John Miles
Chief Executive Officer
In 2000, having spent a decade in the courtroom, John Miles found litigation often too expensive and time-consuming for the best interests of clients. To provide a better way to resolve disputes, he formed Miles Mediation & Arbitration Services, LLC in 2000. Today with offices in Atlanta, Savannah and Athens, his company offers ADR services to attorneys and corporations nationwide and has been named the best ADR firm in Georgia for the last six years.
John Miles has mediated over 2,000 cases in the areas of personal injury, premises liability, insurance, construction, estates, fiduciary, contracts, commercial, business, employment and subrogation. A frequent speaker at colleges and CLE seminars, he has written extensively on mediation. His book A New Day in Court explores what motivates parties in mediation. Mr. Miles also authored the neutral training manual used at Miles.
An AV rated (preeminent) attorney, he is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and is registered neutral with the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution. Since 2008, he has been a member of the Georgia Academy of Mediators and Arbitrators, a peer nominated association recognizing the top 5% of mediators in Georgia.
In 2017, Mr. Miles stopped mediating full time to become CEO of Miles Mediation & Arbitration. In addition to his executive duties, he mediates high value and complex matters on request. He is in charge of the training and development of Miles neutrals.
Jake Miles
Chief Financial Officer
John Karl Miles, III. (Jake) has worked at Miles since the firm’s inception. Jake has performed nearly every role at the firm, such as, reception, scheduling and billing.
Jake graduated cum laude in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science from Presbyterian College in Clinton, S.C. He majored in Business Management with a concentration in Accounting. In 2017, Jake graduated from the University of South Carolina, where he received his master’s in accounting. Before officially joining Miles, he worked for Grant Thornton in Atlanta. After returning to Miles in 2017, Jake was promoted to COO and CFO. In these roles, he oversees all of the financial and day-to-day operations of the firm.
Parag Shah
Chief Operating Officer
Parag Y. Shah is an accomplished, successful and well-respected attorney, judge, neutral, and business owner. He has an established record of performing multiple functions in various roles with efficiency and excellence. Parag has been intricately involved in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution since being registered as a neutral in 2011 by the Georgia Office of Dispute Resolution. Since that time, Parag has served on the Miles panel mediating complex civil and business disputes, arbitrating hospitality and commercial matters, and serving as an appointed special master by the Fulton County Superior Court. Prior to being named COO, Parag served as the firm’s Practice Development Coordinator where he improved and developed operational efficiencies for the neutrals and the organization as a whole. Parag is also the founder and co-owner of ADR On-Demand, a virtual dispute resolution scheduling and payment platform. As a result of this diverse skillset, he now sits as the Chief Operating Officer of Miles.
Serving as COO, Parag constantly improves the general efficiency at Miles through critical evaluation of operations and implementation of innovative ideas and new processes. Using his unique personal and professional experience, Parag has brought Miles’s focus to providing excellence for both its neutrals and clients by creating the optimal customer service experience. Parag’s ultimate goal is to make Miles a national presence and implement scalable operational models. He directs and oversees multiple departments, formulates policies and manages daily operations necessary for the company’s success.
Parag is of Indian descent and grew up in a small town in Arkansas working for the family’s hotel business. Parag’s drive, compassion, and persistence led him to become an attorney in 2006. Together with his wife, he owned and operated a small boutique law firm in midtown Atlanta. Parag represented executives, businesses and athletes in high profile and complex criminal and civil matters, including the NFL Concussion lawsuit. He also helped to recover millions of dollars in compensation for hundreds of families across the country for losses they suffered. Parag has been honored by the Daily Report, Martindale Hubbell, Super Lawyers Magazine, Georgia Trend Magazine and the Georgia Asian Pacific Bar Association for his exceptional legal talent.
Parag’s experience in the legal field encompasses more than being an attorney. Parag serves as a Pro Hac Judge to the City of Atlanta Municipal Court and as the 5th District representative for the Council of Municipal Court Judges. He is an adjunct professor at Ohio Northern University Law School where he teaches negotiations, jury selection, depositions and cross-examination. In addition, Parag regularly provides legal commentary on CNN and HLN. He has been featured on “Nancy Grace,” “Crime and Justice,” “Weekend Express,” and NPR’s “This American Life.” Finally, Parag is the author of four Georgia reference guides published by MyCLE: The Code Criminal, The Code Civil, The Code Evidence and the Municipal Benchbook.
Parag is an alumni of Choate Rosemary Hall (’99), Rhodes College (’03), Ohio Northern University Pettit College of Law (’06) and soon to be a graduate of Georgia State University Robinson College of Business (’22). He is a member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, the Atlanta Bar Association Dispute Resolution Section, the South Asian Bar Association of Georgia and the Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association. Parag is actively involved with a number of local charities including Side by Side, Nicholas House and Raksha.
Donna S. Thompson
Director of Administration and Customer Service
Donna S. Thompson joins Miles Mediation and Arbitration as the Director of Administration and Customer Service. She will also oversee all aspects of customer services including information systems, human resource requirements, as well as budgeting and financial data. Donna will provide strategic and tactical support in areas such as defining customer service workflows, writing and improving customer service processes, collecting and analyzing customer service performance and delivery data, taking action regarding responses, reporting to the organization, and focusing on building the arbitration department at Miles.
Donna is a senior legal administrative and customer service professional with over 25 years of progressive experience in operations, administration, in addition to 17 years of arbitration and logistics management. She served at Henning Mediation & Arbitration Services as the Principal Arbitration and Mediation Coordinator. As the primary case administrator for coordinating all arbitrations and mediation cases, she possesses an in-depth knowledge of policies and procedures related to arbitration and mediation.
Donna is a well-known and respected paralegal professional and has built a successful career establishing relationships with attorneys and legal colleagues in Atlanta and throughout the United States to facilitate global case management and arbitration proceedings. Donna also served as the primary point of contact as an Administrative and Customer Service professional at Chubb & Son, Inc. for 12 years. Donna will use her team-building and leadership skills to manage her team of arbitration professionals into the next level of elite customer service experts.