Cedar is a seasoned legal professional & trained neutral, with an unparalleled background in trucking litigation and personal injury claims evaluation. Calling upon twenty years of diverse experience as a litigator with top firms and major motor carriers, Cedar brings perspective, expertise & relationships from which both sides can readily benefit.
Cedar R. Abadie, Esq.
Most recently Cedar served as Vice President of Claims & Litigation at Knight-Swift, the nation’s largest for hire motor carrier. She personally handled the most significant and complex matters for the organization, on a national basis, and oversaw all major personal injury litigation.
Prior to Knight-Swift, Cedar worked in the General Counsel’s office of Dart Transit Company, developing a broad appreciation of trucking as a profession and industry. During this time she obtained her CDL permit and completed over the road training, to better understand the practical realities of CDL drivers as they travel America’s roadways.
Before joining the trucking industry in 2014, Cedar carried a general commercial litigation practice for 5 years in solo practice and 6 years as a litigator with several BigLaw firms.
Professional Background
40-Hour Facilitative Mediation Training, Minnesota (2008)
J.D. magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, University of Minnesota (2003)
B.A. cum laude (English major, Linguistics & Philosophy minors), University of Florida (1999)
Academic Credentials
Panelist at the Maryland Association for Justice, Inc.'s Annual Auto Negligence Seminar.
November 11, 2025
Baltimore, MD
Panelist at the National Trial Lawyers' annual Trial Lawyers' Summit.
January 27-29, 2025
Miami, FL
Appeared with Rodney Max at the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys' National Symposium: "Mediating Trucking Cases: What Works, What Doesn't, & How Decisions are Being Made/The View in the Other Room."
September 26, 2024
Nashville, TN
PAST:
Appeared with Rodney Max: "Designing the Mediation."
August 14, 2024
Chicago, IL
Upcoming:
Speaking Engagements
Cedar lives in Phoenix, Arizona with her fiancé and two very spoiled dogs. She has substantively visited 49 of the 50 states (Alaska is the last one!) and will gladly share her detailed restaurant recommendations for every one.
Personal Life
Having undertaken just about every role in the dispute resolution process – decision-maker, mediator, defense and plaintiff counsel of record, party representative, excess oversight counsel and executive with final settlement authority – Cedar brings a deep understanding of the factors that motivate parties to settle their cases.