Judge Chad Allred (Ret.) mediates and arbitrates complex civil disputes for parties and counsel throughout the United States. Judge Allred is a member of the JAMS Global Engineering and Construction Group and especially enjoys challenging construction, business, commercial, and insurance disputes. He also has extensive experience in estate/trust, real property, employment, securities, and serious injury cases. While serving on the Superior Court, Judge Allred presided over more than 230 trials, as well as numerous appeals from state agencies and courts of limited jurisdiction. He is known for his calm demeanor, reasoned decisions, and strong, fair case management. 

Before joining the bench, Judge Allred handled trials and appeals in federal and state courts and litigated claims involving construction defects, securities fraud, franchising violations, racketeering, misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference, the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), copyright infringement, breach of fiduciary duty, trust and estate disputes, consumer protection violations, breach of contract, bankruptcy, fraudulent conveyance, and healthcare reimbursement.

For over a decade, Judge Allred served as an officer in the United States Coast Guard (Reserve), where he qualified as a contingency mission lawyer and advised command staff on maritime issues. Among other awards, he earned the U.S. Coast Guard Achievement Medal and the Special Operations Service Ribbon.

Judge Allred’s vast experience in both trying and settling cases gives him a keen sense of when a case is ripe for resolution. And his calm, optimistic approach helps attorneys and parties get across the finish line. 

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• King County Superior Court (2014–2024)
• As settlement judge, successfully mediated cases ranging from stock-valuation disputes to wage-and-hour claims to dram-shop liability
• Mediating the Litigated Case, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University School of Law - 40 hours (2023)
• Trial and appellate attorney handing complex civil litigation in federal and state courts (1998–2013)
• Frequent speaker and author on topics such as effective mediation and arbitration, construction, insurance, ethics, and trial advocacy

Judge Allred served as a neutral in all matters listed below unless noted otherwise:

Representative Matters

• Construction
• Mediated claims of structural defects related to land instability and improper soil compaction
• Neutral evaluation of delay, pricing, and payment dispute in $4 billion public construction project
• Defective design, engineering, and erection claims related to steel bridge spanning river
• Multiparty dispute related to defects in high-rise office building 
• Claims of water intrusion through custom roof on historic building
• Claims related to Department of Transportation Standard Specifications for Road, Bridge, and Municipal Construction and standards of Associated General Contractors of America
• Construction company’s appeal of decision by Department of Labor and Industries related to industrial safety violations
• Claims related to engineering standards, change orders, delay, disruption, loss of productivity, liquidated damages, nonpayment, liens, and sureties
• Disputes involving general contractors, subcontractors, engineers, architects, inspectors, commercial buildings, single-family homes, and condominiums
• Business Commercial
• Mediated termination of partnership and division of real estate holdings among Chinese investors
• Mediated dispute involving business valuation and lost profits in cannabis industry
• Mediated claims related to value of LLC units arising out of president’s departure from large construction company
• Mediated business owner’s claims of improper disparagement via social media
• Mediated dispute over value of co-founder’s ownership units in tech startup
• Arbitrator in dispute arising out of secured promissory note and bond funding agreement
• Claims by state regulator alleging cybersecurity and data mismanagement by international wireless provider
• Claims of defamation, invasion of privacy by false light, and violation of Uniform Public Expression Protection Act (UPEPA) between property developer and political candidate
• Claims arising out of real estate broker’s alleged taking of proprietary information and violation of noncompetition provisions
• Scores of disputes involving breach of contract, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, fraud, conspiracy, partnerships, shareholders, Consumer Protection Act (CPA), and Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA)
• Complex issues of lost profits and income, business valuation, and accounting
• Estate Probate Trusts
• Multiple mediations involving TEDRA (Trust and Estate Dispute Resolution Act)
• Mediated dispute centered on decedent’s attempt to devise assets using limited power of appointment under gift trust
• In intrafamily dispute, mediated trustee’s and attorney-in-fact’s claims for conversion of trust funds and exploitation of elderly parent
• Mediated claims against personal representative involving decedents’ prenuptial agreement and transfer-on-death designations
• Mediated claims of breach of fiduciary duty and financial exploitation in multiparty dispute involving four lawsuits and multiple real estate investments and LLC interests
• Mediated claims of improper action as power of attorney and to compel distributions consistent with “mirror wills”
• Claims of estate and trust mismanagement, will contest, and improper probate; issues involving attestation, codicils, lost wills, lack of capacity, guardianship, conservatorship, and minor beneficiaries
• Counsel for beneficiary of multiparty estate-and-trust dispute that involved multiple businesses and properties in California and Washington 
• Real Property
• Mediated claims against developer for unjust enrichment and to compel transfer of parcel
• Neutral analysis regarding homeowners’ association claims that high-end remodel violated zoning laws and restrictive covenants
• Claims involving commercial landlord and tenants, eminent domain, inverse condemnation, unconstitutional takings, adverse possession, tenancies in common, nonconforming uses, right of way, permits, site and building inspections, surveys, setbacks, boundaries, lot lines, plats, trespass, waste, and loss of view
• Claims arising out of cannabis farm’s proximity to elementary school
• Disputes involving environmental regulations, critical areas, riparian rights, shoreline review, wetlands, levies, buffer zones, mitigation, fish and wildlife, and environmental impact statements
• Bench trial regarding value of warehouse space and import/export business after county condemned parcel
• Bench trial on claims that real estate developer committed timber trespass and waste and caused loss of property value
• Claims and appeals under the Land Use Petition Act (LUPA), State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA), Environmentally Critical Areas (ECA) Code, Administrative Procedures Act (APA), and Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA)
• Insurance
• Mediated contract, bad faith, and Insurance Fair Conduct Act (IFCA) claims against insurer related re-construction after fire destroyed building
• National medical company’s business-interruption insurance claim for losses related to COVID-19
• Numerous disputes involving insurance requirements, policy interpretation, and coverage issues
• Claims related to business income and interruption, first-party and third-party policies, intentional torts, subrogation, uninsured and underinsured motorists (UIM), title insurance, and exclusions for pollution, natural disasters, viruses, and microorganisms
• As counsel, disputes about insurance for commercial general liability, directors and officers, errors and omissions, employment practices, intellectual property and key persons
• As counsel in federal court, claim on issue of first impression regarding coverage for invasion of privacy
• Employment Law
• Mediated cardiologist’s claims of improper termination and unpaid compensation
• Mediated educator’s discrimination and retaliation claims against private school
• Arbitrator re California CFO’s claims for unpaid compensation and exercise of stock options
• Mediated claims against top-five retailer for race and age discrimination and retaliation
• Arbitrator re executive’s claims of wrongful discharge by Georgia-based national supplier of construction materials
• Mediated salesperson’s claims against cybersecurity provider for wrongful discharge and unpaid sales commissions 
• Claims of discrimination (race, sex, age, medical and disability), harassment, hostile work environment, and wrongful termination, as well as noncompetition agreements and trade secret theft
• Issues related to accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and General Rule (GR) 33
• Securities
• Claims of fraud, failure to register, unauthorized transactions and violations of the Securities Act of Washington
• As counsel, claims under the federal Securities Act of 1933 and Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including Rule 10b-5 violations
• As counsel, represented index fund executive in lawsuit about employer’s misrepresentations of stock value
• As counsel, private placements under U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Regulation D, Rule 504 and Rule 506, including issues related to exemptions and offerings to accredited investors and sophisticated investors
• As counsel, prepared private-placement memoranda and blue sky filings
• Professional Liability
• Trial regarding partial leg amputation allegedly due to medical malpractice
• Class action legal malpractice claim alleging that large personal injury firm defrauded clients
• Legal malpractice claim that attorney negligently advised client of immigration consequences of guilty plea
• Bench trial on developer’s claim that title officer and title examiner committed malpractice in handling and drafting commercial title policy
• Counsel for U.S. Army physician in proceedings that threatened his medical license
• Claims of legal malpractice and medical malpractice, including issues of hospital negligence and alleged agency relationship between hospital and providers
• Claims related to accounting, architecture, clergy, engineering, and real estate agents/brokers
• Product Liability
• Mediated dispute involving claims of strict liability related to pesticides and herbicides
• Four-week trial on claims that asbestos in naval shipyard caused mesothelioma
• Trial on plaintiff's claims that air conditioner that fell from upstairs window was defective and caused her quadriplegia
• Claims pre and post Washington Product Liability Act of 1981 (WPLA), including issues of federal preemption, government specifications, and choice of law
• Claims of defective design, defective construction, unsafe products, failure of warning and instructions, and manufacturer and reseller liability
• Personal Injury
• Mediated claims related to plaintiff’s intracerebral hemorrhage
• Mediated claims against school district based on alleged student-on-student sexual abuse
• Mediated customer’s claim of traumatic brain injury (TBI) suffered on premises of top-five retailer
• Lawsuit for catastrophic heavy equipment injury at SeaTac international Airport, including liability of Port of Seattle and major airlines and issues related to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Transportation Safety Administration (TSA)
• Trials regarding TBI to cyclist when hit by car, injury to construction worker when hit by school bus and injuries allegedly due to municipality's negligent use of equipment
• Trucking and roadway lawsuits, including claims for wrongful death, negligent highway design, road construction, and road maintenance, and investigations of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)
• Negligence action against King County Department of Juvenile and Adult Detention for failure to prevent inmate from attacking plaintiff
• Lawsuit alleging sheriff’s office negligence during eviction, resulting in failure to prevent murder of apartment personnel
• Claims against state agencies and others related to child sex abuse, trauma, repressed memories, and foster care abuse and negligence
• Education claims for failure to accommodate students and failure to prevent or protect from student bullying, and related to Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA)
• Lawsuit alleging police officers’ unlawful use of force against tribal member
• Federal Law
• Issues related to federal preemption, abstention and standing, as well as collateral and preclusive effect of federal litigation
• As counsel, four-week federal trial on telecommunications company's claims of misappropriation of trade secrets, tortious interference with business relations and violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act
• As counsel, U.S. District Court trials, and in the U.S. Court of Appeals, on claims under Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction
• As counsel, defended medical supplies provider against Department of Justice allegations of fraud and improper billing
• As counsel, First Amendment litigation in U.S. Court of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court
• As counsel, numerous claims, motions, and hearings in U.S. Bankruptcy Court
• As JAG counsel, prosecution of military member for rape of underage tribal member

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• “How to Prevent Frequent Contract Errors in Large Construction Projects,” Surety Bond Quarterly (National Association of Surety Bond Producers, Summer 2024) (available here)
• Washington State Bar Association
• Construction Law Section
• Real Property, Probate, and Trust Section
• Federal Bar Association, Western District of Washington
• Local Rules Committee (past member)
• King County Bar Association
• Executive Committee, Litigation Section

Background and Education

• Judge, King County Superior Court, 2014–2024
• Officer, United States Coast Guard (Reserve), 2006–2018
• Attorney; Ellis, Li & McKinstry PLLC; Seattle; 1998–2013
• National Institute for Trial Advocacy, 1999
• J.D., University of Texas School of Law, 1998
• B.A., Abilene Christian University, 1995