Hon. Terry B. Friedman (Ret.) has conducted numerous settlement conferences, trials, motions, and various other hearings during his 15-year tenure on the Los Angeles Superior Court. He has established a reputation for being a patient, intelligent, fair, collaborative judicial officer who relates well to parties and comes to his hearings thoroughly prepared. Three decades of experience in public service as an attorney, state legislator, and trial court judge have honed Judge Friedman’s ability to help disparate groups reach mutually acceptable solutions to high-visibility and high-stakes conflicts.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Conducted successful mandatory settlement conferences on a wide spectrum of issues, including many complex matters, while on the Superior Court bench
- Presided over hundreds of trials and handled a wide variety of cases in virtually all areas of civil law including:
- Business/Commercial: breach of contract disputes, commercial foreclosures, partnership disputes, corporate dissolutions
- Construction: defect and delays
- Employment: discrimination, harassment, labor law, wage-and-hour
- Entertainment: court and bench trials involving high profile talent, writers, producers, and production companies
- Environmental: conducted hearings on writs of mandate
- Family Law: custody and probate issues
- Healthcare: breach of contract, statutory violations, failure to notify, and MediCal collections matters
- Insurance: bad faith, coverage, and subrogation
- Intellectual Property: royalties and trade secrets
- Personal Injury (from simple two-party to complex multiparty and catastrophic claims): assault and battery, auto, construction site, elder abuse, premises and product liability, defamation/malicious prosecution
- Professional Liability: dental, legal, and medical
- Real Property: breach of contract, homeowner associations, eminent domain, inverse condemnation, landlord/tenant
- Ruled on motions (case management orders, demurrers, motions to strike, discovery, amend pleadings, sever parties, bifurcation, motions for summary judgment) and conducted various other hearings over an extensive period of time which has familiarized him with a diverse range of issues
Representative Matters
Representative mandatory settlement conferences (MSCs) and significant trials handled by Judge Friedman include the following:
Business/Commercial
- Breach of Contract:
- Settled $2 million action at multi-day MSC, following unsuccessful prior attempts by two private mediators, regarding marketing of cosmetic products that involved appearances on major national TV program
- Negotiated with parties to ensure the hospital’s patients were not endangered in action involving breach of lease against hospital by plaintiff medical equipment company which was entitled to repossession of equipment valued at $465,000
- Settled bitter dispute at MSC regarding oral non-compete agreement between longtime dental partners and friends
- Collections: settled several related $100,000+ wrongful collection actions by prominent attorney against bank over course of three MSCs
- Licensing: presided over a three-week trial in complex multi-million dollar biotech licensing dispute
Civil Rights
- Settled in several day MSC, during three-week trial, Red Light Abatement/public nuisance action by City to close adult dancing business on grounds it was a front for prostitution
Construction Defect
- Settled after several session MSC, $2 million action regarding construction of guest house at luxury residential property; settlement achieved by devising process for special master to determine defect, delay, and damages issues
- Settled $150,000 action regarding damages from rain runoff due to faulty construction of new patio and pool
- Settled $160,000 action at MSC
Personal Injury
- Premises liability: settled at MSCs numerous cases ranging in claims from $250,000 to several million dollars
- Settled abundance of general personal injury matters at MSCs:
- Numerous cases with six-figure claims
- Scores of auto accident cases
- Wrongful death occurring in Pacific Coast Highway crash
- Sexual abuse of four-year-old by park employee
- Assault and battery (shot in knee, struck in head with flashlight), and false imprisonment against security guard
- Assault and battery at UCLA fraternity involving high-profile athletes
- Assault and battery arising from fight at movie theater
Professional Liability
- Legal malpractice MSC: settled action against major firm, $500,000
- Medical malpractice MSCs:
- Settled $2 million wrongful death action against hospital and doctors involving prominent attorney who died of cardiac arrest immediately after seeing cardiac specialist and while on way to various tests
- Settled $165,000 action against imaging center for misdiagnosis after failed attempt to settle in prior MSC before another judicial officer
Real Property
- Six-figure quiet title dispute regarding property encroachment settled at MSC
- Settled single-defendant $400,000 wrongful foreclosure, quiet title, and slander of title matter during several-day MSC
- Quiet title: settled dispute at MSC between sisters
- Landlord/tenant: settled numerous commercial and residential eviction disputes