Luis Obispo County Bar Association Legal Services Directory
Member, Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR)
Member, California Dispute Resolution Council (CDRC)
Member, Qualifications and Standards Committee, CDRC
Member, Central Coast Trial Lawyers Association

Over the years, Craig has been involved in a variety of other professional organizations, including the Northern Santa Barbara County Bar Association, Kern County Bar Association, DRI, ABA, The Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, and The Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California.