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John B. Bates , Jr.

Mediator

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Virtual

Home Office: San Francisco, California View More

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John B. Bates, Jr. has been mediating full time since 1991. He has conducted over a hundred lectures and trainings on mediation and has mediated several thousand matters in 30 states.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Began mediating in mid 1980’s as part of litigation practice
Co-founded mediation and arbitration firm in 1991 which merged with JAMS in 1994
Conducted workshops, trainings, and lectures on all aspects of mediation
Handled several thousand mediations across the U.S. involving aviation, business, civil rights, class action, consumer, construction, employment, environmental, franchise, government/public agency, healthcare, insurance, intellectual property, personal injury, professional liability, real estate, patent and trademark, securities, toxic torts, and wills

Representative Matters

Business Commercial

Agricultural disputes
Construction disputes
Dealership disputes, including franchises and agencies
Dissolution of business
Distributorship disputes
Employment, including key executive disputes
Environmental disputes
Family business disputes
Fee disputes
Goods and services disputes
Insurance coverage disputes
Intellectual property disputes, including patent, trademark, and unfair competition
Land use disputes
Partnership dissolutions
Real estate disputes, including landlord tenant
Sales of business disputes
Shareholder disputes
Software licensing disputes
Venture partners disputes
Work outs

Class Action & Mass Tort

Class action consumer case involving airbags in vehicles, settlement
Class action consumer dispute involving condition of 400,000 vehicles, settlement
Class action involving disability access to college in California, settlement
Class action toxic contamination dispute in Alabama, multi-million dollar settlement
Class action wage and hour case in California, multi-million dollar settlement
Class action business disputes in Missouri, $100 million settlement
Class action employment dispute in Idaho, multi-million dollar settlement
Class action invasion of privacy case in California, multi-million dollar settlement
Environmental contamination dispute in California, multi-million dollar settlement
Mass medical malpractice claims in Illinois and New York, $2 million settlement
Class action deceptive advertising in California

Construction

Architectural malpractice dispute in California, multi-million dollar settlement

Employment Law

Class action employment dispute in Idaho, multi-million dollar settlement
Numerous wage and hour class actions in California, multi-million dollar settlements
Dispute involving termination of a highly compensated senior executive in public company in California
Case involving the termination of founder of venture capital firm in California, multi-million dollar settlement
Numerous class action cases involving discrimination
Numerous discrimination cases involving race, gender, age, disability, and religion
Numerous sexual harassment cases, including same sex, minors, and battery involving same
Numerous wage and hour class actions
Numerous wrongful termination cases, with intellectual property issues
Numerous disputes concerning family held businesses and closely held corporations, where disputants were and were not represented by counsel
Numerous disputes involving high level executives and attendant securities issues

Environmental Law

Environmental contamination dispute in California, multi-million dollar settlement
Case involving gas pipeline explosion in California, $100 million settlement
Mass toxic contamination dispute in Alabama, multi-million dollar settlement

Financial Markets

Broker dealer disputes
Claims on notes and guarantees
Class actions, business, consumer, employment
Fee disputes
Investment advisor disputes
Key executive departures from securities firms
Loan workouts
Money manager departures from banks
Partnership disputes, including venture capitalists, hedge funds
Shareholder claims and suits

Governmental & Public Agency

Numerous business/commercial disputes involving public entities, including government contracts
Numerous catastrophic personal injury cases with public entity as defendant
Numerous construction disputes involving public entities
Numerous eminent domain/condemnation cases
Numerous employment disputes involving public entities
Numerous insurance coverage disputes involving public entities

Health Care

Numerous health care cases involving HMOs, hospitals, and medical and dental partnerships concerning issues such as insurance payment, reimbursement, and dissolution
Billing dispute between HMO and hospital in California
Dispute between HMO and hospital in Nevada
Dispute between hospital and health care provider regarding reimbursements and setoffs in California
Dispute between hospital and multiple health care providers in Southern California
Dispute regarding exclusivity clause in contract between hospital and HMO in California
Dispute regarding sale of nonprofit hospital to for profit hospital in California
Dispute between doctors concerning their partnership
Hundreds of medical malpractice claims and lawsuits involving doctors and hospitals
Numerous elder abuse claims and lawsuits involving assisted living facilities

Insurance

Numerous insurance bad faith disputes in California, multi-million dollar settlement
Bad Faith disability insurance cases
Brokerage cases
Indemnity/Subrogation cases
Insurance Coverage (Life, Disability, Commercial)
Reinsurance Coverage cases
Subrogation (Fire, Theft, Vandalism)
Title Insurance Coverage cases
Workers Compensation insurance coverage cases

Intellectual Property

Class action invasion of privacy case in California, multi-million dollar settlement
Venture capital investment fraud cases in California, multi-million dollar settlements
Copyright infringement case involving Fortune 500 company settled on confidential monetary terms
License dispute between Fortune 500 companies resolved, terms confidential
Patent infringement case with million-dollar settlement
Software performance and misappropriation of trade secrets case with million-dollar settlement
Dispute between venture partners settled confidentially
Dispute on royalties for license of intellectual property settled on confidential basis
Misappropriation of trade secrets case settled on confidential monetary terms and consent decree
Multi-party, multi-jurisdictional dispute concerning departure of employees to competitor from Fortune 500 company settled on confidential basis
Dispute involving software licensing, resolving with a multimillion dollar settlement

Personal Injury

Catastrophic personal injury products liability action in Wyoming, multi-million dollar settlement
Catastrophic personal injury case involving explosion in California, $20 million settlement
Wrongful death cases from helicopter crash in the North Atlantic, mediated in New York
Commercial airlines crash case in southern California, co-mediated $100 million settlement
Helicopter crash case in Hawaii, multi-million dollar settlement
Dispute involving disability access to college campus in California, multi-million dollar settlement
Air crash cases
Complicated product liability cases
Construction accident cases
Defective seatbelt cases
Electrocution cases
Gas pipeline explosion, multiple injuries, and deaths
Medical malpractice cases
Mining accident involving defective crane
Plant explosion with deaths
Rollover cases
Toxic exposure cases
Transformer explosion
Vehicular accident cases involving automobiles, motorcycles, trucks, and highway design
Wrongful death cases
Wrongful life case

Professional Liability

Legal Malpractice:
- Commercial transactions
- Dissolution of marriages
- Fee disputes
- Personal injury
- Real estate transactions
- Trademark
- Trusts and estates
Medical Malpractice:
- Mass malpractice cases involving cosmetic procedure in Chicago, New York, and Southern California
- Cases involving surgeries, childbirth, elder abuse, and hospital care
- Failure to diagnose cancer cases
- Pharmacist malpractice cases
- Psychotherapy malpractice cases
- Sexual misconduct between psychotherapist and patient
- Sexual molestation of patient cases

Real Property

Brokers disputes
Competing purchasers of real property
Condemnation suits
Contamination to real property, including toxic materials and mold
Leases on commercial property, including partnership disputes regarding master leases
Loans secured by real property, including work outs
Misrepresentations in connection with purchase and sale
Owner and management of commercial properties
Real estate commissions
Title insurance, including coverage, malpractice, and handling escrow instructions

John B. Bates

John B. Bates, Jr., Esq. | JAMS Mediator & Arbitrator

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS.

Recognized as an “ADR Champion”, National Law Journal, 2016
Recognized as a leading practitioner, Alternative Dispute Resolution Category, Who's Who Legal: California, 2014-2017
Past Vice-Chair of the ADR Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law
Member of, speaker, and writer for the American Bar Association, American Law Institute, American Trial Lawyers Association, Consumer Attorneys of California, and the Defense Research Institute
Member of and speaker for the Association of Business Trial Lawyers Association and Tort, Trial, and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association
Member of the American Health Lawyer Association
Recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer, ADR Category, 2010-2012
Among many articles are:
- "Mediation: An Effective Way to Connect With Your Clients," ABTL Report, Vol. 17 (Summer 2008) and also in the American Bar Association’s The Brief, Vol. 38, No. 3 (Spring 2009)
- "For Emergency Disputes, Mediation is Cure," Law 360 (2008)
- "Using ADR to Resolve Superfund and Related Environmental Disputes," California ADR Practice Guide (November 1994)
- "Getting the Most from Mediation," California Litigation, Vol. 7 (Spring 1994)
- "Using Mediation to Win for Your Client," The Practical Lawyer (1992)

ADR Profiles

"From the Get-Go," Daily Journal, ADR Profile, October 2, 2015
"Bates Has Adjusted Style With ADR's Evolution," The Recorder, ADR Profile, February 16, 2010

Background and Education

Co-founder, Bates Edwards Group in 1991 that subsequently merged with Endispute and then with JAMS in 1994
Litigation Partner, Cooley, Godward, San Francisco, 1974-1991
J.D., cum laude, University of Santa Clara School of Law, 1974
B.A., with honors, University of California, Berkeley, 1970

Virtual & In-Person Locations

Home Offices

San Francisco, CA
Silicon Valley, CA
Walnut Creek, CA
Santa Rosa, CA
Sacramento, CA

Virtual hearings available nationwide

"I just wanted to once again say thank you for your help in the mediation we had on this Tuesday past. Although I know this is your job and what you do every day, I did want you to know how much I appreciate not only the professionalism you bring to the process but also the humanity you demonstrate through your actions and behavior. While I am sure mediation can be a taught and learned process, there is an element of authenticity that only the best have. And you are surely one."

"John, thanks for your great work yesterday. It was a pleasure to work with you again."

"John, a belated “Thank You” for your excellent services. You handled it well and we hope the chance to use you on this case will arise again."

"Thank you again for all of your help. This case would not have settled without your work at the mediation."
"Bates is exceptionally good. Quick study, good guy, practical, result oriented. I’ve used him often with good (i.e. fair) results."
"If a deal can be had, John will find it and work persistently towards that end!"
"Another excellent job! You have reclaimed your perfect record in mediation for me. Thanks a million!"
"Thank you for your hard work on this case, especially in keeping the discussions going. This mediation, in particular, required a strong degree of trust with and in the mediator, and you accomplished that. We will do our best to continue getting the word out about your services."
"Well done and congratulations! Thank you for your excellent work. I know it wasn’t easy—complicated case with a lot of moving parts..."
“John is that rare person who has a unique ability to read people, read situations, and establish trust. He uses his lock picker’s touch to achieve settlements that both sides see as win-win. He’s the best.”
“[John Bates has a] calm demeanor, deep understanding of issues, and patience.”
“John is an impressive, incisive, experienced and astute mediator who quickly commands the legal, factual and other dynamics of a dispute, accurately assesses how to help the parties appreciate their respective risks and then facilitates reasonable compromises and agreements.”
“John is outstanding, brought us together, eased tensions.”
“I would not hesitate to use John Bates to mediate my most complex class action cases. He is the godfather of mediation.”
“I have represented both plaintiffs and defendants in mediations conducted by John Bates…It is a ‘level playing field’ no matter who you represent and he brings a unique approach and method of analysis to resolving each and every case, that inevitably benefits both sides in the dispute.”
“John brings to mediations a great deal of experience, a patient and determined approach, and a sensibility to the parties that fosters resolution of disputes.”
“[John Bates] quickly grasped the parties’ positions and was able to identify strengths and weaknesses.”
“[John Bates is] hard-working and tireless with follow-up.”
“What has made [John Bates] successful, and a ‘go to person’, in my experience, is his credibility with defendants and their carriers, along with his ability to reassure a terribly injured plaintiff, or a surviving spouse or parent, that he understands the magnitude of their loss within the context of trying to reach a monetary compromise in situations where, on some level, no amount of compensation is adequate. This special ability allows him to calm the fear and dispel the anger which often interfere with a successful outcome.”
“[John Bates] focuses on the task at hand: determining how a settlement can be achieved. This goal orientation enables him to negotiate a broad variety of cases.”