Hon. Coleman A. Swart (Ret.) is a skilled mediator and arbitrator who brings to JAMS 25 years of experience as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge. During his time on the bench, attorneys hailed his knack for resolving cases early in the process, the result of an innovative and hands-on approach that included mandatory settlement conferences and pretrial evaluations. Experienced in resolving cases involving medical malpractice, personal injury, employment, business, and construction disputes, Judge Swart is lauded for his fair-mindedness and firm grasp on complex legal issues.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- In his first year on the Superior Court bench, Judge Swart reduced the backlog of criminal cases using pretrial evaluations that often led to settlements
- As a civil trial judge, he required mandatory settlement conferences and was widely known for quickly resolving cases
- Called a “settlement guru” by the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Judge Swart is experienced in mediating and arbitrating cases involving a wide range of legal matters
Representative Matters
- Aviation: Trial case involving wrongful death claims stemming from helicopter crash
- Business/Commercial: Presided over several trials involving business and commercial disputes
- Class Actions/Mass Torts: Numerous class action and mass tort issues, including cases involving federal preemption and governmental immunity issues stemming from major railroad crash
- Construction
- Construction Defect: Trials involving construction defect cases
- Employment: Settled several employment and labor cases as settlement judge
- Estates/Probates/Trusts: Settled more than 100 contested probate, trust, and conservatorship disputes
- Family Law
- Personal Injury/Torts: Settled numerous disputes involving lliability of owner, workers compensation, premises liability, elder abuse, product liability, toxic tort, general personal injury, libel, defamation, and malicious prosecution matters
- Professional Liability: Presided over trials and settled disputes involving malpractice or professional liability claims in medical, legal, and architectural industries, as well as hundreds of professional liability claims involving trust and probate accounting issues
- Real Property: Tried and settled several real estate cases, including those involving homeowners associations, eminent domain, and landlord/tenant issues