Mel has served as an arbitrator for over 30 years and a mediator for over 20 years. He was founding partner in the law firm of Simburg, Ketter, Sheppard & Purdy, LLP in Seattle, Washington from 1984 to 2021.
He now devotes his time to mediating and arbitrating disputes. He has advised clients and provided dispute resolution assistance for business, real estate, intellectual property (IP), web contracts, technology and rights licenses, and international transactions. He also facilitates partnerships and organizations with formation, dissolution, change and conflict resolution issues. Related to his areas of practice, he has served on Washington State and ABA committees, chaired seminars and written several articles. He has presented on mediation issues such as fundamentals of mediation, resolution of IP disputes, psychology of mediation, effective advocacy in mediation, and mock mediation sessions.
Mel has chaired arbitration panels addressing disputes involving millions of dollars in areas such as computer system installations, banking, leases, contracts, and IP licenses. He has served as an Ombud to assist homeowners subject to eminent domain. He sits on national panels for the American Arbitration Association (Mediation; Large Complex Cases; Intellectual Property; Commercial Disputes), the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, Upwork (online freelancer-client disputes), FINRA (securities disputes), the VanIAC in Canada and CIIDRC for domain name disputes, the Rule 39.1 panel for the U.S.D.C., W.D. WA, King County Superior Court, and KCBA LRS ADR Panel. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
For group processes, Mel facilitates communications between members and leadership, addressing conflict and potential conflicts among various constituencies. He is also a member of the International Business Law Consortium, the ABA Dispute Resolution Section and the Dispute Resolution Committee of the ABA Business Section. He is current Chair of the ADR Section for the Washington State Bar Association.