A Different Path to Mediation

Andrea began her career as a litigator, practicing with firms in Wilmington, Delaware and Washington, DC. and then moving to an in-house litigation role with a company that would later be acquired by Verizon. Andrea spent nearly twenty years in senior in-house roles with Verizon, including as general counsel for its government contracts business and as the senior vice president and chief litigation counsel. The cases and contracts she and her teams handled involved an array of legal subjects, including communications law, government contracts, technology services, cybersecurity, consumer protection, commercial real estate, bankruptcy, and environmental law.

In each of her roles, Andrea served as a trusted advisor to her business partners, helping them navigate through the complexities not just of litigation or contract negotiations but also strategic organizational, investment and product decisions. It was through this work that she developed her skill in translating the interests of diverse stakeholders to enable them to align on a path forward. Upon retiring from Verizon, Andrea took an “adult gap year” in which she was able to recharge by the ocean, travel in the US and abroad, dabble in interests as diverse as writing and surfing, and hone her mediation skills through both in-person and online mediation certification courses.