Profession: Arbitrator and Mediator

Work History:

• President, ADR Logic – 2013
• Principal, Bennett Law Offices, LLC – 2001-2012
• Wren & Associates – 1998-2001
• Division Financial Accounting Manager, The Coca-Cola Company – 1994-1998
• Division Controller, National Service Industries, inc. – 1984-1994
• Senior Auditor, National Service Industries, Inc. – 1984-1989
• Associate, Gerald T. Bennett, Attorney at Law – 1983-1984

Experience (Non-ADR Related)

General Background:

Mr. Bennett has 30 years of business, financial and legal experience. He was a manager in two
Fortune 500 companies and as an attorney has tried numerous civil and criminal cases. Mr.
Bennett is an active volunteer in his community and church and regular speaker at CLE seminars
and ADR organizations.
Legal Experience:
Mr. Bennett has represented clients in matters involving accounting and tax controversies;
administrative law; bankruptcy; legal and real estate malpractice claims; consumer law;
contracts; complex commercial and business law; consumer law, criminal law; domestic
relations; intellectual property; employment law; mechanic and materialmen liens; personal
injury cases; residential real estate disputes; secured transactions including Uniform Commercial
Code (UCC) claims, unpaid loans and notes; unemployment claims; wills, trusts & estates; and
workers’ compensation disputes.
Business Experience:
At The Coca-Cola Company Mr. Bennett implemented the North American Information Service
Division Branch’s largest multi-tiered, metadata tag data mining system in its history. He
renegotiated several telecommunication leases that resulted in dramatic savings for the North
American intra-company communication operations between The Coca-Cola Company and its
bottlers and managed annual operating and capital budgets in excess of $100 million dollars.

Mr. Bennett has conducted over 100 financial and operational audits and led several high level
key forensic and fraud investigations. He revamped an automated inventory control and
measurement system of a highly complex manufacturing and wholesale distribution plant and
oversaw the construction of a 12,000 SF manufacturing and storage facility that provided space
for a new operating division. Mr. Bennett managed payroll tax compliance, periodic financial
closings, inventory control, prepared and monitored budgets, coordinated financial statement and
ERISA pension audits and migrated a periodic product-based to true activity-based cost
accounting system.
Franchise-related Experience:
Mr. Bennett has drafted promissory notes; loan agreements; security liens; asset purchase and
operating agreements; bills of sale and contracts; reviewed inventory control, cutoff, and
valuation procedures; negotiated franchise fees and other franchise costs; and assisted with
transition issues after the franchise purchase. Mr. Bennett has mediated and arbitrated franchise
disputes concerning breach of contract, franchise disclosure documents, inventory valuation,
trademark infringement, unpaid fees and bills, unpaid taxes, nonconformance to franchise
standards and non-compete agreements. His clients include pet and hardware stores, computer
and internet web-based consulting businesses, wood and metal fabricators, retail shops and real
estate firms.
CPA and Forensic Accounting:
Mr. Bennett has advised individuals and businesses in matters concerning investments, tax
planning and compliance, and financial planning. As a forensic accountant he investigated
matters alleging fraud, misrepresentation, breach of contract and fiduciary duty, and negligence.
He provided expert opinions concerning the valuation of public and private securities by third
parties and traced funds between asset classes and accounts.
Human Resources Experience:
For 15 years Mr. Bennett performed compliance audits and made appropriate recommendations,
audited ERISA plans, designed training and policy/procedure manuals, managed employee
complaints and allegations of sexual harassment, disability, religion and age discrimination, filed
employment tax returns and was responsible for recruiting, hiring and the discharge of
employees. He developed job descriptions and human resource policies, negotiated union labor
contracts, investigated EEOC and workers’ compensation claims and developed employee
loyalty programs.

Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Experience:
Arbitration Experience:
Mr. Bennett is a full-time ADR professional who arbitrates cases involving attorney fee disputes,
breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, consumer and employment law, franchise disputes,
fraud, intellectual property disputes involving trademarks and Internet domain names, lack of

supervision, malpractice, mechanic and materialmen liens, misrepresentation, negligence,
reckless investing, secured transactions (UCC and non-UCC claims), theft of goodwill and theft
of services. On occasion he arbitrates domestic cases involving matters of property division,
business valuation, alimony, child custody and child support. Mr. Bennett’s cases include
disputes between corporate, partnership and individual litigants involving amounts in excess of
several million dollars.
Mr. Bennett regularly arbitrates cases before the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and
serves on the commercial, employment, franchise, banking, and large and complex cases panels.
He also arbitrates cases for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), which governs
industry and customer disputes for firms that are members of the National Association of
Securities Dealers (NASD) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). He arbitrates matters
involving unsuitability and the churning of mutual funds; stocks, bonds and other asset classes;
negligent hiring; fringe benefits; breach of contract; collusion; conversion; fraud; and RICO and
the Georgia Uniform Securities Act violations.
He has presided as panel chairman, sole arbitrator, or panel arbitrator in over 50 cases to final
hearing involving two-party and multi-party disputes. Mr. Bennett has also arbitrated cases
before the United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of Georgia, Superior Courts of the
State of Georgia and the State Bar of Georgia Fee Arbitration Program.
Mr. Bennett has extensive knowledge of the rules and procedures applicable to the Federal
Arbitration Act (FAA), Title Nine Articles of the Georgia Arbitration Code, Commercial and
Employment Arbitration Rules and Mediation Procedures of the American Arbitration
Association,

and the Code of Arbitration Procedure for the Financial Industry Regulatory
Authority.

Mediation Experience:
Mr. Bennett has mediated over 800 commercial, consumer, domestic and employment cases with
a settlement rate of over 75% and represented litigants in mediation on numerous occasions. He
has mediated cases including the following: (a) franchise disputes involving pet stores, fast-food
restaurants, fitness centers and home-improvement outlets; (b) intellectual property cases
involving patents for computer systems and trademark infringement; (c) disputes over the
ownership of Internet Domain Names; (d) real estate property disputes including those with
multi-party litigants involving eminent domain, foreclosure and partitioning issues; (e)
malpractice cases involving an attorneys, CPAs, real estate agents and real estate brokers (f)
personal injury cases involving death, auto accidents, and premises liability; (g) international
business disputes involving goods lost in transit, spoilage, damaged goods and non-payment; (h)
EEOC claims; (i) construction cases involving improper design, cost overruns, parking lot
variances, negligent workmanship, lack of permitting and warranty coverage; (j) breach of
fiduciary duty involving trustees, executors and business partners; (k) bankruptcy adversarial
disputes; (l) business valuation issues; (m) domestic relations cases involving divorce, alimony,
child custody and support and legitimation; (n) multiparty probate disputes; (o) workers’
compensation disputes; and (p) numerous other cases involving suits on accounts (including

FDCPA complaints), (q) breach of contract, (r)fraud, (s) landlord-tenant and lease disputes, (t)
sales tax disputes and federal tax liens, and other general civil matters.
He is a regular speaker for the Gwinnett County Bar Association in the areas of mediation ethics
and tax issues affecting mediation. He has conducted general civil training seminars for
mediators in private firms and has conducted mediation training for the Georgia Office of
Dispute Resolution.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Training:
18th Annual Neutrals Conference, 2013, “Taking the War Out of Words: Cutting Edge Tools for
Mediation”; 2012 ADR Institute; Mediator Ethics, 2013, Enhanced Mediation Application
Training, Gwinnett County Magistrate Court, 2013; Interfaith Conflict Resolution, 2013, United
States Institute of Peace; Chairing an Arbitration Panel – Managing Procedures, Process and
Dynamics; 2013; Tax strategies in Domestic Mediations, 2013; Georgia Office of Dispute
Resolution, 2012; Arbitration Institute – (E-Discovery, International Arbitration, Ethics,
Consumer Protection Arbitration; Arbitration clauses), 2012; Explained Decisions, 2012,
FINRA; Maximizing Potential for a Safe Mediation, 2011; Anti-Money Laundering/Suspicious
Activity Report Training, 2011; NCDS (National Center for Dispute Resolution) Advanced
Arbitration Tactics, 2011; AAA Arbitration Awards: Safeguarding, Deciding & Writing Awards
(ACE001), 2011; AAA Arbitration Fundamentals and Best Practices for New Arbitrators, 2010;
CDRS Arbitration Training, 2009; Understanding the Arbitration Prehearing Conference, 2009;
Discovery Abuse and Sanctions in Arbitration, 2009; The Direct Communication Rule in
Dispute Resolution, 2009; FINRA Dispute Resolution Expungement, 2009; Duty to Disclose,
2009; FINRA, Civility in Arbitrations, 2009; The Motion to Dismiss, 2009; Difficult Arbitration
Situations, 2008; Gwinnett County Magistrate Court Mediation Training, 2008; Arbitrator
Chairperson Training, 2008; NASD Dispute Resolution, Expungement Training Course, 2007;
Basic Panel Training, 2007; The Revised Code of Arbitration, 2007; Basic Panel Training, 2006;
NASD Dispute Resolution, Arbitrator Training Course, 2006; NASD Dispute Resolution,
Arbitrator Update, 2006; Ninth Judicial Administrative District, Domestic Violence Mediation,
2006; Mediation Training, DMI Associates, 2006; Mediation Training, DMI Associates, 2005;
Henning Mediation & Arbitration Services, Arbitration Training, 2005; Perfect Fit Training,
Divorce & Family Mediation; 2004; Resolve To Solve, Juvenile Mediation Training, 2004;
various other ADR training 2000-2003.

Professional Licenses:
Admitted to the Bar, Georgia, 2001; Georgia Supreme Court, 2006; U.S. District Court: Northern
(2001) and Middle (2002) Districts of Georgia; U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2002.
Georgia State Licensing Board for Certified Public Accountants (#CPA013746), 1992.

Professional Associations:
State Bar of Georgia; Gwinnett County Bar Association; American Arbitration Association;
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Institute of Business and Finance; Ninth
Judicial Circuit of Georgia; Cobb County Judicial Circuit; Dekalb County Judicial Circuit;
Construction Dispute Resolution Services; National Center for Dispute Settlement; Financial
Industry Regulatory Association.

Education:
JD, John Marshall Law School, with distinction
MA.A, Luther Rice University, with honors
BBA, University of Georgia (Finance)

Publications and Speaking Engagements:
Conducted mock arbitration training for attorneys, Empirical Creative, LLC, 2012; Speaker,
“Criminal Defense Issues (White Collar Crimes),” Annual Gwinnett County Bar Association
Criminal Defense Seminar, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005; Gwinnett County Panel of Neutrals
Conference, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006. “Fair Tax Act of 1999,” NOTRE
DAME LAW REVIEW JOURNAL OF LEGISLATION, 27 J. Legis. 1, 2001; Quoted in
newspaper and on websites on the advantages and disadvantages of using mediation and
arbitration to settle disputes.

Citizenship: United States of America

Locale: Grayson, GA, USA

e: [email protected]
t: twitter.com/goodlayers