Hon. Robert A. Baines (Ret.) has over 40 years of litigation experience, including 22 years on the trial bench in Santa Clara County.
Judge Baines is bright, energetic, and well respected by both plaintiff and defense counsel. He was named Trial Judge of the Year in 2000 by the Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association and received that Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006. As a Superior Court "civil case manager" judge, he handled many complex “cutting edge” Silicon Valley matters.
Representative Arbitrations
- Real Estate Disputes
- Fraud and nondisclosure claims in the sale of residential and commercial property
- Fair value determination for lease renewal of resort town retail property
- Software & Intellectual Property Issues
- Contract matter concerning whether software development firm had fulfilled its multi-million dollar duty to develop innovative software for a nationwide system for digital medical records
- Contract dispute regarding performance of internet usage monitoring software
- Commercial
- Determined whether major beer importer unreasonably denied sale of distribution rights held by distributor
- Employment
- FEHA claim alleging failure of large HMO to accommodate disabled employee’s condition
- Determined whether medical group wrongfully denied accrued deferred compensation to discharged doctor
- Medical Malpractice
- Standard of care issue involving high school boy’s loss of hearing allegedly due to adverse reaction to medication
- Claim of brain damage to elderly patient due to hypoxic episode (i.e., alleged insufficient oxygen to the brain following surgery)
- Allegedly improper chiropractic care in the use of a back-stretching machine causing aggravation of patient’s pre-existing low back condition
- Determined damages for patient who suffered catastrophic stroke
- Personal Injury
- Underinsured Motorist Claim (UIM) by worker permanently injured by a drunk driver
- Slip and fall of patron at gaming casino
- Healthcare
- Health plan coverage dispute involving an elderly diabetic patient in a skilled nursing facility
