Judge J. Kathleen Learned (Ret.) has earned a reputation for her hard work, thorough preparation, and quick mastery of complex and difficult matters, with a fair, gracious, and good humored but no-nonsense style.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
- Since joining JAMS in 2003, Judge Learned has had a high rate of resolution success; during her prominent 14-year judicial career on the King County Superior Court, she was involved with the settlement of numerous civil matters in a wide range of areas in after hours settlement conferences
Representative Matters
- Business/Commercial: resolved many contract matters with issues ranging from commercial leases to shareholder/partnership agreements. As an arbitrator, Judge Learned has decided cases involving consumers and various companies over fraud, misrepresentation, and non-payment of claims
- Class Actions: handled a large employment benefits case against the county, and cases involving consumer products, financial institutions, and telecommunications companies
- Construction: claims arising from major construction projects involving multiple parties, insurance liability and contractor liability disputes involving large condominium and other large building projects, construction defect matters involving residential construction
- Consumer Protection: from small to large matters
- Employment: disputes involving claims of wrongful termination; discrimination based on disability, gender, and race; breach of contract; ADA; hostile work environment; constructive dismissal; pay and hour issues; and non-compete. While a prosecuting attorney, she tried a ground breaking affirmative action case for the county
- Environmental: pollution cleanup insurance coverage claims including one of the largest multi-state claims
- Estate/Trust: a large estate dispute involving multiple out of state parties and significant assets. Has also resolved cases with multiple parties, complex issues, and large estates
- Family Law: dissolutions involving small to multimillion dollar estates
- Partnership Dissolutions: including claims of trade secret violations
- Personal Injury: wrongful death cases, auto accidents, slip and fall
- Product Liability: claims involving safety devices and warning adequacy, drugs, industrial machinery
- Professional Liability: medical, legal, claims of trustee, breach of public duty doctrine, breach of fiduciary duty in administering retirement plan
- Real Estate: has mediated several condemnation matters involving local municipalities, also resolved matters involving property line disputes
- Toxic Torts: asbestos cases and other environmental and work place hazards and exposures
