Biography

Jack has devoted his entire professional life to practicing employment law and mediating employment law disputes.  From his childhood experiences hearing at the dinner table about his dad’s work as a negotiator for his teachers’ union, to joining a Community Mediation Clinic on Long Island as a teenager, to studying Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, to a 27-year career as a mediator and a litigator, Jack has the substantive knowledge and mediation skills to create the most satisfying employment law solutions throughout California.

Jack’s legal career began in 1995 after he graduated from UCLA School of Law.  For nine years, he worked for law firms such as Parker Milliken, Loeb & Loeb, and Ballard Rosenberg Golper & Savitt, where he learned the ins and outs of advising and representing employers.  In 2003 and 2004, he underwent a career change by earning a Certificate in “Mediating the Litigated Case” from Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute.  In 2004, Jack founded his own firm and mediated dozens of disputes in employment law and other areas, while continuing to practice employment law.  As a solo practitioner, and as a founding member of Hernandez, Schaedel & Associates, Jack represented and advised employees as well as employers in high-stakes litigation, while continuing to participate in mediation programs through the LA Superior Court.  In 2013, Jack became a partner in what was then the nation’s largest minority-owned law firm, practicing alongside some of LA’s first generation of civil rights attorneys.  During his 11-year period in Pasadena, Jack conceived and founded the Labor & Employment Section of the Pasadena Bar Association in 2012, and for five years chaired the Section.  He organized and moderated over 40 MCLE luncheons and networking events, bringing together plaintiffs, defendants, and neutrals to build collegiality and expand knowledge of cutting edge L&E issues for the Pasadena and Los Angeles legal communities.

From 2015 to 2023, Jack practiced in Downtown Los Angeles as a member, partner, or principal at Dykema, Ford Harrison, and Jackson Lewis, after which he returned to first love and passion, helping people resolve their disputes.  With his extensive experience on both sides of “the v.”, his training and experience as a neutral, and his history as a small business owner, Jack is perfectly situated to understand and empathize with every participant in a mediation.  Jack is a marathoner whose hobbies also include working on a 42,000 piece puzzle.  He has the endurance, discipline, focus, and perseverance to bring out a deal where others might give up.