Biography
Justice Morrison has tried, arbitrated, mediated and served as a judicial referee in numerous real property disputes involving complex development issues, as well as matters dealing with title issues, zoning, inverse condemnation, insurance, environmental cleanup liability, leasing, allocation of property tax revenue and eminent domain. Justice Morrison has been described as having “a quick intelligence, good judgment, and common sense.”
Representative Matters
Mediated case involving damage to real property caused by a landslide, inverse condemnation, negligence, and insurance issues
Mediated breach of contract case brought by a land owner and developer against a church
Mediated case involving environmental cleanup liability, contractual indemnification and real property leasing issues
Mediated dispute over the proper allocation of property tax revenues between county office of education and a school district
Mediated action to rescind a land sale based on a mutual violation of the Subdivision Map Act
Mediated action alleging unfair enforcement of CC&Rs by homeowners association
Served as a judge pro tem in a dispute over the ownership and inheritance of agriculture land
- Ninth Circuit Trustee, Board of Trustees of the American Inns of Court, 2009-2013
- Member, Third District Court of Appeal Committee to Establish Appellate Mediation and Settlement Program
- Presiding Special Master, Commission on Judicial Performance Hearing, 2007
- Member, Supreme Court Advisory Committee for Publication of Court of Appeal Opinions, 2005-2006
- “Medical Malpractice Litigation: Policy, Procedures and Perspective,” John M. Mott Memorial Lecture, University of California, Davis Medical School, 2001
- Speaker, programs on civil litigation and medical malpractice, University of California, Davis Medical School, 2001-present
- Justice Pro Tem, California Supreme Court, 2002
- Judge of the Year, Sacramento County Bar Association, 1997
- Member, Governing Board, California Center for Judicial Education and Research, 1995-2000
- Founding Member and Executive Committee Member, Anthony M. Kennedy Inn of Court, 1990 to present; (President, 1993-1997)
- Member, Sacramento County Bar Association, 1978 – 1985; Bar Council, 1983-1985; Secretary-Treasurer, 1983; Vice-President, 1985
- "From Military to Mediation," ADR Profile, Daily Journal, August 24, 2012
- Justice, California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, 1994-2009
- Judge, Sacramento Superior Court, 1989-1994
- Municipal Court Judge, Sacramento, 1985-1989
- Assistant U.S. Attorney, Sacramento, CA, 1982-1985
- Professor, McGeorge School of Law, University of the Pacific, Sacramento, CA, 1975–1982; Adjunct Professor, 1982-1989
- Second Lieutenant to Brigadier General and National Guard Special Assistant to the Judge Advocate General of the Army, California National Guard, 1975-1993
- U.S. Army Judge Advocate General Corp., U.S. Army, 1971-1975
- J.D., magna cum laude, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA, 1971
- U.S. Army (tours in Korea and Vietnam), 1963-1975
- B.S. (Psychology), Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, 1963
Counsel Comments
- "My case settled before arbitration for two reasons: One, Justice Morrison wanted to know the issues and; Two, Justice Morrison made the time and space to hear the issues. I prepared an educational brief on a less common area of the law which not only helped Justice Morrison, but also the respondent in evaluating the claim."
- Attorney - "Justice Morrison has all the virtues of an ideal Scout, and still has the energy and enthusiasm of a person decades younger (although he no longer annually ascends the challenging Mt. Shasta). He combines those attributes with a breadth of experience, a multi-layered background and a fertile mind. And like a Scout, Fred is always prepared."
- Senior Counsel, Sacramento Law Firm - "Justice Morrison checks those boxes of patience, communication skills and respect. My clients have paid a lot of money, or very little money, in cases mediated by Justice Morrison, but they have left feeling that the results were fair. Clients pay attention to him, as do attorneys who want a good result for their clients."
- Managing Partner, Sacramento Law Firm - "He's very approachable and very easy to talk with. He has a quick grasp of the situation and will do his best to get a fair and just result."
- Managing Partner, Sacramento Law Firm - "Because he is a retired Court of Appeal justice, he carries an attitude and a gravitas with clients that your run-of-the-mill attorney mediators just don't have. He's very pleasant, he's very frank, and he has no predispositions. He doesn't favor plaintiffs and he doesn't favor defendants. He reviews the facts of the case."
- Attorney - “He takes a levelheaded and reasoned approach to the matter at hand. He understands the facts and the law, then asks the focused questions with a light touch and a disarming manner.”
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