Civil defense veteran brings four decades of trial experience, institutional authority, and cross-party credibility to private dispute resolution.
LOS ANGELES, July 16, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Signature Resolution is proud to announce that James N. Procter has joined our panel of neutrals, where he will serve as a mediator in complex civil disputes, including personal injury, catastrophic injury, civil rights, public entity, insurance, premises liability, commercial litigation, real property matters, and more. A career civil defense litigator who represented individuals, public entities, insurance carriers, and large corporations across forty years of practice in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, Jim arrives at Signature Resolution having spent his career inside the defense room, building a precise understanding of how institutional defendants assess exposure, where their positions tend to harden, and what it genuinely takes to move them.
Jim's approach to mediation begins with the people at the table. He makes time for each party to be heard before the work of negotiation, speaks candidly about what the evidence supports and what continued litigation is likely to cost, and stays with every dispute until both sides have a real path forward. For parties on either side of a complex civil matter, that combination of institutional knowledge and genuine attentiveness is what makes resolution possible.
Jim entered civil litigation practice at Lawler & Ellis in the early 1980s and rose to partner at Ellis, Beach & Procter before founding and leading successive firms, most recently as a partner and senior trial attorney at Procter, Shyer & Winter, LLP. Over the course of his career, he tried more than 60 cases to verdict in California state and federal courts and was present as counsel in more than 250 mediations. He also served as a judge pro tem, settlement master, and arbitrator in Ventura County Superior Court and as a settlement master in Santa Barbara County Superior Court, presiding over mandatory settlement conferences with deeply entrenched parties across a wide range of civil matters.
"Jim brings to Signature Resolution a career-long understanding of how complex civil litigation, and a genuine commitment to the people on both sides of every dispute he mediates," said Dario Higuchi, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Signature Resolution. "We are proud to welcome him to our panel."
In 2008, the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association named Jim its Trial Lawyer of the Year, making him the only civil defense attorney in the award's history to receive that recognition from a predominantly plaintiffs' organization. He is a member of the Ventura County Bar Association, the Santa Barbara County Bar Association, and the American Board of Trial Advocates, and holds an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell.
Jim earned his Juris Doctor from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law and his Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In advance of his full-time mediation work, Jim completed advanced training through the National Institute for Trial Advocacy and the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine School of Law.
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About Signature Resolution
Founded in 2017 in the heart of Los Angeles, Signature Resolution comprises a panel of distinguished neutrals hailing from diverse backgrounds, including respected judges and trial attorneys specializing in virtually every civil practice area. The founding partners inaugurated the organization with a vision of providing the highest level of service and convenience for attorneys and their clients. Signature Resolution's panelists offer unrivaled expertise and commitment to resolve even the most challenging legal matters. Signature Resolution has offices across the state of California. For more information about the firm's mediation, arbitration, and other dispute resolution services, visit signatureresolution.com.
Media Contact
Katelyn Cummings, Signature Resolution, 1 6506447867, [email protected], Signature Resolution
SOURCE Signature Resolution
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