Ms. Masters has been serving as a neutral in the investigation, mediation, and arbitration of workplace disputes including sexual harassment, discrimination, wage/hour, and employee misconduct matters since 1994. She was selected to serve on the Employment and Commercial Panels of the American Arbitration Association in 1995, where she still serves. By 1998, Ms. Masters was working exclusively as a neutral, providing mediation and arbitration services throughout California and the western U.S.

Over the years, she has trained extensively in alternative dispute resolution, including the Center For Dispute Resolution and the Strauss Institute of Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University School of Law, among other ADR courses. She constantly strives to deepen her study of conflict and its resolution, and has integrated her knowledge of nonviolent communication (NVC) and gerontology (the study of aging) into her practice. Beginning in 2003 Ms. Masters was recognized annually by the Los Angeles Daily Journal as a “Top Neutral”. That program culminated in 2013 with the creation of a Masters List of Neutrals to which Ms. Masters was named, along with 24 of her colleagues in California. The Masters List recognized those neutrals who had been named as a “Top Neutral” in 5 of the previous 7 years.

A member of numerous professional associations, Ms. Masters was elected as a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers in 1999, and as a Distinguished Fellow in the International Academy of Mediators in 2011, where she currently serves as Chair of the Communication & Outreach Committee. She has long been active in the Labor & Employment Law Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, serving as Chair of the Section in 2000 – 2001. She regularly addresses advocacy, academic, and employer groups on a wide variety of employment and ADR related topics and is author of numerous articles and book chapters on these issues.

Ms. Masters began her legal career at the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1978, assigned to the Los Angeles District Office first as an investigator and then as a trial attorney. In 1982 she was recruited by Allred, Maroko, Goldberg, & Ribakoff, a civil rights law firm in Los Angeles, where she served as counsel for more than a decade before leaving with Alan Ribakoff to establish Masters & Ribakoff. While at Allred firm, she represented individuals involved in employment disputes and advised several small to medium sized employers. She continued that work at Masters & Ribakoff until she transitioned her practice from advocacy to neutral services.

Christine Masters Professional Biography

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