Victoria Chau – Profile

Practice Areas:
• Personal Injury
• Professional Malpractice
• Workers’ Comp
• Construction
• Commercial/Business
• Partnerships
• Insurance
• Real Estate
• Workplace/Employment
• Government/Public Agency

“My mediation style is facilitative. I strive to empower parties to participate in their own solutions using my legal/business background, practical insights and cultural awareness.”
– Victoria Chau

Biography: Victoria is a licensed California attorney practicing law and mediation in Southern California. Having negotiated a variety of business deals and mediated numerous disputes, she feels that having a conflict is not a problem in itself; what really matters is how we resolve it. As a whole, everyone benefits from a humanistic alternative to litigation–one that addresses the totality of the parties’ needs and wants. Mediation is forward-looking and can help preserve or promote relationships, as opposed to focusing solely on past wrongs and returning the parties to where they were before the conflict arose. In mediation, there can be more flexible and creative options devised by the parties themselves.

Victoria Chau is a first generation American of Chinese descent. She was born in Macau (a former Portuguese colony near Hong Kong) and grew up in the multi-cultural communities of East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley in Southern California. From a very early age, she became interested in diverse cultures—appreciating their differences and bridging conflicts and misunderstandings. If possible, she wanted her career to include promoting diversity and international relations. At Scripps College, Victoria spent her junior year studying in Paris, and graduated with a B.A. in Modern European Studies.

Then, at the University of Hawaii, she earned an M.A. in Asian Studies while attending the East-West Center on a grant, and later obtained a J.D. from the Richardson School of Law (ABA-accredited) at the University of Hawaii. Victoria Chau took electives in alternative dispute resolution, international law and advanced real estate.

The first years of her legal career were spent as a civil litigator at various private law firms handling insurance defense, personal injury, worker’s comp and business matters. Victoria Chau went on to concentrate on business transactions and worked for the federal government and large corporations in highly-regulated industries such as aerospace and franchising.

During Victoria’s years as a corporate attorney, much of her time was spent resolving disputes—both domestic and international–so it was a natural evolution for her to pursue her interest in becoming a professional attorney mediator.

She has successfully mediated a variety of cases including breach of contract, consumer, business to business, landlord/tenant, homeowner association, construction defect, personal injury, premises liability, nuisance, wage, employment, partnerships, general civil and insurance/subrogation. One of her most memorable cases was to allocate the debts of a defunct rock band among its members.

Victoria received her 40-hour basic mediation training from Community Services Programs in 2009, and she assists them in providing training to future mediators. Since 2011, Victoria has served continuously on the Orange County Superior Court civil mediation panel. Victoria has also been a volunteer with the court’s Dispute Resolution Program Act (DRPA) mediation program through CSP since 2009. In 2015, the OC Superior Court awarded Victoria Chau its top DRPA SHERPA award for her mediation services to the court.

In addition to mediation, Victoria has a private law practice advising companies as their business counsel. She enjoys helping these innovative businesses grow, provide jobs to Americans, and contribute to our economy. Victoria Chau has also taught business law and project management at Charter College in Long Beach.

Education & Training:

Community Service Programs – Mediating Civil Harassment Cases (3 hours)
Los Angeles City Attorney – Mediating Civil Harassment Disputes (4 hours)
Los Angeles County Bar Association – Dispute Resolution Services Advanced Skills (18 hours)
Community Service Programs – Ethics (2 hours)
Community Service Programs – Basic Mediation Training (40 hours)
J.D., Wm. S. Richardson School of Law (ABA-accredited)
University of Hawaii at Manoa (Honolulu, HI) with elective in Alternative Dispute Resolution
M.A., Asian Studies, University of Hawaii at Manoa (Honolulu, HI)
concurrently as East-West Center grantee (Communications Institute)
B.A., Modern European Studies, Scripps College (Claremont, CA)

Professional Affiliations:

California Bar Association
Orange County Bar Association
Scripps College Alumnae Assn.
OC Superior Court civil mediation panel
OC Asian American Bar Association (founder and former vice president)
East-West Center Assn., So. California Chapter (former vice president)

Victoria Chau – Profile

Company profile

AMP Mediation