Hon. James L. Warren (Ret.) has been a full time neutral since 2006 and has mediated and arbitrated hundreds of matters. He is known for his insightful analysis, creative problem-solving, and warm but firm manner with all parties. Judge Warren is often chosen to handle complex cases, and his experience includes a variety of practice areas, including business and commercial disputes, professional malpractice, insurance, employment and IP matters. Prior to becoming a neutral, Judge Warren was involved in many complex and high profile cases as a San Francisco Superior Court judge.
Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Warren was Senior Counsel for Pacific Bell in San Francisco where he was primarily responsible for large and complex commercial litigation. Previously, Judge Warren practiced for nearly twenty years with Pillsbury Winthrop (formerly Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro) where he specialized in anti-trust and large commercial cases and was founding Chair of the firm’s Intellectual Property Specialty Group.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Has mediated and arbitrated hundreds of matters in a broad range of practice areas including business, real estate, professional liability, insurance and intellectual property.
- Presided over cases involving a wide range of legal issues, including high-stakes insurance, complex employment and environmental suits. His vast civil law experience includes deciding cases involving intellectual property, professional malpractice, construction, real estate, employment, and complex business litigation.
- Mediator in San Francisco County Superior Court’s Judicial Mediation Program.
- High-profile cases include: In re 101 California Street, a gun manufacturer liability suit where Judge Warren’s grant of summary judgment was recently affirmed by the California Supreme Court; injunction proceedings in the 2004 same-sex marriage cases; the constitutionality of San Francisco’s Minority and Women Business Enterprise statute; the City of San Francisco’s proposed Gun Control ordinance (Proposition H); and the infamous Dog Mauling case.
- Professor of mediation at the University of San Francisco Law School
- Frequent lecturer on litigation skills throughout California and around the country; faculty member for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy since 1984.
Representative Matters
Business/Commercial
- Mediated and resolved numerous complex matters involving mergers and acquisitions, insurance coverage, shareholder rights, corporate accounting, successor liability
- Successfully mediated numerous cases involving consumer warranty issues
- Franchise Tax Board’s interpretation of Federal Tax Reform Act of 1968 and the California Bank and Corporation Tax Fairness (etc.) Act of 1987
- Retroactivity of Prop. 64 & B&P 17200 et seq. on consumer commercial litigation.
- Mediated settlement between the last two remaining parties in a DRAM price fixing case. Case involved allegations of a horizontal price fixing conspiracy among suppliers of DRAM chips to computer manufacturers, which is related to the Sherman Act.
Class Actions/Complex Matters
- Successfully mediated multi-million dollar case between a major international bank and several state governments regarding escheat funds
- Successfully mediated consumer class action involving cell phone early termination fees
- Handled alleged price fixing among tour bus operators in San Francisco
- Resolved multi-million dollar class action suit brought by students in professional degree programs against the University of California for refund of unauthorized tuition increases
- Presided cover complex litigation dealing with corporate finance and real estate development, banking interrelationships, oversight by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and fraud/breach of fiduciary duty claims
- Settled complex litigation dealing with costing and distribution of electrical power in California
Employment
- Numerous cases involving wrongful and retaliatory termination, age discrimination, FEHA, ADA, and the Unruh Act
- Case involving classification of employees for Worker’s Compensation purposes
Environmental
- Multi-million dollar insurance dispute with multiple successor parties and overlapping/conflicting insurance contracts. Litigation focused on liability, coverage, and indemnity issues flowing from chemical contamination of agricultural lands
- Complex cases involving use of chlorpyrifos, fungicides, and pesticides in California agriculture
- Complex case involving dioxin discharges into San Francisco Bay
- Application and interpretation of CEQA, CERCLA, OSHA, and other environmental and safety statutes
Insurance
- Multi-million dollar complex coverage case involving multiple successor companies and successive insurance policies
- Complex case dealing with Insurance Commissioner’s powers over types of insurance issued by registered insurance companies in California Validity of Discretionary Clause in insurance contracts issued in California
Intellectual Property
- Development and licensing of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology
- Ownership and royalty distribution of patented, copyrighted, and trademarked properties
- Multi-level licensing transactions