Andrew Shoemaker

Mediation and Other ADR Services

“Andrew is level-headed and is an exceptional problem-solver.” Chambers USA 2025

Andrew Shoemaker mediates and arbitrates complex, high-stakes disputes involving business and corporate governance, investments and securities, banking and financial services, intellectual property, consumer protection, land use and development, and public-policy matters. As a mediator, he is especially drawn to cases that feel intractable, and he stays engaged through impasse to help parties reach durable decisions.

Andrew draws on 30+ years as a civil and criminal trial lawyer—along with experience as a law professor, federal prosecutor, elected representative, appointed public official, entrepreneur, and community volunteer.

Approach to Mediation

Andrew brings a trial lawyer’s practicality and a professor’s process discipline to mediation. From the moment he is retained, he prepares counsel and the parties for an efficient, productive session through pre-mediation calls, targeted information exchange, and thoughtful process design. Based on early conversations, he recommends an agenda and mediation session structure that fits the case and the people in it.

At the table, Andrew blends careful facilitation with practical settlement tools, including reality testing and decision-making support. Drawing on his deep experience in business litigation, he keeps an eye on value creation—helping parties generate and evaluate options and, where possible, craft deal terms that expand the path to resolution. He also addresses the human factors that commonly block agreement—emotion, risk perception, and fairness concerns—so parties can assess risk candidly and make clear choices.

To maintain that level of preparation and engagement—and to accommodate his teaching schedule—Andrew limits his caseload and generally handles no more than one mediation per week.

Background and Subject-Matter Focus

Andrew’s ADR work is grounded in decades of litigation and public-service experience, including disputes involving:

• Corporate governance, fiduciary duties, partnerships, minority shareholder rights, valuation, dissolution, and “business divorce” conflicts

• Investments, disclosures, and alleged securities fraud (including complex instruments and fund vehicles)

• D&O insurance coverage issues

• Executive departures and employment-agreement disputes

• Contracts and complex business tort claims

• Financial accounting and reporting issues governed by GAAP and auditor’s compliance with applicable professional standards (including GAAS and PCAOB)

• Consumer protection issues

• Patent infringement and other IP disputes

• Land use and development approvals, zoning/entitlements, federal agency approvals, land exchanges, and development agreements

• Public-policy and elections-related matters

Mediation Training, Teaching, and Leadership

Andrew trained as a mediator through the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine. He teaches mediation and negotiation as an adjunct professor at the University of Colorado Law School and regularly speaks and writes on these subjects.

He is a member of the American Arbitration Association’s commercial mediation and arbitration rosters, a member of FINRA’s arbitration roster, and serves on the Board of the Mediation Association of Colorado, the Executive Committee of the ADR Section of the Colorado Bar Association, and as Chair of the ADR Section of the Boulder County Bar Association.  Andrew also volunteers as a mediator with Boulder Community Mediation Services and Denver Bar Association Court Mediation Services.

Fees, policies and scheduling.