Michael D. Ranahan, Esq.

Michael D. Ranahan, Esq. has over twenty years of experience in a variety of case types, specializing in personal injury and business commercial cases and has handled over a thousand cases to conclusion.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Experience with personal injury cases in the following areas:
  • Construction site incidents
  • Premises liability
  • Product liability
  • Professional negligence, including legal and medical malpractice
  • Uninsured and underinsured motorists
  • Vehicular related matters
  • Other tort claims
• Participated in hundreds of mediations or arbitrations involving personal injury claims
• Mediated hundreds of Business/Commercial matters
• Mediated landlord-tenant disputes
• Handled Unlawful Detainer settlement conferences as a Temporary Commissioner in Contra Costa County
• Mediated cases through Contra Costa County EASE Program

Representative Matters

• Arbitration
  • Attorney fee applications post settlement of lemon law cases.
  • Partnership dispute relating to restaurant construction, operations, and ultimate dissolution.
  • Partnership dispute involving division of real estate firm commissions and assets, allocation of debts and final dissolution.
  • Construction defect claim arising out of installation of extensive solar system.
  • Personal Injury claim involving five-vehicle accident with issues of liability, causation, apportionment of fault, and damages in dispute.
• Automotive Disputes
  • Mediated hundreds of consumer disputes involving nearly every major automobile and RV manufacturer.  These disputes involved the following issues:
    • Song-Beverly (lemon law)
    • Magnuson-Moss
    • Breach of implied warranty
    • Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA)
    • Civil penalty claims
  • Successfully mediated Automobile Sales Finance Act (ASFA) matters involving consumers and dealerships. 
• Business/Commercial
  • Successfully mediated dispute between public utility, water district, and contractor following a catastrophic rupture of water main resulting in substantial property damage, lost profit claims, and business interruption.
  • Mediated numerous claims involving commercial transactions between consumers and vehicle manufacturers or dealerships. 
• Personal Injury
  • Successfully mediated personal injury claim against the State of California arising out of a motor vehicle accident with plaintiff claiming significant personal injuries.
  • Mediated uninsured motorist claim where claimant suffered major injuries requiring back fusion surgery resulting in a substantial settlement.
  • Successfully mediated truck/bicycle accident wherein elderly plaintiff suffered a traumatic brain injury.  Causation, damage, and extent of injury were vigorously contested.
  • Successfully mediated multiple cases while participating in “Settlement Days” with major insurance carrier.
• Real Estate/Landlord-Tenant  
  • Mediated hostile boundary dispute between adjacent property owners involving yacht harbors
  • Successfully mediated landlord-tenant dispute involving following claims:
    • Breach of warranty of habitability
    • Wrongful eviction/Retaliatory eviction
    • Breach of contract
    • Breach of covenant of quiet enjoyment
    • Rent ordinance violations