Judicate West neutral Thomas E. Sharkey's birthday is just a few weeks away.
"I'll be 94 in March," said Sharkey, a 1959 University of San Diego School of Law graduate whose legal career now spans more than 65 years.
"I'm in good shape, and I'm going to continue doing this as long as I'm mentally and physically able to do it," Sharkey said. "And I feel very, very confident that I'm really on top of my game - to be honest with you. I'm a lot smarter, and I have a lot more wisdom than I had 25 years ago."
Sharkey said his more than 40 years working as a trial attorney started very soon after he was admitted to the State Bar in 1960.
"I think my first trial was just a few days after I was sworn in," he recalled.
Sharkey tackled many criminal defense cases early in his career along with some business matters, and over the next four decades, he said he tried hundreds of cases, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in aviation, insurance, professional malpractice, personal injury and employment matters.
"I've had a lot of really good, substantial cases that have helped me [as a neutral] because it's given me a real solid background in a lot of different areas," Sharkey explained. "And I bring that to bear when I'm mediating or arbitrating."
Sharkey said he started working as a mediator in the late 1980s while he was still trying cases as an attorney, but he decided to focus fulltime on alternative dispute resolution work in 2000, striking out then as an independent. He's since been handling mediations and arbitrations while also tackling special master and discovery referee assignments.
"I let the attorneys try their cases, and all that I ask is that they be civil to one another," Sharkey said of his approach as an arbitrator. "And I think the lawyers should feel comfortable trying an arbitration case in front of me. I've got a lot of experience, I've been in their shoes many, many times over the years, and I know the pressure that they're under, and I respect what they're doing. And I will use my best judgment to ultimately fashion a fair and reasonable judgment."
Sharkey said he joined Judicate West in 2007, and prior to his mediations these days, he likes to receive briefs from all the parties. He also encourages them to exchange those briefs, but he said he no longer insists on a phone call with counsel before the day of mediation.
"I don't initiate the call, but I suggest to the lawyers that if there's anything at all they want to discuss with me beforehand, they have my cell phone number, and they can get in touch with me anytime, including weekends," Sharkey explained. "Then I'm not bothering lawyers. Many times, there's nothing they really need to discuss with me beforehand and pestering them with calls back and forth is counterproductive."
Sharkey typically begins his mediations with introductions but said he avoids joint sessions and usually starts in private caucus with plaintiffs before moving into the defendant's room.
Listening carefully is his first objective.
"And if I err, I usually err on the side of making sure they have a real opportunity to tell me what they're thinking," he explained. "I do encourage not only the lawyers but also the parties to feel free to unload the load they've been carrying here for usually months. Sometimes it's years. ... And I want to make sure I fully understand."
San Diego defense attorney Clark R. Hudson has used Sharkey many times over the years to resolve professional malpractice cases, including a particularly complex medical malpractice dispute last fall.
"Tom's one of those individuals whose experience basically gains him immediate credibility with both sides of the case - whether that's plaintiffs' attorneys, defense attorneys or insurance entities," Hudson said. "Because he's one of those guys that has literally been there, done that."
Hudson said Sharkey has been terrific with his clients.
"Tom's not one of those guys who comes out yelling or screaming or focuses on issues that are polarizing the two parties," Hudson explained.
"He's got a grandfatherly demeanor. He's very good-natured, which is, in my impression, disarming in the sense that you're not in the room arguing with Tom. Tom is very effective in terms of getting the parties to focus on where can ground be made and how can resolutions be reached."
Sharkey noted that he typically moves into a more evaluative approach in his mediations when he feels the timing is right, but he tries to wait for the parties to ask him to share his thoughts about the strengths and weaknesses of their cases.
"I try not to dominate the mediation - even when they're asking me for my opinions," Sharkey explained. "I'm very careful to indicate that these are my opinions. I'm never going to know the case as well as the lawyers know the case, and I respect the lawyers and their evaluations."
Still, Sharkey made it clear he's happy to share his views.
"I feel very confident with the years I've had trying cases as a lawyer on both sides ... plus all the years now I've been doing this as a mediator and arbitrator," he said. "I have a lot of confidence in the opinions I do express, and I try to express them honestly and also indicate realistically what risks there may be and what costs are involved if the case is not settled."
San Diego litigator James R. Lance has used Sharkey to settle several personal injury and commercial disputes, and said the neutral is a legend.
"He's so well respected that people really listen to him, but he is also the most humble guy you'll ever meet, and he just endears himself," Lance said. "As a mediator, that's real important. People trust him, and people like him."
Del Mar plaintiffs' attorney Benjamin J. Coughlan used Sharkey last year to resolve a complex, multiparty catastrophic injury case, and he described Sharkey as "one of the best there is anywhere."
"I would tell another lawyer, 'Prepare to be wowed by just his organization and ability to digest and understand difficult and complicated facts and then use those to help you resolve your case,'" Coughlan said.
He added that Sharkey was excellent with his clients.
"They were an elderly Vietnamese couple that spoke no English, and they loved him," Coughlan said. "He would sit in our room with the translator for hours at a time, conversing with them, asking them about themselves."
Coughlan noted that he first learned Sharkey was 93 on the day of his mediation last year.
"He's 93 going on probably 65," Coughlan said with a chuckle. "He is youthful; he's energetic. ... And no one would ever guess that he is 93 because he is just so sharp."
Here are some attorneys who have used Sharkey's services: Benjamin J. Coughlan, Coughlan & Vinel LLP; James R. Lance, Noonan Lance Boyer & Banach LLP; Clark R. Hudson, Neil Dymott Hudson APLC; Robert W. Frank, Chihak & Associates; Jeffrey S. Doggett, Lotz, Doggett & Rawers LLP.