Diana B. Kruze, Esq.

Contractual Healthcare

• Mediated numerous health care cases as a neutral, primarily involving reimbursement disputes. As a trial attorney, represented various health plans in litigation focused on breach of contract and intellectual property matters.

Lemon Law

• Mediated and adjudicated numerous lemon law cases as a former California bench officer and current arbitrator, including disputes involving transmission, engine, and battery/EV issues.

Cannabis Industry

• Mediated an intellectual property and breach of contract dispute arising from a joint development agreement involving CBD products.
• Mediated a commercial real estate dispute between a landlord and a cannabis distributor.
• Mediated a licensing dispute involving a cannabis delivery system.
• Mediated an employment dispute between a hospital and an employee concerning off-site, off-hours use of prescribed medical marijuana.

Wrongful Termination

• Mediated and, as a former judicial officer, adjudicated dozens of employment cases involving sexual harassment, hostile work environment, wrongful termination, and ADA accommodation claims.
• Mediated a dispute between a former employee and an accounting firm involving Business and Professions Code §17200 claims, allegations of a hostile work environment, and trade secret misappropriation of a customer list.
• Mediated a wrongful termination dispute between a physician and a health care provider.
• Mediated a dispute between a former employee and a law firm involving wrongful termination and a hostile work environment.
• Mediated a dispute between a physician and a medical group concerning disciplinary proceedings.
• Mediated a constructive discharge claim against a supermarket employer based on alleged discrimination due to sexual orientation.
• Mediated a dispute between an employer and a terminated employee involving allegations of embezzlement and participation in a kickback scheme.

Intellectual Property

• Mediated intellectual property and breach of contract litigation involving BIOS software and virtualization technology.
• Mediated patent infringement claims and a breach of license agreement dispute involving self-driving car technology.

Patent Issues

• Mediated an international, multi-jurisdictional patent and breach of contract dispute involving DSLR camera technology across nine forums.
• Mediated patent infringement claims arising from the sale of a competing product by a luxury furniture dealer.
• Mediated a consolidated case involving a standards-essential patent covering Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Quality of Service (QoS) technologies for the delivery of audio, video, and data over Ethernet networks.
• Mediated a patent infringement case involving the encryption of satellite signals.
• Mediated a nine-figure patent dispute between pharmaceutical companies involving nanoparticulate anticancer drug technologies.
• Mediated a cross-border patent dispute involving the semiconductor industry, with proceedings in the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands.

Trade Secret Matters

• Mediated a trade secret misappropriation case involving web-based patient imaging software brought against a medical provider.

Trademark Issues

• Mediated a trademark and patent dispute involving smartphones and the graphical user interface (GUI) of mobile devices.
• Mediated a copyright and trademark infringement suit involving video-editing software.
• Mediated a copyright infringement case involving CAD-based architectural software.

Bad Faith

• Mediated a dispute involving the alleged bad faith denial of a fire loss claim, resulting in a successful resolution.
• Mediated a dispute involving the alleged bad faith refusal to pay disability insurance benefits, resulting in a successful resolution.
• Mediated a dispute involving the alleged bad faith denial of theft coverage, successfully resolving the matter.
• Mediated a dispute involving the alleged bad faith denial of trip insurance benefits and international emergency health care coverage, resulting in a successful resolution.

General IP

• Mediated an international patent and breach of contract dispute involving DSLR cameras, spanning nine legal forums.
• Mediated patent infringement claims stemming from the sale of a competing product by a luxury furniture dealer.
• Mediated intellectual property and breach of contract litigation involving BIOS software and virtualization technology.
• Mediated patent infringement claims and a breach of license agreement dispute involving self-driving car technology.
• Mediated a consolidated case involving a standards-essential patent related to Power over Ethernet (PoE) and Quality of Service (QoS) solutions for delivering audio, video, and data over Ethernet networks.
• Mediated a patent infringement case involving the encryption of satellite communication signals.
• Mediated a patent infringement case involving hardware-based data storage devices.
• Mediated a trade secret misappropriation case involving web-based patient imaging software brought against a medical provider.
• Mediated a nine-figure patent dispute between pharmaceutical companies involving nanoparticulate anticancer drug technologies.
• Mediated a patent dispute involving the semiconductor industry, with proceedings in the U.S., Germany, and the Netherlands.
• Mediated a trademark and patent dispute involving smartphones and the graphical user interface (GUI) of mobile devices.
• Mediated a copyright and trademark infringement suit involving video-editing software.
• Mediated a copyright infringement case involving CAD-based architectural design software.
• Mediated a trade secrets dispute between competing laboratories concerning proprietary scientific diagnostic testing protocols.

Dental

• Mediated a dental malpractice case involving a tooth extraction procedure.
• Mediated a dental malpractice case involving pediatric dental surgery.

Medical

• Mediated a dispute between a pharmacy and a pharmacy benefit manager involving billing practices and medical necessity determinations.
• Mediated a Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement dispute that included antitrust counterclaims under both state and federal law.
• Mediated a breach of contract and unjust enrichment case brought by a former physician against a managed care consortium.
• Mediated a breach of contract dispute involving the termination of a participating provider agreement between a healthcare provider and an employee benefits plan.
• Mediated a case involving the alleged wrongful denial of insurance claims submitted by a subscriber.
• Mediated a physician licensing and computer misuse case brought against a major health care provider.
• Mediated a contract dispute involving a medical technology agreement related to an online patient portal.
• Mediated a nine-figure civil dispute between two competing pharmaceutical companies involving anticancer drug technologies.
• Mediated a case involving allegations of elder and dependent adult abuse, neglect, and negligence against a skilled nursing facility.
• Mediated a medical malpractice case involving breast augmentation surgery.

Probate

• Mediated a dispute over title to real property involving multiple adult children of a decedent.
• Mediated a breach of fiduciary duty case against a trustee involving the management of multiple family-owned business entities.
• Mediated financial elder abuse claims brought by siblings on behalf of their father against their sister.
• Mediated a dispute over the validity and terms of a trust amendment between the decedent’s children from first and second marriages.
• Mediated elder law disputes and, as a judicial officer, adjudicated dozens of elder abuse restraining order cases.

Legal

• Mediated and adjudicated dozens of attorney fee disputes and legal malpractice cases while serving as a California Superior Court judicial officer.
• Mediated a legal malpractice case involving the alleged misappropriation of a client retainer.

Real Property

• Mediated a commercial real estate leasing dispute between a landlord and a cannabis company.
• Mediated a real estate dispute between a Homeowners’ Association and an adjacent golf course.
• Mediated a complex settlement agreement resolving a contested Homeowners Association (HOA) board election dispute.
• Mediated landlord-tenant disputes and, as a former judicial officer, adjudicated thousands of unlawful detainer cases involving residential and commercial properties. Issues included non-payment of rent, bank foreclosures, nuisance, wrongful eviction, habitability, discrimination, and force majeure defenses.
• Mediated civil real estate disputes and, as a former judicial officer, adjudicated dozens of cases involving HOA governance, condominium and co-op board elections, property line conflicts, neighbor altercations, real estate commission disputes, non-disclosure and misrepresentation claims, as well as tree, fence, and view-related issues.

General Negligence

• Mediated a dog bite case involving a young child.

Personal Injury

• Mediated a slip-and-fall case brought by a tenant against their landlord.

PI Auto

• Mediated personal injury disputes and, as a judicial officer, adjudicated dozens of cases involving auto accidents, medical and dental malpractice, food and beverage-related injuries, and slip-and-fall incidents.
• Mediated a car accident case involving a severe traumatic brain injury.

Wrongful Death

• Mediated a wrongful death claim brought by parents against a county jail following the death of their teenage son, who was awaiting trial for a minor, first-time offense.