Judicate West, one of California’s leading providers of private dispute resolution services, has added retired San Diego County Superior Court Judge Joel R. Wohlfeil to its roster of neutrals. He is now available statewide as a mediator, arbitrator and private judge.

“I’ve known Judge Wohlfeil for a long time, and I’ve seen firsthand how hard he works at resolving disputes. He has been held in high regard by the San Diego legal community for his work ethic since he was appointed to the bench in 2007,” said Mark Kaufman, Executive Vice President of Market Development at Judicate West. “Judge Wohlfeil excelled as a trial lawyer and as a judge, and we are confident he will shine as a neutral. He is patient, thorough and dedicated to his craft, all skills that align with our fundamental pillars at Judicate West.”

Judge Wohlfeil has over four decades of combined legal experience, most recently serving nearly 19 years on the San Diego County Superior Court bench and conducting hundreds of settlement conferences. He spent three years in the court’s Family Law Division before spending the remainder of his judicial tenure presiding over thousands of civil matters, including employment, real estate, insurance, business disputes, and personal injury and related torts.

Before his appointment to the bench in 2007, Judge Wohlfeil was in private practice for 25 years, and he obtained multiple seven- and eight-figure jury verdicts. He was a principal at Boudreau, Albert & Wohlfeil for the 16 years preceding his bench appointment. His firm participated in the largest pro bono undertaking in the history of the American legal system, representing the families of four people who died in the Sept. 11 attacks before a special master in New York.

Judge Wohlfeil is or has been a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the California Judges Association, American Judges Association, the National Institute of Trial Advocacy and the Louis M. Welsh American Inn of Court. He is also a member of the Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, which named him “Judge of the Year” in 2013 and awarded him five outstanding trial lawyer distinctions across his 25 years in private practice. Judge Wohlfeil earned his J.D. (1981) from Thomas Jefferson School of Law, formerly Western State University College of Law. The law school awarded him the Judicial Service Award in 2019. He received his B.A. from Northern Arizona University (1978).