Hon. Dean Pregerson (Ret.) served as a United States district judge for nearly 29 years and brings an unparalleled depth of experience to JAMS.

Because federal actions frequently include state claims, Judge Pregerson’s experience encompasses a wide range of both state and federal law. He has presided over thousands of civil cases, conducted approximately 80 jury trials and sat regularly by designation on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, participating in 150 appeals, including authoring 11 published appellate opinions.

Because he understands the risks, stresses and expenses of taking a dispute all the way through trial and appeal, Judge Pregerson takes great pride in his ability to work collaboratively with attorneys and settle tough cases. He is widely respected for his integrity, work ethic, and pragmatic approach. He has earned a reputation for fairness and for forming constructive partnerships with counsel, often resolving complex, high-stakes, matters that otherwise seemed destined for trial. 

In the judge’s words:

It was often the days that I was able to settle a difficult case that gave me the greatest feeling of accomplishment, even if it meant working late into the night. As a judge, I can make decisions on my own, but as a mediator, I can only succeed if I bring everyone together. When attorneys would say, “Thank you. We could not have done it without you,” I felt great satisfaction in having reached our common goal.

I respect trial attorneys. As a former trial attorney, I know it’s not an easy job. My mission as a mediator is to work with counsel to understand their clients’ priorities and find a practical solution to their problems. Sometimes getting there requires a creative approach, and sometimes it requires a frank appraisal of the likely outcome of a trial and appeal. The method will vary depending on the unique factual, legal and sometimes emotional context of the dispute.

Experience, in the context of being a mediator, means that I have likely presided over many similar disputes and that I fully understand the factual, legal, evidentiary and practical challenges faced by the parties. It also means that I have real-world insights into how matters may resolve, should the mediation fail.

As a trial attorney, I learned the art of settlement from some very fine judges. I then built on that experience over almost three decades as a federal judge. Settling cases was one of the best parts of my job. 

Judge Pregerson will serve as a mediator, arbitrator, special master/referee and neutral evaluator, with a primary focus on mediation.

Representative Matters

Judge Pregerson handled the following matters in his capacity as a judge.

• Antitrust & Competition
• Antitrust and unfair competition claims brought by developers of multimedia content against four major wireless service carriers
• Action alleging monopolization and attempted monopolization in violation of § 2 of the Sherman Act, arising from alleged sham patent infringement suits brought by a party against its competitors as a scheme of willful acquisition or maintenance of monopoly power; action concerned, in part, whether the alleged conduct fell within sham exception to the Noerr–Penningtondoctrine
• Action by copyright owner engaged in business of internet publishing and distributing short character role descriptions of available acting parts in upcoming film or television productions who filed infringement suit against competitor, who counterclaimed for violations of Sherman Act, California Cartwright Act and California Business and Professions Code, and asserted state-law intentional interference with prospective economic advantage and slander claims
• Numerous matters involving appointing and supervising receivers in large-scale federal receivership cases in diverse areas, including fraudulent business practices, securities fraud and real estate fraud
• False advertising dispute between national beverage companies over product composition and accuracy of labeling
• Action by limited partners brought against officers and directors of managing general partner under Securities Exchange Act provision concerning alleged misrepresentations in proxy solicitation materials concerning the acquisition of apartment complexes
• Civil Rights
• Action by two female student-athletes who brought discriminationaction against university, asserting state claims for violation of right to privacy under California Constitution and violation of California Education Code, and federal claims for violation of Title IX, based on allegations that university and employees of university harassed and discriminated against them based on their dating relationship
• Section 1983 action in which a minor alleged violation of familial association under the Fourteenth Amendment following the fatal police shooting of unarmed father
• Section 1983 action for excessive force and other claims brought by mother of decedent; decedent died at scene of arrest after allegedly being stuck multiple times in head and shot with taser
• Action alleging of racial discrimination against airline carrier
• Section 1983 action for excessive force involving the fatal shooting of adult male with alleged mental health disabilities who barricaded himself in his home
• Multiple Section 1983 actions alleging violations of the First Amendment involving time, place and manner restrictions concerning the sale of goods on the Venice Boardwalk in alleged violation of City of Los Angeles ordinance
• Actions involving constitutionality of city and county ordinances that enacted COVID-related tenant protections
• Class Action & Mass Tort
• Presided over many lawsuits spanning over 20 years alleging violations of state and federal law at the largest jail system in the country; allegations included overcrowding, mental health treatment, care of inmates with disabilities, conditions of confinement and claims for serious injuries; parties included ACLU, United States Department of Justice and County of Los Angeles; cases often involved injunctive orders and complex settlement negotiations
• Class action and securities fraud claims about the purchase and sale of depository receipts (ADRs) of large foreign corporation concerning alleged improper accounting practices used to conceal alleged financial impairment
• COVID-19 class action brought by cruise ship passengers alleging that inadequate health protocols led to onboard infections
• Consumer class action lawsuit claiming the label "Made in USA" was misleading and deceptive under California consumer protection laws
• Putative class action by purchasers of automobiles against foreign parent corporation, a major automobile manufacturer and its domestic subsidiary for fraud and various California consumer protection statutes, alleging that purchased vehicles had a defective and potentially dangerous engine component
• Putative class action by purchasers of automobiles against a major automobile manufacturer, alleging that defendant violated various states' consumer protection statutes and other laws by failing to disclose that certain vehicles were allegedly manufactured with a defectiveelectronic component 
• Class action on behalf of a class of consumers alleging that defendant, a national juice company, falsely and misleadingly advertised that certain juice products provided various health benefits and that millions of dollars of scientific research demonstrate these benefits; complaint set forth causes of action for violations of California's False Advertising Law (FAL); Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, et seq.; California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL); California's Consumer Legal Remedies Act (CLRA); and Cal. Civ. Code § 1750, et seq.
• Employment Law
• Putative class action against large parcel delivery company, alleging it misclassified its full-time supervisors as exempt employees in violation of California state wage and hour laws
• Putative class action against health care corporation, alleging violations of wage and hour laws, specifically failure to pay appropriate overtime compensation, failure to provide meal periods and failure to furnish accurate itemized wage statements
• Action alleging race, age and disability discrimination; retaliation; and slander against trade education company and individual employees
• Action by individual plaintiff against large health care system and hospital, alleging race, national origin and religious discriminationunder the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Cal. Gov. Code § 12960, et seq.; sexual harassment under FEHA; retaliation under FEHA; failure to investigate or prevent discrimination under FEHA; wrongful termination in violation of public policy; breach of implied-in-fact contract; and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing
• Action by individual plaintiff against freight transport company for physical disability discrimination, harassment and retaliation in violation of FEHA, Cal. Gov. Code § 12940, et seq.; mental disability discrimination, harassment and retaliation under FEHA; violation of the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), Cal. Gov. Code § 12945.2; violation of the California labor code for break violations; violation of California labor code as a whistleblower; violation of California Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, et seq.; retaliation; and wrongful termination in violation of public policy
• Entertainment & Sports
• Copyright infringement action involving an independent film producer and the creators of a survival-themed television series
• Licensing dispute over intellectual property rights to a comic book character in connection with a feature film
• Copyright action alleging that a pop music hit song copied key elements from a previously released song
• Copyright action brought by heirs of a musician over alleged unauthorized sampling in a film soundtrack
• Trademark and unfair competition action arising from a financial services advertisement parodying a famous movie quote
• Copyright infringement suit claiming elements of Oscar-winning film were substantially similar to earlier work of another screenwriter
• Copyright infringement action claiming horror film infringed upon a novel and a screenplay
• Action alleging that plaintiff is a professional artist and muralist of wide repute and reputation who suffered the loss of multiple creative works by acts of governmental entity and others; claims included violations of the Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA) and Right of Integrity (17 U.S.C. § 106A); Intentional Desecration of Fine Art( Civ. Code §§ 987(c)(1), (e)); Grossly Negligent Desecration of Fine Art (Cal. Civ. Code §§ 987(c)(2), (e)); Conversion; Negligence; Unfair, Unlawful Practices (Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200, et seq.); and Fraud, Misrepresentation and Concealment
• Environmental Law
• Injunctive relief granted to City of South Pasadena and others over proposed $1.4 billion 710 Freeway extension, which would have impacted three cities; proposed freeway would also have required, among other matters, the condemnation of 1,000 homes in a six-mile area, displacing 2,400 people; claims were brought under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Clean Air Act (CAA)
• Action against multiple defendants concerning the release of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—primarily tetrachloroethylene (PCE)—from industrial properties in Rancho Dominguez, California; causes of action for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) contribution; declaratory relief; California Health and Safety Code § 25363, et seq.; contribution; and equitable indemnity
• Insurance
• Coverage dispute regarding primary and excess policies involving allegations of losses exceeding $10 billion arising from hurricane damage to major defense contractor’s production facilities
• Declaratory relief action between bank and insurance carrier over insurance policies, concerning issues of policy validity and the obligations of parties within complex financial instruments
• Action by insured against insurers under marine policies, claiming breach of contract for failure to defend insured in underlying environmental pollution suit by county; insurer requested declaration of no duty to defend on grounds that policies were rescinded and void; court found that rescission of policy was warranted due to insured's nondisclosure of material facts in application
• Declaratory judgement action brought by an insured challenging their insurer’s denial of coverage under an all risks insurance policy for damage to a gas processing plant
• COVID-19 business interruption action affirming the dismissal of the insured's claim, finding that under Washington law, loss of intended use due to government orders did not constitute "direct physical loss or damage" to property
• Action finding that the insurer's declaratory relief action could proceed, emphasizing that insurers are not barred from invoking diversity jurisdiction in insurance coverage disputes
• Series of related actions involving multilevel excess insurance tower and $1.1 billion settlement of multiple sexual abuse claims against major university
• Coverage action involving products liability claim against major national retailer and questions regarding provision of timely and adequate notice to insurer to allow for independent investigation
• Class action dispute against for-profit and nonprofit components of national enterprise and large insurance company concerning alleged unlicensed sale of insurance policies and unlawful commissions
• Intellectual Property
• Action for patent infringement involving public internet access systems used domestically and internationally in the hospitality industry
• Action for patent infringement concerning fax-to-email technology patents and antitrust counterclaims
• Trade dress and design patent action between competitors in the fresh food industry concerning salad packaging designs
• Patent infringement action concerning computer connector mechanisms
• Action by company that rented and sold movies, including digital movies, via automated self-service kiosks against large movie production studio, asserting claims for declaratory relief, copyright misuse, tortious interference with prospective economic advantage, false advertising, unfair competition and antitrust violations, in connection with production studio's alleged conduct in damaging plaintiff’s business
• Patent and related actions between former employee against former employer concerning the invention of steel construction products; claims and counterclaims included tortious interference with contractual relations and prospective economic advantage, inducing breach of contract, declaratory relief regarding noninfringement, invalidity and unenforceability of the patents
• Action alleging that certain guitars sold bydefendant infringed on the plaintiff’s marks and violated its rights under federal and state trademark law, false advertising law and unfair competition law; plaintiff is a United States-based manufacturer that has registered several trademarks on guitar body shapes and headstocks.
• Action concerning whether cell phone company providing mobile multimedia messaging network can be held liable for copyright infringement and contributory infringement that allegedly occur on its networks; plaintiffs sold multimedia messaging, including news, coupons and greeting-style messages, designed to be transmitted over MMS networks to and from mobile devices
• Action brought by large defense contractor againstregistrar of internet domain names, alleging infringement, unfair competition, dilution and contributory infringement under the Lanham Act because of defendant's acceptance of registrations of internet domain names that were identical or similar to plaintiff’s service mark that was used by plaintiff’s aerospace development and production facility
• Action for trademark infringement and related claims by plaintiff, who developed software that uses compression and other technologies to provide internet service in difficult environments, against defendant, a large cloud-based storage provider
• Trademark dispute between large event promoter and licensee of various marks concerning allegations of unclean hands based on fraud on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• Trademark action between large foreign grocery store chain expanding its business into the United States and small domestic grocery store using identical trademark to identify their respective businesses.
• Copyright action with related claims for breach of contract and unfair competition between content creator and large footwear company regarding images used in national advertising campaign
• Action by company that possessed molecular sizing technology against former employee and others for copyright infringement, trademark infringement under the Lanham Act, misappropriation of tradesecrets, interference with prospective business advantage, unfair competition and an accounting
• Action deciding then novel principal of personal jurisdiction over “cyber-pirate” and liability of that defendant under state and federal dilution statutes
• Personal Injury
• Action against a county jail, alleging that deputies failed to provide medical attention to a detainee in respiratory distress following the use of chemical agents, resulting in the detainee's death
• Wrongful death action against railway company brought by heirs of decedent; decedent died as a result of alleged deep vein thrombosis
• Multiple actions against airlines involving in-flight allegations of serious injuries to passengers
• Personal injury case against major retailer involving allegations of serious injuries
• Asbestos exposure action brought by heir’s decedentto recover for injuries and eventual death allegedly caused by exposure to asbestos dust in the course of decedent’s employment as a Navy machinist mate responsible for servicing warships
• Oversaw over 50 products liability and related claims involving serious injuries occurring in the United States and overseas from allegedly defective blenders; judicial involvement included trial and settlement negotiations
• Authored appellate opinion concerning allegedly defective silicone breast implants

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Advisory Board, The Salvation Army, 2013–2025
• Commissioner, Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, 1989–1994
  • Commission President, 1993–1994
• Former Member, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission
• Former Board Member, Bet Tzedek Legal Services
  
  

Selected Awards and Honors

• Carlos Moreno Judicial Excellence Award, 2020
• Community Service Award, The Salvation Army, 2014
• Director’s Community Leadership Award, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 2014
• Leading Judges in America, The Lawdragon 500, 2006
• Top 100 Lawyers in California, Daily Journal, 2007
  
  

Selected Publications and Speaking Engagements

• Frequent Lecturer and Moot Court Judge, Labor Law, Southwestern Law School
• Moot Court Judge, USC School of Law and UC Davis School of Law
• Guest Lecturer for Mayor Richard Riordan, “Leadership and Ethics,” UCLA Anderson School of Management, 2009–2013
• Guest Lecturer, “Advertising,” UCLA School of Law
• Speaker at various charitable events, including those for U.S. Vets and The Salvation Army
• Panelist at law school events, including those held by UCLA, Loyola, Southwestern and the University of Oregon
• Co-founder court’s Conviction and Sentence Alternatives (CASA) program
• Op-Ed, “Reasonable Doubt About Reasonable Doubt,” Daily Journal, 2009

Background and Education

• United States District Court, Central District of California, 1996–2025
• Frequent designee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• Private Practice, Los Angeles, 1981–1983 and 1985–1996
• Vice President and General Counsel, The Torance Company (a national real estate development and management company), 1984–1985
• J.D., University of California, Davis School of Law
• B.A., University of California, Los Angeles