Hon. Robert A. Baines (Ret.)

Hon. Robert A. Baines (Ret.) has over 39 years of litigation experience, including 22 years on the trial bench in Santa Clara County. He is bright, energetic, and well respected by both plaintiff and defense counsel, particularly for his ability to settle seemingly “trial-bound” cases. He was named Trial Judge of the Year in 2000 by the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association and received that Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. As a Superior Court "civil case manager" judge, he handled many complex “cutting edge” Silicon Valley matters.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Judge Baines is known for having successfully handled thousands of settlement conferences in all areas of civil law, including:

Representative Matters

• Settled at JAMS:
  • Judge Baines has successfully settled a wide variety of matters at JAMS, including: business partnership dissolutions, software licensing disputes, a dispute over the scope of a major utility company’s easement for high tension power lines (and damages for allegedly exceeding the scope of that easement), various personal injury matters (from automobile accidents to premises liability), contested conservatorship, commissions owed to commercial mortgage loan brokers, and sellers and brokers liability for fraudulent and/or negligent non-disclosure in the sale of real property.
• Arbitrated at JAMS:
  • Judge Baines has also served as a neutral arbitrator for a number of cases at JAMS, including software development disputes, medical malpractice, business dissolution (with trade secrets issues), rescission of real property purchases, damages for fraudulent and/or negligent non-disclosures in the sale of real property, and determining the rights of the parties under a mining rights lease.
• Settled while on the bench:
  • Resolved dispute among principals over dissolution of multi-million dollar venture by setting up process for selection and use of neutral appraisers for valuation and buy-out of parties’ interests, with limited court review of the process
  • Achieved reasonable compensation settlement for minority shareholders who claimed majority shareholders unfairly diluted the value of their interest
  • Settled a medical malpractice claim by patient whose main facial nerve was severed by doctor while removing growth near ear
  • Settled wrongful termination claim of popular youth sports TV broadcaster who allegedly was improperly terminated over a salary dispute
  • Resolved dissolution of business partnership, complicated by long-standing romantic involvement between partners, wherein Plaintiff's claims included breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and intentional interference with contract
  • Settled personal injury claim against lakefront recreational company that rented jet skis allegedly without giving proper training to novice renters
  • Resolved a breach of contract claim against software developer who allegedly failed to properly convert plaintiff's program so as to allow it to operate on Windows XP operating system. Resolution included setting up process for completion of the software conversion, with the final product to be certified by an agreed-upon software expert
• Cases adjudicated:
  • Laico v. Chevron, 123 Cal.App.4th 647 (2004) - Toxic tort/premises liability: Worker claimed his exposure to benzene at a gasoline testing facility was the cause of his leukemic condition, and that the landlord knew or should have known of this dangerous condition on the premises it rented to the testing facility
  • Leth v. IBM ("San Jose IBM Workers Litigation") - Toxic tort: Workers at IBM's disk drive manufacturing facility claimed they suffered systemic poisoning from worksite chemicals and that IBM knew of their injuries yet failed to inform them, resulting in an aggravation of their conditions, including the development of various cancers
  • Nicole M. v. Sears (1999) 76 Cal.App.4th 1238 - Premises liability: Plaintiff alleged that Sears was aware of a homeless encampment near one of its stores and thus owed plaintiff a duty to protect her from a physical assault by one of the residents of that encampment
  • Wershba v. Apple Computer (2001) 91 Cal.App.4th 224 - Approval of settlement of nationwide consumer class action
  • Lick Mill Creek Apartments v. CalProm, Inc. - Construction defects/products liability: Developer of 800+ unit apartment complex sued general and sub-contractors for construction defects, including the allegedly defective siding which caused excessive moisture intrusion and internal structural damage to the units