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Hon. David Thompson (Ret.)

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Hon. David A. Thompson (Ret.) is a highly regarded neutral selected by counsel and appointed by courts in complex, high-profile, and novel matters.

Justice Thompson 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 presided over 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.

Justice Thompson is widely recognized 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 raw talent, fairmindedness, common sense, and uncompromising commitment to excellence

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Arbitrated breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, business, commercial, construction contract, construction defect, employment, financial elder abuse, franchise, fraud, fraudulent inducement, homeowner association, landlord-tenant, law firm collection, hotel management, joint venture, medical and legal malpractice, partnership, insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, real estate, secured lending, trade secret and unfair competition cases
Mediated banking, bitcoin, breach of contract, business, cannabis, commercial, construction, construction defect, corporate shareholder, defamation, development, digital marketing, engineering, employment, estate probate & trust, fiduciary duty, financial elder abuse, fraud, fraudulent transfer, franchise, homeowner association, insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, insurance fraud protection act (IFPA), interstate commerce, joint venture, landlord-tenant, lending, medical and legal malpractice, partnership, personal injury, professional liability, real estate, securities, tort, water rights, and unfair competition disputes
Heard JAMS appeals of arbitration awards under JAMS Optional Arbitration Appeal Procedure
Performed neutral evaluation and conducted mock argument in pending appeals
Served as court-appointed referee in commercial, construction contract, construction defect, desalination plant engineering defect, insurance bad faith, joint venture, and real estate 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 involving automobile franchise agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, consumer credit card agreements, cellular telephone and Wi-Fi technology, and motion picture development and finance
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 breach of contract, business, commercial, construction contract, construction defect, employment, fiduciary duty, financial elder abuse, franchise, fraud, fraudulent inducement, homeowner association, landlord-tenant, law firm collection, hotel management, joint venture, medical and legal malpractice, partnership, partnership dissolution, insurance, insurance bad faith, real estate, secured lending, trade secret and unfair competition 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 cases
Heard JAMS appeals concerning consumer credit issuer-holder disputes
Authored opinions on wrongful foreclosure and lender liability issues
Represented clients in 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 $1 billion real estate joint venture and financing dispute and related fraud claims involving hotels, apartments, office buildings, restaurants and other commercial properties
Arbitrated $100 million major motion picture co-financing and production dispute
Arbitrated resort hotel manager and owner dispute involving renovation and rebranding
Arbitrated music industry promotion breach of contract case
Arbitrated laser hair removal and aesthetic skincare partnership dissolution action
Arbitrated national real estate franchisor-franchisee dispute
Arbitrated business purchase and sale disputes
Mediated automation, biotech and other technology disputes
Mediated cannabis production, distribution and related partnership matters
Mediated corporate shareholder and governance disputes
Mediated national law firm digital marketing and promotion claims
Mediated fitness industry business investment and restructuring matter
Mediated interstate commerce act (ICA) cases
Mediated joint venture disputes and partnership dissolution actions
Mediated unfair competition (UCL) cases
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

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

Arbitrated and mediated construction contract disputes
Authored appellate opinions on construction and construction contract issues
Presided over construction contracting trials
Represented clients in stop notice, mechanics lien, and completion bond matters

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

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

Arbitrated $100 million financial elder abuse and related fraud and breach of fiduciary duty claims involving financial advisors misappropriating client assets for their own financial gain
Mediated estate, probate, and trust disputes involving petitions under Probate Code § 850 for the return of trust property, for double damages, and for attorney’s fees; internal family trust disputes; undue influence, capacity and fraud claims concerning the creation and amendment of trusts; constructive and resulting trust claims; and trust-related legal malpractice claims
Mediated financial elder abuse disputes
Presided over estate, probate, and trust trials and will contests
Wrote appellate opinions on accounting, lack of capacity, elder abuse, trust interpretation, trustee malfeasance and undue influence issues

Insurance

Arbitrated $100 million medical malpractice insurance coverage dispute involving sex abuse
Arbitrated $35 million third-party insurance bad case involving medical malpractice
Arbitrated professional liability and medical malpractice insurance coverage claims
Arbitrated first-party and third-party 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

Mediated intellectual property disputes involving copyrights, trademarks and trade dress
Wrote opinions on misappropriation of intellectual property and trade secrets
Represented clients in trademark, trade dress and unfair competition litigation

Personal Injury

Served as a Neutral on the Independent Review Option of sexual abuse claims arising from the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy settlement
Mediated sexual battery claim involving alleged forcible rape
Mediated defamation, infliction of emotional distress, and landowner liability claims
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 $1 billion real estate joint venture and financing dispute and related fraud claims involving hotels, apartments, office buildings, restaurants and other commercial properties
Arbitrated landlord-tenant rent adjustment case involving Class A office building
Arbitrated fair market value rent adjustment case involving ground leased condominium project
Arbitrated landlord-tenant dispute involving aircraft paint facility and hazardous waste issues
Arbitrated homeowner association dispute involving proposed development and view impacts
Arbitrated cannabis production landlord-tenant dispute
Arbitrated commercial landlord-tenant cases
Mediated condominium landlord-tenant dispute involving rooftop cellular phone facilities
Mediated commercial landlord-tenant disputes
Mediated fraudulent transfer claims
Mediated regional basin water rights dispute involving the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and a Groundwater Sustainability Plan (GSP)
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

Technology

Arbitrated an appeal involving cellular telephone Wi-Fi calling technology
Mediated a dispute arising from automated potato transplanting technology
Mediated a technology dispute involving a webinar hosting platform
Mediated claims involving the development and deployment of 5G cellular antenna technology
As an appellate justice and trial judge, authored opinions and presided over matters involving complex technology and intellectual property issues

US Center for SafeSport

Arbitrated cases under the SafeSport Code for the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement

David Thompson