Hon. Richard D. Aldrich (Ret.) joins JAMS following his distinguished 25-year judicial career, most recently serving as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeal, Second District. Previously, he served on the Ventura County Superior Court. During his time on the bench, Justice Aldrich authored many significant opinions and made major contributions to the advancement of ADR. He was also instrumental in defining processes for complex case management.
In private practice, Justice Aldrich practiced civil trial law and tried cases in diverse areas, including medical malpractice, legal malpractice and complex civil cases, including class actions, products liability and catastrophic personal injury. He successfully handled disputes involving real property, construction defect and toxic torts. Justice Aldrich has had extensive experience in insurance coverage disputes and fair claims-handling practices. As a lawyer, he handled numerous insurance bad-faith claims.
Justice Aldrich frequently speaks on ADR-related topics and has nearly 20 years on the faculty of the B.E. Witkin California Judicial College, teaching Civil Settlement Techniques. He has also taught seminars on best practices in handling insurance claims.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Participated as settlement officer in hundreds of matters
- Instrumental in inaugurating Ventura County’s multi-door courthouse early dispute resolution program
- Served as chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee for the Ventura courts
- Instrumental in inaugurating the Second District Appellate Settlement Conference and Mediation Program
- Chaired the Complex Litigation Task Force for the California Judicial Council, which published “Deskbook on the Management of Complex Civil Cases”
Representative Matters
Business/Commercial
- Numerous breach of contract matters
- Partnership/joint venture disputes
- Unfair competition matters under Business and Professions Code Section 17200
- Statutory claims concerning the validity of the Hotel Service Charge Reform Ordinance enacted by the City of Los Angeles
Class Actions
- Handled numerous appeals involving class actions where the main issue was whether the trial court erred in granting or denying certification of the class. The underlying cases involved many issues, from wage and hour employment to insurance coverage.
Construction Defect
- Homeowners' lawsuit against developer for construction defects involving condominium project
- Construction defect litigation regarding a large apartment complex alleging architect failed to supply sufficient support for the foundation resulting in cracks in the units, wall buckling, and other defects
Employment
- Wage and hour disputes seeking class certification for employees seeking to recover unpaid wages, penalties and damages alleging Labor Code violations, failure to timely pay wages upon termination and failure to pay an additional hour of reporting time and failure to issue a wage statement that complied with the Labor Code
- Wrongful termination claims, including hostile work environment caused by harassment and retaliatory firing for reporting perceived misdeeds to governmental agency
- Several cases brought under Code of Civil Procedure Section 1085 (writ of mandate) to compel a governmental agency or officer to discharge statutory duties
- Interpretation of the Los Angeles County's Employee Relations Ordinance as it pertains to disclosure of non-union employees' personal contact information
Insurance
- Insurance coverage cases
- Interpretation of coverage and exclusions
- Analysis of claims-handling practices
- First-party (insured) bad-faith litigation
- Analysis of coverage under excess insurance policies
Personal Injury / Torts
- Injuries resulting from alleged defective highway design
- Actions involving multiple deaths and catastrophic burn injuries to residents of an apartment building due to negligent maintenance and involving tens of millions of dollars recovered
- Personal injury and wrongful death claims
- Litigation under the Government Tort Claims Act (Government Code Section 900, et seq.)
- Defamation involving a public official's suit against a newspaper
- Civil suit alleging false arrest, false imprisonment and defamation brought by the publisher of a Los Angeles legal newspaper against the County of Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Superior Court and the presiding judge of the Los Angeles Superior Court
Product Liability
- Lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies for allegedly defective drugs
- Injuries from alleged automobile design defects
Professional Liability
- Medical malpractice claims including allegations of: failure to diagnose serious medical conditions leading to death; anesthesia malpractice leading to profound brain damage and total paralysis; and failure to diagnose spinal dislocation leading to quadriplegia
- Legal malpractice claims, including allegations of alleged negligence in forming a limited partnership, resulting in liability as a general partner, and alleged failure to answer complaint by lawyer on behalf of a famous personality
Real Property
- Matter concerning interpretation of the statutory exemption provided by Government Code Section 37361, subdivision (c) for noncommercial property owned by a religious organization
