Hon. Mark Whittington (Ret.) brings a unique perspective to his dispute resolution practice at JAMS. Justice Whittington served in multiple roles in the judiciary where he participated in early efforts to institute ADR programs at both the trial and appellate levels. He began his judicial career as a civil trial judge and concluded his public service as a Justice of the Fifth District Court of Appeals.
Experience and Qualifications
- As a civil trial judge, Justice Whittington presided over jury and non-jury trials involving general civil litigation including contract, personal injury, products liability, insurance, employment, and real estate disputes
- As an appellate court justice, Justice Whittington served on panels that resolved thousands of civil cases
- Personally authored more than 1,600 appellate opinions
- Since leaving the bench, Justice Whittington has served as a full-time mediator, arbitrator and special master with JAMS. He has experience in serving as a neutral in complex civil disputes involving business and commercial matters, insurance, healthcare, personal injury, torts, professional liability, real property, construction defects, employment matters, and securities.
Representative Matters
As a neutral, Justice Whittington has resolved a wide range of complex civil matters including:
- Mediations
- Appeal of judgment against financial institution by commercial borrower involving claims for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty with respect to loss of millions of dollars in escrow funds
- Appeal of multi-million-dollar judgment for insured against umbrella carrier for failure to provide defense and coverage with respect to underlying settlement of defamation claim
- Appeal of multi-million-dollar jury verdict against healthcare facility arising from death of Alzheimer’s patient proximately caused by premises defect.
- Appeal of multi-million-dollar jury verdict for statutory sexual harassment and retaliation as well as tort recovery for negligent supervision, sexual assault, and ratification by employer
- Breach of contract claims involving interpretation of contract language and liability relating to reinsurance agreements between insurance companies
- Claims by purchaser for breach of contract, fraud, and injunctive relief arising from multi-million-dollar sale of retail shopping center
- Condemnation claim by cities against landowners resulting from extension of runway at municipal airport and counterclaim by landowner for inverse condemnation of airspace
- Coverage dispute between insured and insurer over damages arising from fatalities caused by release of liquid ammonia from refrigerant lines at cold storage facility
- Healthcare liability claim against hospital and physicians for negligence during surgery resulting in permanent paraplegia of child’s lower extremities
- Multi-million-dollar claims against industrial crane manufacturer for unreasonably dangerous condition, resulting in fatality, caused by failure to warn of potential dangers
- Negligence claims involving liability for crash of private jet resulting in death of individuals and related damages
- Product liability and negligence claims against manufacturer and retailer for severe injuries sustained by child whose clothing was ignited by space heater
- Tort claims against trustees and accounting firm based on breach of fiduciary duty, self-dealing, and mismanagement of multi-million-dollar trust estate
- Arbitrations
- Breach of contact claims between former partners of law firm for violation of dissolution agreement
- Breach of contract, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty claims between former shareholders, officers, and directors of dissolved information technology company
- Claim for recovery of fees by receiver against decedent’s estate
- Claims by big-four accounting firm against individual CPAs for breach of asset purchase agreement, theft of proprietary computer information, theft of trade secrets, and fraud.
- Claims by national communications provider against regional provider for improper valuation of cellular spectrum and wireless infrastructure included in multi-million-dollar transaction
- Computer programming services company's claims against ex-employees for breach of non-compete agreement, theft of trade secrets and damages
- Employment cases including age discrimination, Title Vll, whistleblower, wrongful termination, and sexual harassment claims
- Legal malpractice claim arising from bankruptcy proceeding and attorneys’ alleged failure to identify and pursue significant assets of corporate debtor
- Multi-million-dollar breach of contract and negligence claims by real property owner against contractor and architect for office building constructed in violation of city ordinances
- Multi-million-dollar claims for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty arising from nonrenewal of insurance brokerage agreement
- Professional liability claims against attorneys and accountants involved in corporate merger
- Securities firm alleging financial institution's breach of deposit agreement for money market accounts resulting in multi-million-dollar loss
- Special Master
- Appraisal umpire in insurance valuation disputes
- Discovery master in litigation involving toxic tort claims
- Peer review hearing officer for appeals of hospital and staff disciplinary proceedings
- Special judge appointed to preside over complex civil jury trials by agreement of the parties