Hon. Jackson Lucky (Ret.) is a mediator, arbitrator, and neutral resolving business, entertainment, cannabis, institutional liability, and complex family and civil disputes. He brings technological expertise, extensive subject-matter knowledge, and decades of trial advocacy insight to help parties achieve resolution. He has handled thousands of lawsuits and hundreds of ADR proceedings across diverse practice areas. In addition to his judicial experience, he has taught and coached trial advocacy for three decades, including with the Stanford Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop, as a coach and lecturer in law at UCLA Law School, and as a coach at UC Davis Law School. 

During his 13 years on the Riverside County Superior Court bench, Judge Lucky served in both family law and unlimited civil divisions. As supervising judge of the family law division for four years, he developed innovative ADR programs that consistently achieved 90% settlement rates. His judicial service earned numerous honors, including the Outstanding Jurist Award from the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court and Judicial Officer of the Year from the Riverside County Barristers. As the first Korean American and first AAPI judge in Riverside County, he received the Trailblazer Award from the Asian Pacific American Lawyers of the Inland Empire.

Judge Lucky has decades of programming experience, ranking him in the top 11% of contributors to Stack Overflow, a computer programming website with over 14 million users. He pioneered digital education for judges through his Digital Judge podcast series—one of the Center for Judicial Education and Research’s most downloaded resources. As a member of the California Chief Justice’s Pretrial Reform Operations Workgroup, he taught judges about best practices for algorithmic pretrial risk assessment tools. Known for his clear, practical teaching style, technical expertise, and legal experience, Judge Lucky is a sought-after instructor on evidence, ethics, AI, and virtual ADR for judges and attorneys nationwide.

Representative Matters

• Business Commercial
• Presided over a variety of contract disputes between municipalities and their contractors
• Heard many cases involving breach of commercial contracts and breach of fiduciary duty, including multimillion-dollar disputes between wholesalers and retailers, commercial equipment rentals and franchisors/franchisees.
• Tried claim between insurance company and electric company on subrogation for bank fire
• Presided over dissolution of partnership cases, including real estate trusts, cannabis dispensaries and commercial enterprises
• Heard commercial breach of contract and fraud action for fraudulent sale of workers’ compensation instruments
• Tried case between hospital and vendor as to hospital’s contractual obligation to hold vendor harmless for personal injury to hospital’s employee
• Cannabis
• Heard dozens of cases involving cannabis nuisance abatement
• Presided over many contract disputes between cannabis business partners
• Employment Law
• Presided over multiple cases alleging violations of California Labor Code wage and hour laws, including PAGA claims, waiting time penalties, failure to pay overtime, meal and rest breaks, and minimum wage claims
• Heard multiple actions alleging failure to make reasonable accommodations based on disabilities
• Settled dispute between physician and medical group alleging millions of dollars of unpaid wages
• Presided over many cases involving discrimination, retaliation, hostile work environments, whistleblowers and wrongful termination
• Heard multiple actions involving employment disputes involving educator plaintiffs against school districts and universities
• Family Law
• Specially assigned settlement judge for hundreds of high-conflict marital dissolution cases during September and October 2020 to clear the COVID-19 backlog
• Fashioned creative settlement solutions for post-dissolution health coverage, parentage determinations and visitation in non-traditional relationships
• Decided matters involving complex community property issues, including third-party transfers and community property, Van Camp/Pereira determinations, derivative shareholder actions of a closely held corporation in a dissolution action and various transmutation issues for real property, business property and financial instruments
• Determined many custody and visitation issues for special-needs children
• Presided over complex issues of child custody jurisdiction, including analysis of the interaction of Qatari law, the UCCJEA and Swedish home state jurisdiction
• Mediated and settled decade-long community property dispute between multi-platinum recording artist and former spouse over royalties for streaming, satellite radio, and other music royalties
• Land Use
• Heard several eminent domain matters during civil law assignment
• Presided over cases involving nuisance abatement issues, including business developments and cannabis dispensaries
• Personal Injury
• Settled personal injury cases, including multi-car auto accidents and alleged spinal injuries
• Conducted trials for motor vehicle accident cases involving catastrophic injuries with multimillion-dollar damages, including pedestrian and bicyclist cases
• Presided over premises liability cases involving municipalities, medical facilities and hotels, including catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases
• Presided over suit against municipality for penal institution’s alleged failure to protect inmates against COVID-19 infection
• Heard multiple medical malpractice cases, including improper use of spinal implants, neonatal brain injury and medical battery for allegedly unnecessary vaginal exam of a child
• Presided over many personal injury cases with minor plaintiffs against school districts, including causes of action for sexual abuse of students by staff and for sexual assault by other students
• Real Property
• Heard several cases involving multimillion-dollar land development contracts
• Presided over several condemnation matters involving real property
• Heard many receivership cases in land development litigation
• Mediated and settled multi-million dollar dispute between municipal airport and its former tenant
• Sexual Abuse
• Heard many cases involving sexual abuse of children by adults and other children
• As a judge, tried several civil and criminal cases involving sexual abuse of minors
• Taught investigation and prosecution of sexual abuse of children for several years for California District Attorneys Association and California Sexual Abuse Assault Investigators Association
• Investigated and prosecuted hundreds of cases involving the sexual abuse of children

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• President, Board of Trustees, Riverside County Law Library, 2021
• Member, Supreme Court Jury Selection Workgroup, 2020–2021
• Judicial Mentor, Asian Pacific American Lawyers of the Inland Empire, 2013–2021
• Coach, Trial Advocacy, UCLA Law School, 2021
• Trustee, Riverside County Law Library, 2014–2021
• Judge, Riverside County Youth Court, 2009–2020
• Member, Pretrial Operations and Reform Workgroup, 2019–2020
• Chair, Technology Working Group, Center for Judicial Education and Research, 2015–2018
• Member, Judicial Council Information Technology Advisory Committee, 2015–2018
• Member, Governing Committee, Center for Judicial Education and Research, 2015–2018
• Member, Bernard E. Witkin Judicial College Steering Committee, 2013–2021
• Member, New Judge Education Workgroup, Center for Judicial Education and Research, 2012
• Judicial Master and Past President, Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court, 2009–2017
• Mentor, North High School Law and Protective Services Academy, 2011–2015
• Family Law Advisory Committee, Riverside County Superior Court, 2008–2015
• Member, Riverside County High School Mock Trial Steering Committee, 2009–2013
• Member, Ralph N. Kleps Award Committee, 2010–2012
• Co-Chair, Information Services Committee, Riverside County Superior Court, 2011–2012
• Member, Information Services Committee, Riverside County Superior Court, 2008–2012
• Member, High-Tech Committee, California District Attorneys Association, 2005–2008
• Member, Sexual Assault Mentoring Program, California District Attorneys Association, 2004–2008
• Member, Visual Aids Ad Hoc Committee, California District Attorneys Association, 2000–2003
• Organizer, Riverside RUG and Django Girls Inland Empire (computer programmer groups), 2014–2015

Selected Awards and Honors

• Outstanding Jurist Award, Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court, 2021
• Douglas E. Weathers Distinguished Honoree, Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court, 2019
• Judicial Officer of the Year, Riverside County Barristers, 2019
• Elwood Rich Outstanding Jurist Award, Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court, 2018
• Family Law Legacy Award, Joint Riverside/San Bernardino Bar Associations, 2017
• Trailblazer Award, Asian Pacific American Lawyers of the Inland Empire, 2013
• Public Safety Award, Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, 2007

Selected Publications

• "A Guide to Third-Party Discover in Arbitration," LACBA Aug 2024
• "Knowing What’s Ahead: Dispute Resolution Planning for Startups in the New Age of Generative AI," JAMS ADR Insights, June 2023
• "The Facilitator," Daily Journal, Jan. 2023
• "Demystifying Private Mediation: The Do's and Don'ts," BHBA Family Law Symposium, 2023
• "The Brave New World of AI-Generated Intellectual Property Disputes," Daily Journal, Dec. 2022
• "Using ADR in Family Law Cases Involving Digital Assets," JAMS ADR Insights, Dec. 2022
• "Analyzing Unconscionability in Arbitration Agreements," The Advocate, Sept. 2022 
• "Ground Rules: What Evidentiary Rules Should You Use in Arbitration?," Daily Journal, Oct. 2021
• “Can You Relate? People v. Sanchez,” Riverside Lawyer Magazine, May 2019

Selected Speaking Engagements

• "RASH PE", SDFLBA Fall Seminar, Sept. 2024
• "How to be Effective at Mediations: Maximizing Value and Getting Resolution," CAOIE 2024 Mediation Seminar, Sept. 2024 
• "Oh No, You Didn't! Ethical Issues in the Use of Email and Social Media," RCBA Barristers Membership Meeting, Aug. 2024 
• "Pets are (Almost) People Too! A Deep Dive into Pet Custody Issues, Dilemmas, and Unintended Consequences," BHBA, July, 2024 
• "Resolving Tech Disputes – A Deep Dive into the New JAMS AI Rules," Mondaq Webinar, June, 2024 
• "House on Fire: The LaMusga Factors Reconsidered from the Inside Out", CP CAL 18th Annual Celebration, April 2024 
• "Frontier Technologies and Dispute Resolution," California Lawyers Association, Oct. 2023 
• "Social Media Evidence: Foundation, Admissibility & the Hearsay Exception," SDFLBA Fall Seminar, Sept. 2023 
• "Social Media and Ethics Workshop," California Asian Pacific American Bar Association Conference, Sept. 2023 
• "Nuances of Hearsay: A Systematic Approach to Application of the Hearsay Rule in Family Law Cases," California Lawyers Association, May 2023 
• "Breaking the Log Jam: Does ADR Make Sense for My Family Law Case?," RCBA Family Law Section, March 2023 
• "Google v Oracle, AI and Other Tech Issues Changing the Software Industries," Alameda County Bar Association IP Section, Oct. 2022 
• "NOT MA's BED," Northern Santa Barbara County Bar Association, July 2022 
• "NOT MA's BED: A Mnemonic Checklist for Presenting Expert Testimony Under Sanchez," Santa Barbara County Bar Association, Family Law Section, July 2022 
• "Ethics and Social Media," Riverside County Bar Association, June 2022

Background and Education

• Riverside County Superior Court, 2008–2021

• Judge, Civil Division, 2019–2021
• Supervising Judge, Criminal Division, 2018
• Judge, Criminal Division, 2016-2017
• Supervising Judge, Family Law Division, 2013–2016
• Judge, Family Law Division, 2008–2012

• Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, 1994–2008

• Senior Deputy District Attorney, 2006–2008
• Deputy District Attorney, 1994–2006

• J.D., magna cum laude, SCALE Program, Southwestern Law School, 1994

• Law Review
• Moot Court Honors Program
• John J. Schumacher Minority Leadership Scholar

• B.F.A., DePaul University, 1992