Biography
Hon. Thomas Neal Thrasher (Ret.) recently retired from the Orange County Superior Court and has four decades of judicial and legal experience. Judge Thrasher has tried numerous real property cases and from 2002 to 2004; as sole mediator for the court, he mediated and settled hundreds more. It should be noted that Judge Thrasher was an adjunct professor of real property at Western State University of Law for 20 years.
Judge Thrasher created the mediation program in the Orange County Superior Court in January 2002 and was its sole mediator. In addition to handling a regular 500-case inventory while on the Superior Court bench, he conducted more than 1,000 mediations in a wide variety of disputes from January 2002 through October 2004. Judge Thrasher successfully resolved a wide variety of real property matters, including easement cases, escrow disputes, land use problems, eminent domain, partition, homeowner association/CCR disputes, tree and view disputes, boundary line contests, landlord/tenant matters, and miscellaneous title problems.
Representative Matters
- Construction defect cases, soil subsidence, landslides
- Dispute involving multi-million dollar transactions, breach of escrows
- Disputes between homeowner associations and homeowners regarding a variety of matters, including paint, remodeling, trees, views, etc.
- Easement cases
- Eminent domain issues between land owners and government
- Fraud and failure to disclose issues involving the sale of residential and commercial property
- Landlord/tenant lease disputes, commercial and residential
- Mediated sales dispute of restaurant with 22 motel units
- Mediated to settlement 11 homeowner claims for failure to disclose case against developer
- Partition actions between family members
Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS.
- Judge of the Year, 2004 (Hon. Jerrold Oliver Award), presented by the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association
- Judge of the Year, Business Litigation Section, Orange County Bar Association, 1994
- Board of Governors, Orange County Association of Business Trial Lawyers, 1999-2001
- Supervising Judge, Orange County Superior Court Civil panel, 1992-1997
- Assistant Presiding Judge, Orange County Superior Court, 1998-2000
- President, Robert A. Banyard Inn of Court, 1995-1998
- Adjunct Professor ("Real Property"), Western State University College of Law, Fullerton, Orange County, 1967-1987
- Community Preservation Award, presented by the Santa Ana Historical Society, 2004
- For Courthouse Wall of Fame, historical photos, and planting orange trees
- Judge, Superior Court, Orange County, 1988-2004 (Supervising Judge, Civil Panel, 1992-1997; Assistant Presiding Judge, 1998-1999)
- Chair, Arbitration Committee; Chair, Judicial Education/Workshop Committee; Chair Bench/Bar Civil Case Management Committee; Rules and Forms Committee; State Chair of California Judges Association Civil Law and Procedures Committee (1996–1997)
Counsel Comments
- "If your clients are serious about settling difficult cases…, the best man to bring about resolution, many lawyers say, is Judge Thrasher."
- "He is an active listener, let the parties express themselves, gave clear and concise comments and was courteous to all parties. I would highly recommend him for mediations involving civil business litigation of all kinds."
- Southern California attorney
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