Prior to a career in mediation, Mr. Berman had a lengthy career in the real estate and construction industry, giving him vast experience with real property, land use and construction issues. He has been licensed as a Real Estate Agent since 1987 and a Real Estate Broker since 1990. He worked in sales and leasing of premier residential properties with Merrill Lynch Realty and The Prudential California Realty, and their estates division, Rodeo Realty. During this time, Mr. Berman was awarded Prudential's prestigious President's Award. He was also selected to serve on the President's personal advisory council.

Mr. Berman soon established himself in the development community, brokering land and lots to developers and builders. In 1990, he accepted a position in Land Acquisition at Pardee Construction Company, a division of Weyerhaeuser (now Pardee Homes), where he was responsible for the appraisal and analysis of property, land development issues, land management including environmental and endangered species concerns, and marketing analysis of the housing product to be constructed.

He has been involved with negotiations with entities such as the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, California Department of Fish and Game, California Coastal Commission, various city and county agencies, the Alliance for Habitat Conservation, Coalition for Habitat Conservation and the Nature Conservancy. He negotiated transactions ranging from small critical slivers of right-of-way upon which the future of a master planned community hinged to large transactions with financial institutions (two transactions completed in his final year totaling 865 residential lots and each in the $10 Million range).

Mr. Berman later worked as for Real Estate Spectrum as a consultant facilitating negotiations between developers, governmental entities and neighborhood homeowners' associations for entitlements of condominium conversions as well as new construction projects. He followed this with a term as Vice President of Land and Development for Ryland Homes in Los Angeles.

Mr. Berman has successfully mediated several hundred disputes involving real property, including transactions, land use, entitlements, CEQA, environmental disputes, natural resource conservation and tenancy issues, which have involved buyers, sellers, agents, homeowner associations, title insurance companies. He has also mediated the resolution of several dozen complex, multi-party construction claims for defects, delays, mold, soils and earth movement., involving owners, builders, contractors, subcontractors, engineers, design professionals and experts.