Judge Dover (ret) has completed over 600 mediations since 2008. The vast majority of those cases involved complex Will and Trust disputes, Family Law matters, Home Owner Association cases, Real Estate and other Commercial Litigation, including professional business dissolutions. His very high success rate is predicated on both extensive training in mediating high conflict matters and personal qualities, including patience, sincerity, wit, wisdom and compassion.
ADR services include Mediation, Med/Arb, and Early Neutral Evaluation.
Special Training in mediation with the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law, 2005; Appellate Mediation Training and Advanced Appellate Mediation Training in 2008, 2009 and 2011 respectively. Training with ADRNC in 2010 related to Family Disputes, and continuous reading of the literature related to building mediation skills all help Judge Dover to assist counsel in resolving the most difficult of disputes.
Judge Dover also has taught mediation skills to lawyers and lay mediators in Nevada County and been associated with trainings at the Third District Court of Appeal , the Sixth District Court of Appeal (2024)and the Judicial Council’s Temporary Assigned Judges Program Mediation Training( 2022 and 2023). He is the proud recipient of Anne Meline Service Award presented by the Third District Court of Appeal for his services to the Court, including resolving 12 of the 16 cases he has been asked to mediate.
Judge Dover’s judicial experience included sitting on the Civil and Probate calendar between 2004 and 2007, during which time he was very successful as a settlement conference judge. Other experience includes:
Judge of Nevada County Superior Court – 1987 to 2007.
Judge (ret) sitting by assignment from 2/19/07 to 12/31/07 in Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Shasta and Plumas Counties.
Presiding Judge of the Appellate Dept of Nevada County Superior Court – 2005 to retirement in 2007
Member, by appointment of Chief Justice Ron George, to Judicial Council of California – 1996 – 1999
Member, Judicial Council Task Force on Judicial Ethics – 2005 to retirement in 2007
Member, by appointment of California Supreme Court, to Supreme Court Committee of Judicial Ethics – 1994 – 1995
Member, Judicial Council Advisory Committee on Interpreter Standards for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
Member, Judicial Council Advisory Committee on Creating Testing Standards for Interpreters for the Deaf and Hearing Impaired
Member, California Judges Association Executive Board – 1993 – 1996
Vice president of California Judges Association – 1995 – 1996
Chair, California Judges Association Responding to Unwarranted Criticism Committee 2006; founder of above program and trainer of response teams 1993 to retirement in 2007
Instructor, New Judge Orientation thru Judicial Council’s Center for Judicial Education and Research – 2000 to 2007
Instructor, Qualifying Ethics Training for judges, 2006
Member, California State Bar since 1982
Law office of Albert P. Dover 1984-1987- criminal law specialist and assisted other attorneys with civil litigation
Assistant Public Defender of Nevada County -1982-1984
Law offices of Albert P. Dover, 1600 Arizona Bank Bldg., Tucson, AZ 1978-1981
Assistant Public Defender, Pima County Arizona, 1976 -1978
Associate attorney, Rabinovitz, Minker & Dix, pc, Tucson, AZ 1974- 1976
Member, State Bar of Arizona – 1974 – 2006
Other organizational memberships have included The Foundation of Equality and Employment of the Disabled (FREED); Nevada County Country Club, the Nevada County Beekeepers Club, Alta Sierra Country Club, Northern California Legal Access, and California Collaborative Justice Court Foundation. He was also recently the Chair for the Capital Campaign for Corr ( Community Recovery Resources,now Granite Wellness ) and is on the Advisory Board of the Child Advocates of Nevada County and Community Legal of Nevada County.
Outside interests include travel, golf, fly fishing, studying American Sign Language and Spanish, as well as reading, jogging and Latin dance.
Judge Dover has been married to Lynne J. Dover for over 41 years and has a stepson, Shane Johnson, daughter in law Meredith, and two amazing grandchildren. He has lived in Nevada County since 1981.
Please direct any questions you may have or requests for additional information, including references, to any of the numbers listed below. Thank you for your consideration and attention to this resume.
Judge Al Dover ( retired )
Email: al@adrwithdover.com
Phone: 530 265 2235
Fax: 530 265 2237
Mailing address: P.O. Box 190, Nevada City, Ca. 95959
Physical Address: 11142 Peaceful Valley Rd., Nevada City, Ca. 95959