Hon. Nancy Wieben Stock (Ret.) joined JAMS following 24 years on the Orange County Superior Court bench, where she most recently served on the Complex Civil Panel. Her time with the Court also included serving as Presiding Judge, Supervising Judge of Family Law, and Presiding Judge of the Superior Court Appellate Division. Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Stock worked as a federal prosecutor and in a business litigation firm.

Judge Stock is highly regarded among counsel for her skill in handling complex matters, including cases involving multiple parties and requiring coordination between multiple jurisdictions. She is known for partnering with parties to craft fair and creative solutions to complicated disputes. Judge Stock is also tech-savvy and able to take control of the case management process, keeping all sides organized and efficient while working toward resolution.

Representative Matters

• Business/Commercial
• Handled case which joined over 1,400 individual plaintiffs alleging mortgage fraud claims against major bank
• Handled dispute involving fiduciary duty claims against trust attorney for family-owned dairy company
• Shareholder derivative suit involving holding company for several regional hospitals
• Dispute involving $48 million mediated settlement following dissolution of major real estate development partnership
• Class Action/Mass Tort
• Consumer
  • Settlement judge for consumer product class action, including a federal class, involving claims that company made misleading statements about contact lens cleaning solution that was recalled due to increased eye infection risk
  • Class actions relating to claims of overcharging patients and so-called “balance billing” for emergency room services for uninsured patients
  • Mock trial neutral in automotive manufacturer product consumer class action
• Pharmaceutical
  • Mass tort involving medical device used for treating breast cancer
• Wage and Hour
  • Class actions involving wage and hour in virtually every industry, including software engineering, hospital personnel, manufacturing, and retail sales
• Construction Defect
• Coordination trial judge for contract breach and construction defect litigation involving multiple public school sites in major metropolitan school district
• Settlement judge on multi-party commercial construction defect lawsuit involving fraud and bad faith issues
• Employment
• Disputes involving wage and hour, misclassification, discrimination, and harassment claims
• Environmental
• Dispute between large public water district and more than 30 defendants over plumes of groundwater contamination allegedly caused by defendants’ use of industrial chemicals
• Matter involving complex environmental hazard insurance coverage indemnity and contribution
• Settled California Air Resources Board regulatory action against foreign-based off-road vehicle manufacturer
• Settled case of alleged soils and groundwater contamination on university property by former industrial site owners
• Family Law
• Trial judge for first biological surrogacy case in Orange County, with matter involving three households as potential parents for newborn infant
• Settlement judge on case involving dueling parental claims to infant following successful gestational surrogacy
• Pereira/Van Camp apportionment matter involving community property interest in then-largest operating system designed for hotels
• Multi-District Litigation
• California coordination judge with federal MDL involving claims against leading nutritional supplement company relating to one of its weight-loss products
• Municipal
• Special master, financial and performance audit of park in affluent suburban city
• Appointed member, Advisory Committee on Electoral Districts of large metropolitan city
• Personal Injury
• Case involving negligence and sexual battery claims stemming from alleged abuse at parochial school; creative settlement tied jury verdict to “high-low” agreement that was executed before jury selection
• Trial judge for case against state transportation agency following freeway semi-tractor-trailer vs. auto collision deaths of all three minor children in plaintiffs’ family
• Real Property
• Mobile Home Residency Law dispute involving 117 individual homeowner plaintiffs that went to jury trial before settling, involved extensive case management
• Dispute by HOA of luxury residential towers over applicable REA and assessments charged to all residential, commercial, and retail tenants in combined area
• Experience resolving disputes involving commercial and residential transactions, land use and zoning issues, environmental-related claims, and eminent domain matters
• California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) writ matters, zoning ordinances, and general plan compliance
• Securities
• Action to enforce repurchase and indemnification of loan servicer, affiliated with bankrupt investment bank, under master mortgage loan purchase agreement over hundreds of allegedly defective securitized mortgages; settled on eve of trial
• Managed fraud case against major lenders brought individually, not representatively, by more than 1,000 homeowners in single complaint
• Securities litigation arising out of mortgage crisis involving major financial institution and investment banks
• Numerous shareholder derivative and class actions involving share price and other fairness issues in merger and acquisition transactions

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Honors
  • Excellence in Advocacy Award, American College of Trial Lawyers
  • Author, "The Dignity Factor: Sagging Standards for Courthouse Design and Construction", Gavel to Gavel, Fall 2014
  • Judge of the Year, Orange County Bar Association, Business Litigation Section, 2009
  • Franklin G. West Lifetime Achievement Award, Orange County Bar Association, 2009
  • Judge of the Year, Hispanic Bar Association, 2006
  • Distinguished Jurist, American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, 2003
  • Judicial Integrity Award, Consumer Attorneys of California, 1997
  • Judge of the Year, American Board of Trial Advocates, Orange County Chapter, 1997
  • Jerrold Oliver Award for Judicial Integrity, Compassion & Courage, Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, 1997
  • Judge of the Year, Orange County Women Lawyers, 1995
  • Judge of the Year, Constitutional Rights Foundation – Orange County, 1993
  • Special Achievement Award, U.S. Department of Justice
  • Director’s Award, Outstanding Service in Public Interest, Department of Treasury, Arson Task Force
  • Distinguished Alumnus, University of California, Davis, School of Law
  • Appreciation Award, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
• Memberships
  • Board of Directors, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL)
  • Life Member, National Association of Women Judges
  • Chair, Presiding Judges Advisory Committee, Member Judicial Council, 2007-2009
  • University of Southern California, Inter-fraternity Parent Council, 2004-2006
  • Trustee, U.C. Davis Foundation Board, 1998-2001
  • Board of Directors, Federal Bar Association, 1989-1991
  • Inaugural Member, Women's Construction Litigation Alliance (WCLA) (2013-present)
  • Member, Board of Directors, First Vice-President, YWCA, North Orange County (2012-2015)
• ADR Profiles
  • "A Legacy of Service," ADR Profile, OC Lawyer, October 2016
  • "Letting Loose," ADR Profile, Daily Journal, September 18, 2015
• Professional Activities
  • Featured Speaker, The Portia Project, October 2022

Background and Education

• Orange County Superior Court Judge, 1990-2014
  • Complex Civil Panel, 2009-2014
  • Presiding Judge, 2006-2009
  • Assistant Presiding Judge, 2003-2005
  • Supervising Judge, Family Panel, 2001-2003
  • Presiding Judge, Superior Court Appellate Division, 2001-2003
• Assistant U.S. Attorney, 1978-1990
  • Chief, Santa Ana office, 1988-1990
  • Chief Major Crimes, Chief of Training, First Assistant to the Chief of the Criminal Division, Los Angeles, 1978-1988
• Associate Attorney, Friedemann & Menke, Orange, CA, 1976-1978
• J.D., University of California, Davis, School of Law
• B.A., Political Science, University of California, Davis