Lester J. Levy, Esq. has been a full-time ADR professional since 1994, handling more than 1,000 cases. As Special Master and Discovery Referee, by court appointment or agreement of the parties, Lester Levy:
- Supervises the creation and implementation of discovery plans for the orderly completion of percipient, documentary, and expert discovery
- Decides motions to compel and substantive legal motions
- Referees depositions to ensure efficient examination of witnesses
- Holds prompt telephonic hearings to resolve discovery disputes as they arise
Areas of Special Master/Discovery Referee Matters
- Business/Commercial Transactions
- Bankruptcy Claims & Preferences
- Consumer Finance, Credit & Banking
- Class Actions & Mass Torts
- Construction Defect & Building Products
- Employment & Civil Rights
- Environmental & Toxic Torts
- High Tech/Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyright & Trademark
- Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith
- Land & Water Use
- Partnership Disputes & Dissolutions
- Personal Injury
- Products Liability
- Real Estate
- Securities & Antitrust
Representative Matters
- Appointed Discovery Referee by Los Angeles Superior Court regarding third-party discovery and sanctions
- Appointed Discovery Referee by San Francisco Superior Court to oversee deposition of plaintiff in high profile tobacco product liability lawsuit
- Appointed Judge Pro Tempore by Contra Costa Superior Court to decide motions for summary judgment in class action involving limited partnerships and financial institutions
- Appointed Referee to monitor deposition of defendant in sexual harassment and racial discrimination case
- Appointed Settlement Master over 4,000 personal injury claims involving contaminated drinking water in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Appointed Special Master by Federal District Court to decide attorneys' fee motion
- Appointed Special Master by Federal States District Court for discovery and settlement. Decided numerous discovery motions, including: (1) motions to compel deposition testimony and responses to written discovery requests; (2) request to sample certain real property for possible contamination in the soils and groundwater pursuant to Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; (3) motion seeking the return of allegedly privileged documents under the work product doctrine and attorney client privilege; (4) motions for sanctions; (5) motion to continue the trial date; and (6) motion to bifurcate the trial in order to order the issues to be tried so as to complete the trial as efficiently as possible
- Appointed Special Master to oversee injunction issued by Federal District Court
- Managed the private adjudication of more than 25,000 civil rights claims under a Consent Decree entered by the Federal District Court in Washington D.C.
- Prepared and supervised discovery plan in High Tech matter in Federal District Court
