The Beles Group 2822918

Attorney Profile

Craig C. Beles

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Craig Beles has over 38 years of experience as an advocate, commercial arbitrator, mediator, law professor and legal consultant. He has been chosen to arbitrate nearly 300 disputes involving commercial and international contracts, high technology, intellectual property, personal injury, insurance, healthcare, securities, employment and construction law issues.
 
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Since 1990, Mr. Beles has been AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, the highest recognition possible in the legal industry, for his professionalism and ethics.  

Numerous bar associations have recognized his judicial temperament and skills as a neutral by rating him "Exceptionally Well Qualified" to sit on the superior court bench.  

In April of 2013, he was awarded a 5-year appointment to the Fulbright Specialist Roster with a specialty in “International ADR."  In 2010, he was named a Fulbright Scholar by the U.S. State Department and taught Comparative Arbitration Law and Comparative Torts in the Czech Republic.

Practice areas 
  • Arbitration & Mediation
  • International contracts
  • Technology
  • Antitrust 
  • Construction
  • Employment
  • Licensing and Intellectual Property
  • Securites
  • Consumer protection
  • Personal injury
  • Healthcare
  • Transportation
  • Entertainment
Awards and Recognitions 
  • Recipient, Fulbright Award, Czech Republic, teaching "International Litigation & Arbitration" and "Comparative European Arbitration Law," 2008 – 2010
  • Rated "Exceptionally Well-Qualified" for the Superior Court Bench by the King County Bar Association, Joint Asian Judicial Evaluations Committee, King County Women Lawyers, Loren Miller Bar Association and the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington
  • Rated "Seattle Top ADR and Mediation Lawyer” by Seattle Metro Magazine in 2010 
  • Chosen one of "Top Ten Lawyers in Washington State" in the areas of "Contracts/Agreements," 2008 CEO Magazine
  • Avvo rating of "10.0 Superb" since 2007 
  • Founder and Master of the Bench, Charles Powell American Trial Advocacy Inn of Court, 1986  

Experience 
  • Owner/Private ADR Advocate, Arbitrator & Mediator, The Beles Group, Counselors at Law, Seattle, WA, 1990-present    
  • Arbitrator and Mediator since 1980. Member of the American Arbitration Association (AAA), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), FRCP 39.1 Arbitrator U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, King County Mandatory Arbitration Panel of Arbitrators
  • Of Counsel/Private Practitioner, Kargianis, Austin & Erickson, Attorneys at Law, Seattle, 1987-90 
  • Associate Professor of Law, (Torts, Products Liability, Criminal Procedure & Forensic Evidence), Gonzaga University, Spokane, 1979 - 1987
  • Administrative Law Judge, HEP Board, 1980 – 1985
  • Washington State Assistant Attorney General, Consumer Protection, Antitrust and Education Divisions, 1977 – 1979   
  • Law Clerk to Chief Judge Harold J. Petrie, Washington State Court of Appeals, Div. II, 1975 – 1977

Admitted
  • Washington State, 1975
  • U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington, 1976
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington, 1978
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 1988
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1988
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 1988

Education 
  • Boalt Hall, University of California at Berkeley, LL.M., International Practice, with High Honors, 1988
  • Gonzaga University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude, 1975
  • University of California at Santa Cruz, B.A., Psychology, 1971

Associations and memberships
  • Washington State Bar Association: Chairperson of the State Board of Bar Examiners; Disciplinary Hearing Officer;  Alternative Dispute Resolution Section Executive Board; Intellectual and Industrial Property Section; International Practice Section; Professional Development and Competency Committee; Judicial Recommendations Committee 
  • Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
  • Northwest Folklife - Vice-President & Director, 1998-2005
  • Vashon-Maury Island Community Council - President & Director, 1994-98    

Taught
  • Fulbright Scholar teaching Comparative Transnational Litigation & Arbitration, and Comparative Tort Law, Masaryk Faculty of Law, Brno, CZ, 2010
  • Adjunct Professor of Law teaching Transnational Litigation and Arbitration, Seattle University School of Law, 2006 – 2009
  • Associate Professor of Law teaching Torts, Products Liability and Constitutional Law, Gonzaga University School of Law, Spokane, Washington, 1979 – 1987

Author & Lecturer
  • Pros & Cons of U.S. and European International Arbitration Procedures, Charles University Faculty of Law, Prague, CZ, April 2010
  • Comparative Best International Arbitration Practices, Mid-year Fulbright Conference, Velke Bilovice, CZ, February 2010
  • Washington's Uniform Arbitration Act - Ask the Experts, Pierce County Bar Association, October 2007
  • International and High Technology ADR, University of Washington Executive MBA Program, Fall and Spring Quarters, 1996-99
  • Truth and the Use of History to Interpret Our State Constitution, 2 DeNovo, Issue 7, March 1989
  • Parody as Fair Use, Washington Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, March, 1988
  • Criminal Procedure Bench Book, Washington State District Court Judges, May, 1984
  • Torts and Consumer Protection, BAR-BRI Bar Review, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1980-84
  • Wrongful Birth & Wrongful Life sponsored by Gonzaga University School of Law, March 1983
  • Medical-Legal Concerns of Emergency Medical Personnel sponsored by Sacred heart Hospital, May 1982
  • Criteria For Determining Whether a Question of Constitutional Magnitude May be Raised for the First Time on Appeal, Washington State Appellate Court Conference, May 1982
  • Graduation Address, The Importance of Police Conduct in Police/Citizen Encounters, Washington State Police Academy, June 1981
  • The Future of the Washington Consumer Protection Act, Washington State Judicial Conference, May 1981 
  • The Washington Consumer Protection Act vs. The Learned Professional, 10 Gonzaga Law Review 435, 1975  
The Beles Group serves clients throughout the West Coast, and in Europe regarding arbitration matters.

Practice Areas

Address

216 First Avenue South
Suite 204
Seattle, WA 98104
P: 206.623.9119
F: 206.622.3812

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Office Hours

Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 5:00 pm