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CONTACT CASE MANAGER

Hon. David Thompson (Ret.)

Availability:
    Biography
    General Biography
    Practice Areas & Industries
    Appellate
    Arbitration
    Banking
    Bankruptcy
    Business Commercial
    Civil Rights
    Construction Defect
    Construction
    Employment Law
    Environmental Law
    Estate Probate Trusts
    Family Law
    Insurance
    Intellectual Property
    Personal Injury
    Professional Liability
    Real Property
    Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities
    Background and Education

    Hon. David A. Thompson (Ret.) joined JAMS after a distinguished 24-year career on the bench. As a Court of Appeal Justice for nine years, he authored hundreds of opinions on civil litigation issues. As a Superior Court Judge for 15 years, he conducted hundreds of civil trials and heard thousands of civil motions.

    Justice Thompson was in private practice for 14 years with two civil firms. He handled general business, construction defect, landlord-tenant, product liability, and real property related litigation. He also helped clients acquire, develop, finance, lease, and sell commercial and residential real property.

    He is highly regarded by counsel for his keen intellect, friendly demeanor, and real-world experience. His approach to problem-solving is practical, cooperative, objective, deliberate, and thoughtful. He is known for his raw talent, fairmindedness, common sense, and uncompromising commitment to excellence.

    ADR Experience and Qualifications

    • Arbitrated business, commercial, construction contract, construction defect, elder financial abuse, employment, franchise, homeowner association, landlord-tenant, law firm collection, hotel management, joint venture, medical and legal malpractice, partnership dissolution, insurance, insurance bad faith, real estate, trade secret and unfair competition cases
    • Mediated banking, bitcoin, business, cannabis, commercial, construction, construction defect, 

      corporate shareholder, defamation, digital marketing, engineering, elder financial abuse, employment, fraudulent transfer, franchise, homeowner association, insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, insurance fraud protection act, interstate commerce, joint venture, landlord-tenant, lending, medical and legal malpractice, partnership, personal injury, professional liability, real estate, insurance, tort, trust & estate, and unfair competition disputes

    • Served as court-appointed referee in commercial, construction contract, construction defect, insurance bad faith, joint venture, and real estate cases
    • Heard JAMS appeals of arbitration awards
    • Performed neutral evaluation and conducted mock argument in pending appeals
    • Served as court-appointed referee in construction defect and insurance bad faith cases
    • Authored appellate opinions on alternative dispute resolution issues
    • Represented clients in arbitrations, mediations, settlements, and business negotiations

    • Completed Mediating the Litigated Case, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution

    Representative Matters

    • Appellate
        • Conducted neutral evaluation and mock argument in Court of Appeal and Supreme Court cases
        • Heard arbitration award appeals under JAMS Optional Arbitration Appeal Procedure
        • Authored more than 700 Court of Appeal opinions and concurred in thousands more
        • Participated in thousands of appellate oral arguments and extraordinary writ proceedings
        • Represented clients in civil writs and appeals in State and Federal courts
    • Arbitration
        • Arbitrated business, commercial, construction defect, employment, franchise, homeowner association, insurance coverage, real estate and secured lending cases
        • Wrote opinions on Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and California Arbitration Act (CAA) issues, enforceability of arbitration agreements, and enforcement of arbitration awards
        • Represented clients in voluntary and mandatory commercial and real estate arbitrations
    • Banking
        • Mediated lending and lender liability disputes
        • Heard JAMS appeals concerning consumer credit arbitration awards
        • Authored opinions on wrongful foreclosure and lender liability issues
        • Represented clients in real property secured lending transactions and related litigation
    • Bankruptcy
        • Authored opinions about the effect of bankruptcy actions in state court cases
        • Represented clients in bankruptcy court automatic stay litigation
    • Business Commercial
        • Arbitrated business purchase and sale disputes 
        • Arbitrated hotel manager and owner dispute 
        • Arbitrated music industry promotion breach of contract case 
        • Arbitrated med spa partnership dissolution action 
        • Arbitrated national real estate franchisor-franchisee dispute 
        • Mediated biotech and other technology disputes 
        • Mediated cannabis production, distribution and related partnership matters 
        • Mediated corporate shareholder disputes 
        • Mediated digital marketing and promotion claims 
        • Mediated fitness industry business investment and restructuring matter 
        • Mediated interstate commerce cases 
        • Mediated joint venture disputes 
        • Mediated partnership dissolution actions 
        • Mediated unfair competition (UCL) cases 
        • Heard JAMS appeal of motion picture finance and production arbitration award 
        • Heard JAMS appeal of cell phone WiFi technology development arbitration award 
        • Authored appellate opinions in business and commercial cases, including opinions on attorney fees, contract interpretation, business transactions, corporate governance, and discovery abuse 
        • Presided over business and commercial trials involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, and business tort causes of action 
        • Authored appellate opinions on constitutionally protected speech and anti-SLAPP motions
    • Civil Rights
        • Authored appellate opinions on constitutionally protected speech and anti-SLAPP motions
        • Presided over wrongful arrest and excessive use of force civil rights trials
    • Construction Defect
        • Arbitrated residential and commercial construction defect cases 
        • Mediated construction defect disputes
        • Authored appellate opinions in construction defect cases
        • Served as court appointed referee in construction defect matters
        • Presided over and represented clients in construction defect and soil subsidence litigation
    • Construction
        • Arbitrated construction contract cases 
        • Mediated construction contract disputes
        • Authored opinions on construction and construction contract issues
        • Presided over trials regarding construction and contracting disputes
        • Represented clients in stop notice, mechanics lien, and completion bond matters
    • Employment Law
        • Arbitrated employment cases involving age discrimination, race discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and retaliation claims
        • Mediated employment matters involving Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), wrongful termination, whistleblower, wage and hour, and Private Attorney General (PAGA) claims
        • Authored appellate opinions and presided over trials involving all kinds of employment claims
    • Environmental Law
        • Authored appellate opinions on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and related issues
        • Wrote appellate opinion on Coastal Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act
    • Estate Probate Trusts
        • Mediated estate, probate, and trust disputes
        • Presided over estate, probate, and trust trials
        • Wrote opinions on accounting, lack of capacity, elder abuse, trust interpretation, trustee malfeasance and undue influence issues
    • Family Law
        • Authored opinions on common family law issues including dissolution; child and spousal support; child custody and visitation; grandparents rights; marital property valuation and division; marital settlement agreements; and attorney fees
    • Insurance
        • Arbitrated professional liability and medical malpractice insurance coverage claims 
        • Arbitrated insurance bad faith cases 
        • Mediated insurance coverage and insurance bad faith disputes 
        • Mediated title insurance disputes 
        • Mediated qui tam California Insurance Fraud Prevention Act (CIFPA) cases 
        • Authored appellate opinions regarding insurance coverage, policy interpretation and bad faith 
        • Presided over insurance coverage and insurance bad faith trials 
        • Represented clients in licensee disciplinary litigation with the Department of Insurance
    • Intellectual Property
        • Wrote opinions on misappropriation of intellectual property and trade secrets
        • Represented clients in trademark, trade dress and unfair competition litigation
    • Personal Injury
        • Mediated defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims 
        • Mediated elder financial abuse matters 
        • Wrote appellate opinions on personal injury, product liability, government tort claim, and governmental immunity issues 
        • Presided over personal injury and wrongful death trials, involving negligence; dangerous condition of public property; governmental immunity; premises and product liability; nuisance; assault and battery; sexual molestation; malicious prosecution; and defamation 
        • Represented clients in medical device and automobile product liability cases 
        • Represented clients in water-skiing and boating wrongful death action 
    • Professional Liability
        • Arbitrated legal malpractice and law firm collection cases 
        • Mediated medical malpractice actions 
        • Mediated legal malpractice and other professional liability actions 
        • Authored appellate opinions on legal malpractice, attorney ethics, attorney disqualification; and on many medical malpractice issues including expert witness designation and testimony, standard of care, statute of limitations, summary judgment and MICRA 
        • Presided over legal malpractice, malicious prosecution, and attorney fee trials and medical malpractice trials on failure to properly diagnose methicillin-resistant staph aureus brain infection leading to catastrophic stroke and failure to timely diagnose cancer resulting in death
    • Real Property
        • Arbitrated homeowner association dispute concerning proposed development 
        • Arbitrated real estate joint venture and financing dispute and related fraud claims 
        • Arbitrated cannabis production landlord-tenant dispute 
        • Arbitrated commercial landlord-tenant cases 
        • Mediated commercial landlord-tenant disputes 
        • Mediated fraudulent transfer claims 
        • Mediated real estate purchase and sale matters 
        • Wrote appellate opinions on real property issues, including conditional use permits, CEQA and other land use; broker disclosure and compensation; easements and adjoining property owner rights; purchase and sale transactions; homeowner’s associations (HOA); leases; and foreclosure 
        • Presided over trials involving adverse possession; HOA’s and CC&R’s; inverse condemnation; nuisance; partition; purchase; specific performance; and unlawful detainer 
        • Represented real estate transaction practice clients buying, selling, developing, financing, and leasing master planned communities, shopping centers, hotels, and apartments 
        • Represented clients in real property secured and municipal bond financed transactions 
        • Represented companies and individuals in title insurance coverage, lien priority, foreclosure cases, and in accessory apartment (aka “granny flat”) class action litigation
    • US Center for SafeSport
        • Arbitrated cases under the SafeSport Code for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement

    Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

    Selected Awards and Honors

    • Community Leadership Award, Orange County Lavender Bar Association, 2013
    • Community Achievement Award, Orange County Korean American Bar, 2012
    • Judge of the Year, Orange County Hispanic Bar Association, 2012
    • Unanimously ranked "exceptionally well qualified" for appointment to the Court of Appeal, California State Bar Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation, 2012
    • Distinguished Judicial Fellow, Orange County Bar Foundation, 2010
    • Judge of the Year, Orange County Narcotics Officers Association, 2009
    • AV Rating, Martindale-Hubbell, 1991-1997

    Selected Memberships and Affiliations

    • Member, Emeritus Board, Project Youth, Orange County Bar Foundation, 2022 - 2024
    • Member, Judicial Advisory Council, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, 2006-2009
    • Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, 2001 - 2024
    • Member, Orange County Bar Association, 1983 - 2024
    • Founding Judicial Fellow, Orange County Bar Foundation, Society of Fellows, 2008 - 2024

    Selected Professional Activities

    • Presenter, Effective Oral Advocacy, Orange County Bar Association, Appellate Section, 2019
    • Speaker, Orange County Bar Association, Business Litigation Section, 2014
    • Panelist, Legal Ethics – Do the Right Thing and Avoid Malpractice, Orange County Bar Association, 2012
    • Presenter, Litigation Strategies for the Defense, Association of Corporate Counsel of America, 2011
    • Panelist, Allen E. Broussard Presentation on Professionalism and Civility, Orange County Bar Association and Chapman University School of Law, 2011
    • Participant, Brown Bag Lunch Program, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, 2011
    • Panelist, Judicial Panel Discussion, American Bar Association, 2010 Ninth Circuit Spring Meeting, 2010
    • Panelist, Winning Motions for Summary Judgment, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, 2007
    • Panelist, The Art of War Stories – Litigation Lessons Learned, Orange County Bar Association, 2007
    • Judge, College of Trial Advocacy – Direct and Cross Examination, Orange County Bar Association, 2007
    • Panelist, Medical Malpractice Nuts and Bolts, Orange County Trial Lawyers, 2007
    • Student, Mediating the Litigated Case, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, 2006
    • Guest Lecturer, Real Estate Finance, Chapman University Law School, 2006
    • Student, Economics Institute for Judges, AEI-Brookings Center for Regulatory Studies, 2006 and 2004
    • Panelist, Bridging the Gap – Law and Motion, Orange County Bar Association, 2005 and 2006
    • Panelist, Trial Tips from the Bench, Orange County Trial Lawyers, 2004
    • Student, B.E. Witkin Judicial College, Center for Judicial Education and Research, 1999

    Selected Publications

    • Leveraging the Experience of Retired Appellate Justices, Los Angeles Daily Journal, January 18, 2022
    • Seven Tips on Appellate Oral Argument, Los Angeles Daily Journal, December 20, 2021
    • Five Tips on Appellate Brief Writing, Los Angeles Daily Journal, December 13, 2021
    • Judicial Profile, Los Angeles Daily Journal, November 7, 2013
    • Judicial Profile, Orange County Lawyer, July 2011
    • Judicial Profile, Los Angeles Daily Journal, April 16, 2008
    • “Q&A with the Hon. David A. Thompson,” ABTL Report - Orange County, Spring 2008
    • Judicial Profile, Los Angeles Daily Journal, May 18, 1999

    Background and Education

    • Associate Justice, California Court of Appeal, 2012-2021
    • Assigned Justice (pro-tem), California Supreme Court, 2014 and 2018
    • Assistant Presiding Judge, Orange County Superior Court, 2011-2012
    • Judge, Orange County Superior Court, 1998-2012
    • Judge, Orange County Municipal Court, 1997-1998
    • Business Litigation Attorney, Morrison & Foerster, 1996-1997
    • Business Transaction Attorney, Morrison & Foerster, 1988-1995
    • Business Litigation Attorney, Rutan & Tucker, 1984-1988
    • Law Clerk to Justice Edward J. Wallin, California Court of Appeal, 1982-1983
    • J.D, Order of the Coif, University of California, Los Angeles, 1983
    • BSBA Finance, Summa Cum Laude, Georgetown University, 1980
    Counsel Comments
    • Justice Thompson is “fair and intellectually honest.” 
      – Appellate Specialist
    • Justice Thompson is “a very bright guy, a very quick study.” 
      – Business Litigator
    • Justice Thompson “brings his leadership skills and his A game to every task he undertakes. …. In baseball parlance, [he] is a five-tool jurist player, who is eminently qualified….” 
      – Senior Partner at Orange County Law Firm
    • “Justice Thompson … will totally immerse himself in all matters … master all the parameters and nuances and work his way through to a sound professional decision...” 
      – Senior Partner at Orange County Law Firm
    • Justice Thompson “has the perfect combination of intellect, work ethic and life experience….” 
      – Appellate Specialist
    • “Throughout the [six-week] trial, [Justice] Thompson demonstrated a keen intellect and an ability to quickly grasp complex factual and legal issues.” 
      – Partner at National Law Firm
    • Justice Thompson “is patient, fair, and respectful to litigants and attorneys, and truly goes the extra mile to ensure that justice is done in every case.” 
      – Partner at California Law Firm
    • “[Justice] Thompson brings to each case not only his formidable intellect, but also his practical judgment, polished from years of real-world law practice and experience solving difficult problems as a trial judge.” 
      – Orange County Superior Court Judge
    • Justice Thompson “exercises sound judgment and a balanced approach to the resolution of cases and supervision of trials. He has an extraordinary ability to sort through complex legal conflicts and focus on the core issues.” 
      – Trial Attorney
    • Justice Thompson “has many fine qualities. I most admire his intellectual curiosity and his practical approach to problem solving.  He has the uncanny ability to see all side of the legal chessboard, at once.” 
      – Business Litigator
    • “[Justice] Thompson is one of the best trial judges before whom I have appeared. He is patient, yet efficient; thoughtful, yet decisive.  He is extremely intelligent, hard-working, and shows respect of others while commanding and earing respect in return.” 
      – Name Partner at Orange County Law Firm
    • Justice Thompson “is relaxed in court … but he has an astoundingly sharp b.s. meter.” 
      – Criminal Defense Attorney
    • Justice Thompson has “stellar academic and intellectual experience, but also has 20 lifetimes of experience … that’s extremely unusual … and it makes him a sharp judge.” 
      – Trial Attorney
    • Justice Thompson “was outstanding … his raw work product was really superior … in addition he had a lot of common sense and practical knowledge and could factor in the real world to suggest a strategy.” 
      – Senior Partner at Orange County Law Firm
    • “I think [Justice Thompson is] outstanding … a smart man, and he wants to do the right thing.” 
      – Name Partner at Orange County Law Firm
    • Justice Thompson “was very cooperative with counsel … ran a complex trial … very efficiently” 
      – Name Partner at California Law Firm
    • Justice Thompson “has a very friendly demeanor … he’s very down-to-earth, and he lets you know exactly where he is leaning.” 
      – Trial Attorney
    • Justice Thompson “was relaxed, confident and fair-minded … and … he handled everything with skill.” 
      – Trial Attorney
    • Justice Thompson “has a unique ability to cut to the heart of any appeal and to recognize the implications of the court’s decision on the parties, the larger community, and the development of the law.” 
      – Appellate Specialist
    • Justice Thompson “has a rare combination of a hard-headed, straight-ahead approach to the law and a big heart that never lets him lose sight of the impact his decisions have on real people.” 
      – Appellate Colleague
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