MICHAEL J. BETTS BIO
Michael J. Betts is the owner and principal of Michael J. Betts LLC and Betts Dispute Resolution Services, based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mr. Betts also is an experienced alternative dispute neutral, having served as a mediator, arbitrator, early neutral evaluator or special master in numerous cases. He is certified by the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania as an Alternative Dispute Neutral and e-Discovery Special Master. Mr. Betts also is qualified as an arbitrator and mediator for both customer and industry arbitrations brought before FINRA Dispute Resolution arbitration panels and he has served as an arbitrator on numerous commercial and consumer arbitration proceedings administered by the American Arbitration Association. Mr. Betts also is qualified as a mediator and arbitrator by National Arbitration and Mediation.
In providing alternative dispute resolution services to litigants and their counsel, Mr. Betts draws on his extensive experience as a litigator. For more than forty years, Mr. Betts has represented clients in federal courts and state courts, and before arbitration panels, handling a wide range of commercial litigation matters and business disputes. Mr. Betts brings a unique ability to objectively and impartially evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of positions taken by parties in litigation based on his experiences from a variety of roles over the course of his career: litigation partner at a large, international law firm, litigation partner at a “boutique” litigation firm, and in house litigation counsel at one of the country’s largest banks. Over his career, Mr. Betts has represented both plaintiffs and defendants and clients ranging from individuals and small businesses to Fortune 500 companies. A critical component of each of these roles was for Mr. Betts to determine the fair and reasonable settlement value of the many hundreds of cases he has handled.
Mr. Betts is a native of Indiana, Pennsylvania. He received his undergraduate degree from Dickinson College and earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was on the Law Review. During the initial phase of his legal career, Mr. Betts was a commercial litigation attorney with the law firm of Reed Smith Shaw & McClay, now Reed Smith LLP, and he was made a partner of the firm. Following his fourteen years at Reed Smith, Mr. Betts has practiced primarily in a small firm “litigation boutique” environment, except for a five-year period during which he served as in-house counsel of a large regional bank, managing litigation. Over his career, Mr. Betts has handled a wide range of litigation matters, including securities litigation and arbitrations, commercial litigation and business disputes, banking litigation, class actions, employment litigation, trade secrets litigation, franchise litigation, insurance coverage litigation and professional negligence, including legal malpractice and accounting malpractice claims.
When he is not serving as an ADR neutral, Mike is an avid golfer. He is also a USGA expert-certified rules official and regularly officiates professional, amateur and college golf tournaments. Mike currently serves on the boards of the Pennsylvania Golf Association and the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association.