Barbara Reeves

Barbara A. Reeves, Esq., CEDS

JAMS Mediator, Arbitrator, Referee/Special Master, Neutral Evaluator

Case Manager
Joshua Kroll
T: 310-309-6206
F: 310-396-7576
1925 Century Park East, 14th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90067
JKroll@jamsadr.com

Biography

Barbara A. Reeves, Esq. has been a full-time ADR professional since 2006. She is a Certified Electronic Discovery Specialist and an accomplished mediator who is widely respected by counsel for her impartiality in treating all parties fairly and ability to quickly identify critical issues.

Her exceptional listening skills and sensitivity toward each party make her particularly well suited for resolving emotionally charged, complex cases. Ms. Reeves uses her knowledge of the party's interests and needs, combined with her legal expertise and familiarity of the facts, to move the parties toward settlement while in the process of serving as special master or referee, if the parties are interested.

As Special Master and Discovery Referee, by court appointment or agreement of the parties, Ms. Reeves:

  • Supervises the creation and implementation of discovery plans for the orderly completion of percipient, documentary, and expert discovery 
  • Decides motions to compel and substantive legal motions 
  • Referees depositions to ensure efficient examination of witnesses 
  • Holds prompt telephonic hearings to resolve discovery disputes as they arise 
  • Has instituted a unique practice of “assisted meet and confers” where she joins parties as they meet to resolve discovery disagreements before they reach the motion stage 

Areas of Special Master/Discovery Referee Matters

  • Business/Commercial Transactions 
  • Unfair Competition, False Advertising, Consumer Fraud 
  • Class Actions & Mass Torts 
  • Engineering & Construction 
  • Employment & Civil Rights 
  • High Tech/Intellectual Property: Patents, Copyright & Trademark 
  • Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith 
  • Partnership Disputes & Dissolutions 
  • Antitrust

Representative Matters

  • Special Master/Discovery Referee in False Claims Act case 
  • Special Master race discrimination class action involving a nationwide class 
  • Special Master in ethnic origin class action involving a nationwide class 
  • Discovery Referee in high profile case involving alleged defective medical device 
  • Discovery Referee in partnership dissolution matter in the health care industry 
  • Discovery Referee in sexual harassment and racial discrimination cases 
  • Special Master in connection with attorneys' fee motions 
  • Discovery Referee in several matters by party agreement to supervise e-discovery 
  • Special Master (by agreement of the parties) to analyze and allocate damages in consultation with each party's economic experts 
  • Mediator in MDL case involving international cartel 
  • Mediator and arbitrator in numerous consumer fraud class actions 
  • Arbitrator in several health care consumer class actions

Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS. 

Honors and Memberships 

  • Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
  • Fellow and current Board Member and Officer, College of Commercial Arbitrators
  • Fellow, Academy of Court Appointed Masters
  • Arbitrator, Court of Arbitration for Sport
  • Certified Mediator with the International Mediation Institute
  • Certified E-Discovery Specialist
  • Board Member, California International Arbitration Council
  • Recognized, Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center (SVAMC)'s List of the World's Leading Technology Neutrals
  • "Nationwide Mediators" List, Chambers USA (2016-2022),
  • Former President, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (Los Angeles Chapter)
  • Former board member or chair: Antitrust Sections of the State Bar of California and Los Angeles County Bar Association; ADR Committee, LACBA; Trustee, LACBA, Women Lawyers of Los Angeles
  • Current and/or former board member of numerous public interest organizations, including Public Counsel, Western Center on Law and Poverty, and a Founder of the Alliance for Children’s Rights
  • Member, California State Bar and the Bar of the District of Columbia

Recent Publications and Speaking Engagements

  • 2022 - Speaker at ABA Dispute Resolution Section Spring Meeting; speaker at California International Arbitration Week; speaker at various programs on E-discovery; speaker on European webinar on Using Mediation to Resolve Business Interruption Disputes.
  • 2020 and 2021 – Speaker on webinars presented by the ABA, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Intellectual Property Law groups (WIPL, LAIPL).
  • Speaker at the Emerging Issues Conference of the ABA Health Law Section (2016-2019); California Society of Health Attorneys Annual Meeting (2016, 2017); ABA Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee Conference (2017-2019)
  • “Uprooting the Decision Tree,” Advocate Magazine, CAALA, September 2018
  • “How Third-Party Funders change the Chemistry of Settlements,” Advocate Magazine, CAALA, September 2017
  • “A Special Master’s Role in Hospital Merger Cases,” LAW360 (2016)
  • Author, Updates to Rutter Group Employment Law Treatise, ADR chapter, 2012-2016
  • "Whose Arbitration is This, Anyway?", JAMS Global Engineering and Construction Newsletter, Fall 2013
  • "Litigation Solutions: Referees and Special Masters," Daily Journal, June 13, 2012
  • "It’s Time to Fix Arbitration Discovery," Los Angeles Lawyer, January 2010
  • "Ordered to arbitration? Take advantage!" Advocate Magazine, CAALA, September 2010
  • "As the Economy Stumbles, Employment Discrimination Claims Climb," Employment Law Strategist, Law Journal Newsletters, December 2008
  • Author or co-author of leading articles of ADR, international and domestic commercial arbitration and mediation, and managing costs in ADR; frequent trainer and lecturer on arbitration, mediation and e-discovery

ADR Profiles

  • JAMS, 2006-Present
  • Associate General Counsel and Vice President, Southern California Edison and Edison International, 1999-2005
  • Partner at major international law firms (Morrison & Foerster; Paul Hastings; Fried Frank), 1981-1999
  • United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division: various positions including Chief of the Los Angeles office, Trial Attorney, and Special Assistant to the Assistant Attorney General
  • Law Clerk to Judge Alfred T. Goodwin, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School
    • Editor, Harvard Journal on Legislation
  • BA, Economics and Mathematics, New College

Counsel Comments

    • Recognized as "an excellent mediator and a great listener."

      - Chambers USA, 2021
    • Recognized as "very capable and very responsible."

      - Chambers USA, 2016
    • “The breadth of her experience prior to becoming a mediator gives her a sense of how clients react to things.”

      - Prominent Attorney
    • “You walk in and right away, you know she’s ready to roll up her sleeves and get into a case with you.”

      - Prominent Attorney
    • “She understood and tackled [the issues] quickly. She was very efficient.”

      - Prominent Attorney
    • “Thank you for your dilligent work and follow up on this case. Your continued dedication and effors went well above and beyond of what we typically receive from a mediator.”

      -       Prominent Attorney

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Disclaimer

This page is for general information purposes.  JAMS makes no representations or warranties regarding its accuracy or completeness.  Interested persons should conduct their own research regarding information on this website before deciding to use JAMS, including investigation and research of JAMS neutrals. See More

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