About Ana M.
Ana M. Sambold built a career at the center of dispute resolution. She has moved between court panels, private mediation rosters and law school classrooms. In 2023 she served as Chair of the American Bar Association’s Dispute Resolution Section, a role that put her in regular contact with practitioners and policy discussions across the field.
Sambold earned her law degree from Universidad Javeriana in 1998 and later completed an LL.M. at the University of San Diego School of Law. Her academic path spans two legal systems, and she has returned to teaching as an adjunct over the past decade.
Her early practice included a role as legal counsel at Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP beginning in 1999. Over the next decade she shifted toward alternative dispute resolution. In 2012 she joined the San Diego Superior Court’s civil panel as a mediator. She accepted appointments as an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association in 2016 and worked with West Coast Resolution Group that same year. In 2017 she joined ADR Services, Inc. as a mediator, adding private panel work to her court experience.
Sambold has also taught at two law schools. She served as an adjunct professor at California Western School of Law in 2016 and later returned to the University of San Diego School of Law as an adjunct in 2021. Those classroom roles have run alongside her active caseload, allowing her to bring current practice examples into an academic setting.
Her professional license covers California and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District, and she also holds licensure to practice in Colombia. That cross-border eligibility informs much of her work, particularly where matters touch both U.S. and Colombian legal contexts. She sits on multiple ADR panels and has experience handling court-ordered mediations, private arbitrations and settlement conferences.
Colleagues describe her as steady in high-stress negotiation settings and methodical in preparing for hearings. She combines institutional ADR experience with the mechanics of courtroom practice. In recent years she has been visible in ABA governance, contributing to section programming and policy discussions on dispute resolution practice.
Sambold currently serves as a mediator and arbitrator through ADR Services, Inc., and continues to teach in law school programs. She maintains an active practice handling domestic and cross-border dispute resolution matters.
