HAROLD PADDOCK received both his Bachelors of Science (cum laude) and Juris Doctorate from the Ohio State University. His undergraduate major was economics with other course work in the basic sciences such as chemistry and physics. After being admitted to practice in Ohio in May of 1973, he served the bulk of his career with the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, General Division as Magistrate and Settlement Week Coordinator. He is also admitted to practice in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and the United States Supreme Court.

As a Magistrate under Ohio Civil Rule 53, Mr. Paddock presided over civil jury trials and jury-waived trials without regard for the dollar amount in controversy, injunction hearings, motion and discovery proceedings, summary jury trials, criminal arraignments, court-annexed mediations, and various other matters. He is the author of Alexander v. Shiloh Baptist Church (1991), 62 Ohio Misc. 2d 79; 592 N.E.2d 918; 1991 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 45, a published opinion on First Amendment issues in a dispute within a church congregation. As a Magistrate, Mr. Paddock has successfully mediated personal injury, products liability, business, malpractice, wrongful death, corporate, workers compensation, land use, environmental, and a variety of other civil cases. Upon his retirement, Mr. Paddock received the Distinguished Service Award from the Court for his years of service, and a separate Distinguished Service Award from the Franklin County Trial Lawyers.

In 1986, in conjunction with Jim Readey, then President of the Columbus Bar Association, Mr. Paddock co-created Settlement Week. This innovative program uses trained volunteer attorneys from a local bar association to assist a trial court by mediating pending cases during a litigation truce. From its start in Columbus in the Franklin County Common Pleas Court, Settlement Week has spread to the United States District Courts for Southern Ohio, Northern Ohio, West Virginia, Western New York, fifteen other counties in Ohio (including Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, and Toledo), and state courts in Indiana, Texas, South Carolina, Montana, Colorado, Illinois, and elsewhere. Settlement Week has also spread overseas to the Philippines, Australia, and Singapore. Mr. Paddock is the author of Settlement Week: A Practical Manual for Resolving Civil Cases Through Mediation (BNA, 1990). In 1987, he received the Award of Merit from the Columbus Bar Association for his work on Settlement Week.

Mr. Paddock is a member of the Columbus, Ohio State, and American Bar Associations, and is a member of the alternative dispute resolution committees or sections of each. He is a two time past Chair of the Columbus Bar Association's Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee. He has in the past served on the Governor's Commission on Peace and Conflict Management and the Ohio Supreme Court's Committee on Dispute Resolution. In 1984, Mr. Paddock completed the one-week course on principled negotiations with Professor Roger Fisher at Harvard Law School. He has attended various other seminars and training courses on mediation, negotiation, and alternative dispute resolution since then. He has lectured on or trained mediators for Settlement Week in 14 counties in Ohio, and in Indiana, New York, Texas, Montana, and South Carolina. In February of 2004, Mr. Paddock was selected as a Fellow in the Ohio State Bar Foundation. Mr. Paddock is a member of the Ohio State University President’s Club and the Westerville Area Chamber of Commerce.

When not working, Mr. Paddock enjoys reading history, especially the Civil War, following the Ohio State Buckeyes, jogging, photography, skiing, and sports in general.

Mr. Paddock can be reached at:
harold@settlementweek.com