Chief Justice Linda B. Thomas (Ret.) joined JAMS after serving 31 years as a trial and appellate judge. During her judicial career, Chief Justice Thomas participated in resolving disputes in virtually every area of law. She enjoys a deserved reputation as a well-prepared, knowledgeable, and impartial jurist who has a deep understanding of the law and the diverse dynamics inherent in litigation. Clients laud Chief Justice Thomas’ dedication to getting the job done in a professional manner, as well as her exceptional interpersonal skills and keen sense of humor.
Since becoming a neutral, Chief Justice Thomas has devoted her time, energy, and resources to training, studying, and developing skills and best practices in mediation and arbitration. As a result of her experience practicing law, serving in the judiciary, and her years as an adjunct law school professor, Chief Justice Thomas has the knowledge and skills to resolve simple to complex disputes in a calm, straightforward, and deliberate manner.
Representative Matters
- Business/Commercial
- Experience resolving wide variety of business-related disputes, including claims involving breach of contract, fraud, breach of covenant of good faith and fair dealing, insurance and appellate issues
- Particular expertise resolving complex business entity dissolutions
- For a comprehensive overview of Chief Justice Thomas’ experience, please visit her business/commercial specialty biography
- Employment
- Mediated and arbitrated wide range of employment matters, including wrongful termination, discrimination, workplace-related injury, employment agreement, and theft of trade secret disputes
- Estate/Probate/Trusts
- Probate mediation involving division of decedent’s personal injury claim proceeds among heirs
- Mediated apportionment of multi-billion-dollar estate
- Family Law
- Experience handling family law cases as judge and full time neutral involving dissolution, property and asset division, custody, and pre- and post-marital contract disputes
- Please visit Chief Justice Thomas’ family law specialty biography for a detailed overview of her practice
- Insurance
- Insurance cases involving policy interpretation and coverage
- Personal Injury
- Appellate mediation of personal injury claims involving municipality
- Appellate mediation of personal injury claims between airport employee and janitorial service company
- Mediated personal injury claims arising out of automobile accident
- Professional Liability
- Legal malpractice claims including determination of standard of care, causation, and damages
- Real Estate
- Real estate claims involving purchase and sale disputes, partition of real property, determining fair market value, and damage to real property