Hon. Randa M. Trapp (Ret.) joins JAMS after serving 18 years on the San Diego Superior Court, including 10 years presiding over the Complex Civil Litigation Panel. Judge Trapp was elected to serve two terms on the court’s Executive Committee and was elevated to assistant supervising judge and then supervising judge of the Civil Division. She has tried over 100 civil jury trials to verdict. During her tenure as supervising judge and as chair of the court's ADR Committee, Judge Trapp reinstated the Settlement Days program in 2019.
During her time on the bench, Judge Trapp presided over discovery disputes, pretrial rulings, trials and settlement conferences. Her experience with complex civil cases includes business, commercial, employment, California Private Attorneys General Act, wage and hour, construction defect, personal injury, traumatic brain injury, medical malpractice, professional malpractice and trade secret matters.
Prior to her appointment to the bench, Judge Trapp’s practice focused on construction defect and business litigation with a mid-sized firm, and she was also in-house counsel for a Fortune 100 energy company, where she was appointed assistant corporate secretary for the company’s regulated utilities. In her capacity as in-house counsel, she handled corporate governance issues, negotiated franchise agreements with local municipalities and managed multi-million-dollar personal injury and wrongful death cases resulting from a nuclear radiation leak in the mid-1980s.
Representative Matters
Business/Commercial
- Breach of contract involving unsecured note and partnership dispute
- Business dissolution case involving complicated partnership agreements regarding popular flavored whiskey product
- Multiple breach of contract cases involving interfamilial disputes, Marvin-type actions, partition matters
- Major breach of contract/lease issues regarding renovation of shopping mall
- Complicated breach of promissory note, breach of guarantee of business partnership involving receiver bank, including issues related to applicability of anti-deficiency defense
- Fraud and breach of contract case involving Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act involving multinational companies; fraud and embezzlement
- Matter of first impression regarding the doctrine of strict liability involving a multi-million-dollar operator of an online shopping marketplace
- Hospital termination of service provider resulting in defamation, breach of fiduciary duty and intentional and negligent interference with prospective economic advantage
- Complicated biomedical distribution contract case with multinational parties
- Contract/sovereign immunity regarding significant hotel contract with Indian tribe
- Multiple administrative mandate cases, including wrongful expulsion from law school, permit to demolish historically designated property and other matters
- Writ of mandate regarding election fraud; city charter issues (invalidate Maintenance Assessment District); challenge to municipality nuisance abatement ordinance
Construction Defect
- Multiple multi-party construction/design defect cases involving schools, courthouse and other structures
- Breach of warranty, breach of merchantability and strict liability
- Matters involving prompt payment penalty issues
- Matters involving right-of-way issues
- Insurance and failure to defend issues
Intellectual Property
- Misappropriation of trade secret involving unique entertainment rideshare phone application
- Trademark infringement, including breach of contract and insurance duty to defend
- Pharmaceutical/trade secret case involving former employee’s new company allegedly manufacturing identical pharmaceutical with the identical additive
Employment
- Multiple wrongful termination matters, including whistleblower
- Termination of medical professional for refusal to seek treatment for substance abuse
- Termination during medical leave
- Sexual harassment case between COO and CEO at a multi-million-dollar global business entity
- Class action involving Consumers Legal Remedies Act representative suit; unfair, deceptive act or practices; public works wage and hour (multiple subclasses); and class certification issues
Family Law
- Numerous matters involving child custody, child support, spousal support and disposition of community property issues
- Seminal family law case enforcing interspousal fiduciary disclosure statutes
Personal Injury
- Numerous personal injury matters, including traumatic brain injury cases
- Wrongful death cases, including involving police chase and governmental immunity issues
- Wrongful death case; industrial accident cases
Professional Liability
- Numerous medical malpractice cases, including wrongful birth, wrongful death, use of off-label products and concealment of financial relationship with supplier
- Products liability, including spoliation of evidence
Real Property
- Multiple eminent domain matters involving public works projects
- Eminent domain matter concerning the expansion of a municipal trolley rail project
- Interpretation and enforcement of international eminent domain proceeding (China) and division of proceeds among family members in U.S and abroad
- Eminent domain and inverse condemnation involving a property with historical designation
- Inverse condemnation matter concerning the validity of a lot line adjustment made without notice and affecting a hotel property
- Inverse condemnation involving plaintiff of insured who owned property with alleged defective sewer hookup
