Hon. Rex Heeseman (Ret.)
Availability:
General Biography
Practice Areas & Industries
Business Commercial
Construction Defect
Employment Law
Health Care
Insurance
Personal Injury
Real Property
Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities
Background and Education
Judge Rex Heeseman (Ret.) joined JAMS in 2014 following a distinguished career as litigator and judge. His ADR practice concentrates on mediations and arbitrations; he is also retained to conduct neutral analysis or as Master/Referee. Judge Heeseman's experiences give him a unique perspective on likely judicial attitudes and rulings, as well as jury verdicts. He is attuned to the vicissitudes of litigation, and brings an academic, judicial and practical perspective to the resolution of matters. His insights assist parties in overcoming obstacles to settlement.
ADR Qualifications
- Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court (2005-2014), presiding over 93 jury trials, adjudicating in excess of 100 bench trials, and serving as a Mandatory Settlement Conference Judge
- Represented numerous clients in a wide variety of civil litigation matters (1971-2005)
- Co-author of The Rutter Group's "Insurance Litigation"
Representative Matters
- Business Commercial
- Arbitration ruling re founder vs. terminated CEO
- Arbitration ruling re share buyout agreement
- Arbitration ruling re patent purchases
- Arbitration rulings re firm's unpaid invoices, and related legal services
- Dissolution, mergers and acquisitions, including D&O claims
- Activities by agents or brokers
- Tortious interference with economic relationship/business advantage
- Construction Defect
- Arbitration ruling re 450+ multi-use development
- Arbitration ruling re renovation of Laguna Beach residence
- Arbitration re significant water intrusion
- Tri-panel arbitrations re sizeable projects
- Employment Law
- Arbitration ruling re "misclassification" claims
- Arbitration ruling re "prevailing wage" claims
- Arbitration ruling re wage and hour claims
- Arbitration ruling re disability discrimination
- Arbitration ruling re National Origin discrimination
- Employment litigation re Korean corporations
- Awards of attorney's fees and costs
- Health Care
- Responsibility for payment of health claims
- Hospital or insurer challenges regarding medical care
- Doctor's claims regarding value of business at retirement
- Doctors' dispute over partnership/shared use agreements
- Insurance
- Wildfire insurance claims and issues
- Arbitration ruling regarding reinsurance of motion pictures
- Bad faith and genuine dispute assertions
- "Top off the policy" contentions
- Insurer contribution and similar claims
- Allocation among primary, excess, and/or umbrella insurers
- Broker malpractice
- Personal Injury
- Arbitration rulings re legal malpractice and related contentions
- Arbitration rulings re personal injury claims
- Arbitration ruling re "theft" of settlement funds
- Jury trial of children's multi-million-dollar claims against father
- Jury trial of personal injuries at home of well-known actress
- Medical and legal malpractice
- Real Property
- Arbitration ruling re sale of multi-million dollar residence
- Arbitration ruling re partnership for upgrading high-end residences
- Arbitration ruling re dispute with surety relating to military construction
- Dispute between family members re Malibu properties
- Real Property controversies, including related insurance disputes
- Special Master
- Analysis of NY law re media contracts
- Mock Judge for bench trials
- Mock Judge for appellate arguments
- Analysis of litigant's strengths and weaknesses
- Fee recommendation after "prevailing party" finding
Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities
Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS.
Publications
Publications
- Co-author, TRG's "Insurance Litigation," California Practice Guide
- Legal Columnist, Los Angeles Daily Journal
- “Business Torts”
- “Punitive Damages”
- “Insurance Law”
Speaking Engagements
- The Rutter Group
- “Wildfire Insurance Claims and Issues” (2025)
- "COVID-19: Coverage, Claims, and Civil Litigation" (2020)
- “Insurance Litigation Update” (annually, since 1991)
- “Anatomy of an Insurance Policy” (5 times)
- “Critical Coverage Topics” (4 times)
- “Shernoff Bad Faith Seminar” (5 times)
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA)
- “Trial of Bad Faith Case”
- “Premises Liability”
- “Government Tort Liability”
- West Coast Casualty (WCC) Seminar
- “Use of Experts"
- "WRAP Policies"
- MC and CLM Seminar
- “Judicial Perspective on CD Litigation”
- "Impact of CC&Rs"
Professional Activities
- Attorney-Member, State of California's Judicial Council
- Member, Ninth Circuit's Advisory Committee
Background and Education
- LLB, Stanford Law School
- BA, Claremont McKenna College
- Judge, Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles
- Justice Pro Tem, Second District Court of Appeal (Division 3)
- Adjunct Professor of Law, Loyola Law School, 2002-2014
- Lecturer, UCLA Law School, 2002
- Assistant and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney
- Captain, U.S. Army
Home Office
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Los Angeles, California
515 S. Flower St, Suite 4500 Los Angeles, CA, 90071
Orange County, California
5 Park Plaza, Suite 400, Irvine, CA 92614
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