Hon. Robert E. Thomas (Ret.) brings to his dispute resolution practice 31 years of experience as a judicial officer and trial attorney. Judge Thomas joined JAMS after a distinguished 20-year judicial career in the Orange County courts. His most recent assignment was to the civil complex litigation panel (1996-2001).
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Extensive expertise in resolving complex litigation having spent the last four years on the Superior Court handling the settlement, law and motion and trial of complex civil cases. In that assignment, he was responsible for managing and trying the court's longest and most complex trials. The range of trials involved sulfate attack on concrete (Peters v. Brighton Brannon Yorba Linda Associates, first trial of this defect in California), computer hard disk defects, inverse condemnation, medical malpractice, premises liability and toxic waste contamination.
- Assigned by the California Judicial Council to preside over the highly complex University of California Irvine fertility coordinated cases (over 120 of these cases settled)
- While assigned to the Complex Civil Panel, supervised over 200 construction defect cases, as well as conducted the Mandatory Settlement Conferences (over 150 cases settled)
- Taught numerous educational programs to judges and attorneys relating to management of trials of complex cases, use of juror questionnaires and the streamlining of the voir dire process at various organizations including The Rutter Group, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, California Center for Judicial Education and Research, California Judges Association, California State Bar, Orange County Bar Association and Western States University School of Law
Representative Matters
- Hammel v. Outpatient Surgical Center (resulted in highest medical malpractice judgment in Orange County)
- Amstad v. Western Digital Corporation (allegations of computer hard disk defects)
- Niguel Summit v. Zanderson (over 100 unit condominium construction defect allegations)
- 32nd Agricultural District v. Nederlander (allegations of business/contract fraud)
- Crow Irvine v. Crow Winthrop (real estate dispute involving over 90 acres of prime Orange County property)