Of Counsel

James W. Pressler (DC, MA)

James W. Pressler, Jr. is currently the senior partner of the firm Pressler & Senftle, P.C., Washington, D.C. Mr. Pressler and Mr. Riselli practiced together for 25 years as Riselli & Pressler, P.C., and continue to be associated as "Of Counsel" to each other.

Mr. Pressler conducts a varied civil litigation practice, including personal injury and negligence, labor and employment, Title VII discrimination and general litigation. He has extensive jury and bench trial experience in the District of Columbia metropolitan area at the state and Federal court levels. He also serves as the General Counsel to the Fraternal Order of Police, Metropolitan Police Department Labor Committee, which represents the rank and file police officer membership of MPD in all labor-management matters.

Mr. Pressler also serves as a court-appointed Mediator and Arbitrator under the auspices of the D.C. Superior Court Multi-Door Dispute Resolution Division. In this capacity, he has arbitrated or mediated a variety of complex cases, including automobile tort claims, medical and malpractice claims and wrongful death actions.

For James Pressler’s complete curriculum vitae, click here.

Norval D. (John) Settle (VA)

Norval D. (John) Settle specializes in mediation of EEO and workplace disputes.  He is certified by the Supreme Court of Virginia as a mediator and Mentor Mediator.  He is a member of the Virginia Bar, and "Of Counsel" to the Alexandria, Virginia, employment law firm of The Law Offices of Michael J Riselli, P.C.  He holds the designation of Advanced Workplace Mediator awarded by the Association for Conflict Resolution.  John is a contract mediator for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and is on the rosters of mediators for the U.S. Navy, Air Force, NASA, the World Bank, and Curtis Lewis and Associates.  He has mediated hundreds of disputes for private companies and government agencies.  John was named "Mediator of the Year" in 2000 by the Northern Virginia Mediation Service, where he is a mentor mediator and trainer and teaches courses on mediating workplace disputes and other subjects.  He is a past president of the Virginia Mediation Network, and was Virginia Governor Warner's civilian appointee to the State's Interagency Dispute Resolution Advisory Counsel.

John also specializes in teaching managers and supervisors (particularly in federal and state agencies) about management and leadership techniques for avoiding and dealing constructively with conflict in the workplace.  A former senior federal executive, John was a member of the Executive Board of the Federal ADR Network and a pioneer mentor mediator for the Federal "Shared Neutrals" program.  He received the Presidential Award of Meritorious Executive in the Senior Executive Service.  John speaks and trains widely on ADR subjects, and has written many articles on ADR.  He has a B.A. in psychology from the University of Richmond, a Master's in Public Administration from the University of Southern California, a J.D. from American University (where he was an editor of the Law Review), and a Certificate in Environmental Management from the University of Southern California.

Richard K. Sullivan (MA)

Bio to be added