KEY PERSONNEL
Joel P. Michel is the Chief Executive Officer of Gladding & Michel, Incorporated, a Board Member of the World Association of Detectives, and a Director of Liberty Bank. Mr. Michel specializes in the investigation of complex cases involving aviation, automotive and consumer products liability, insurance fraud, patent and trademark infringement, anti-trust litigation, construction defect litigation, premises liability, and employment litigation involving sexual harassment, discrimination, and wrongful termination. Under his management, Gladding & Michel has provided a wide range of services to the insurance industry, and corporate community. Mr. Michel has investigated hundreds of high profile products liability cases for a variety of automotive product manufacturers. Prior to founding the firm in 1968, Mr. Michel worked as a special investigator and later as a multi-line adjuster for insurance companies. Through his involvement with the World Association of Detectives, Mr. Michel has engaged the firm in a number of international investigations in Latin America, the Pacific Rim, Europe, and the Middle East. He also serves as a Board Member of Liberty Bank.
Andrew Solow is President of Gladding & Michel, Inc. Mr. Solow has a bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, and eight years experience as an investigative journalist. He worked as a project engineer for the Boeing Company, has a background in machine design, and holds two U.S. patents. Mr. Solow is also a licensed CA Real Estate Agent and has 20+ years experience as a residential property manager. Mr. Solow has conducted a variety of complex civil and criminal investigations including: environmental and toxic torts, asbestos injury, industrial espionage, aviation, automotive, and machine tool products liability, patent infringement, civil and criminal fraud, misrepresentation of credentials, land use and landlord-tenant disputes. He has an extensive knowledge of public records research methods and twenty years experience in trial preparation. He was the plaintiff's principal investigator in the matters of: TYLER v CISNEROS No. 9715005 - 02/10/98 and TYLER v CUOMO No. 9916242 - 12/15/2000. In both cases, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found in favor of the plaintiff.
Robert D. Hastings is Vice-President Gladding & Michel, Inc. Mr. Hastings came to Gladding & Michel from his position as Special Investigator for United Airlines in Chicago, Illinois, where he conducted and supervised commercial and employment-related investigations. In his 30+ years with the firm, he has provided investigation and litigation support of high-profile automobile products liability cases for major foreign and domestic automakers. He also specializes in airbag investigation, computer download data retrieval, and insurance investigation. Mr. Hastings is a graduate of Southern Illinois University.
Emily Cochran is a senior investigator with Gladding & Michel. For the last seven years, Ms. Cochran has been providing investigative and litigation support services for a variety of complex civil litigation matters including high-profile automobile products liability cases for major foreign and domestic automakers. Ms. Cochran specializes in performing complex background investigations including locating and obtaining official records from local, State and Federal agencies throughout the country. Ms. Cochran has a bachelor's degree in Psychology and is particularly adept at obtaining information from social networking communities.
Jim Delbridge is a senior investigator with Gladding & Michel. Mr. Delbridge has more than 30 years investigative experience working as a CA Highway Patrol officer, an insurance adjustor and as a product liability investigator for General Motors. In addition to investigating thousands of auto collision cases, Mr. Delbridge has considerable experience investigating ATV product liability claims.
Robert Love is an investigator with Gladding & Michel. Mr. Love has a Bachelor's Degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Mr. Love has contributed significantly to the dismissal and/or settlement of many cases involving such matters as asbestos injury, automotive product liability, environmental and toxic torts, civil fraud, landlord/tenant disputes and family law matters. Mr. Love has extensive experience with difficult witness locates, in depth interviews, library & online research, and collection of public records from State & Federal agencies.
Travis Hastings is an Investigator with Gladding & Michel. Mr. Hastings specializes in the investigation of automotive product liability claims. Mr. Hastings has been very successful obtaining information from responding personnel and other witnesses. Mr. Hastings also specializes in photography of collision scenes and involved vehicles, witness locates, collection of DMV and Court records, and social networking, print and TV media research. Mr. Hastings has received training in air bag data retrieval on General Motors Vehicles.
Joe Hochman is Vice President of International Operations. Mr. Hochman specializes in the investigation of complex and high-profile cases for Banks, Financial Institutions, and Corporate and Insurance clients involving fraud, counterfeiting, financial asset searches, and Merger/Acquisition matters. He is involved with international trade and the transfer of manufacturing technology, the protection of copyright, patent trademark and other proprietary rights matters. Mr. Hochman served with the Israel Defense Forces and attended the Pitman Business School. He formerly worked with Argus Investigations in Israel. Mr. Hochman has performed special investigations throughout the world on a sub-contractor basis with the U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Marshal’s Service. Mr. Hochman is a life member, former Director and Area Governor of the World Association of Detectives and a member of the Association of British Investigators.
Mr. Hochman is a member of our International Contact Team with respect to counterespionage for clients who are the object of corporate espionage, whether from internal domestic or foreign sources. And, Mr. Hochman offers his expertise in defense of firms whose products are being illegally sold and distributed worldwide. Mr. Hochman is fluent in English, Hebrew, Arabic, Spanish, and French.
Edward A. Gladding is one of the founders of Gladding & Michel, Incorporated. Mr. Gladding now has a separate company and works out of his office in Reno, Nevada.