Hon. Diane M. Welsh (Ret.) is highly respected for her ability to successfully resolve disputes with sensitivity, patience, and persistence. As a U.S. Magistrate Judge for 12 years and since joining JAMS, she has mediated and arbitrated numerous class action/mass torts cases. Specifically, Judge Welsh has extraordinary skill in resolving high-stake multi-party disputes. Judge Welsh served on the Alternative Dispute Resolution committee for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania for 10 years, drafting local federal court rules for court-annexed mediation program and she is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education programs on settlement negotiation, mediation, and the ADR Act.
Representative Matters
- Representative class action/mass tort disputes resolved by Judge Welsh include the following:
- Case involving RICO allegations and alleged violations of federal and state consumer protection statutes brought by class of first time home buyers against Builder, Mortgage Broker, Appraiser, and Mortgage Lender. Plaintiffs claimed a fraudulent scheme to induce them to purchase homes with inflated prices with mortgages they could not afford
- Presided over complex discovery disputes in the fen-phen diet drug litigation and mediated disputes between class counsel and trustees of the settlement fund
- ERISA/Securities Fraud class action by former employees of major insurance company
- Case involving RICO claims by class of owners of time shares in a resort property
- Class action alleging violations of CERCLA and state law resulting from air and water contamination by pollutants; settlement reached for medical monitoring and property damage
- Numerous wage-and-hour class actions brought in federal and state courts, including home healthcare workers, prison guards, poultry factory workers, and transit workers
- Employment discrimination class actions brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Mediated and served as Special Master in various securities class actions including claims against corporations, investment banks, underwriters, auditors, and research analysts
- Numerous consumer class actions brought in federal and state courts including alleged violations of FCRA, FTPCA, TILA, RESDA, FACTA, FDCPA, and various state consumer protection statutes
- Class actions against a public utility company for violation of state act for hazardous site cleanup seeking testing, remediation, and medical monitoring
- Class action against a technology company, the county and sheriff for release of confidential information relating to applicants for gun permits; the technology contractor allowed gun permit lists and personal information of 25,000 permit holders to be unprotected and accessible via the internet
- Various class actions against insurance companies involving claims handling and payments
- Employment actions alleging discrimination in promotions and salaries, including telecommunications manager, transit supervisors, and chemical company technicians
- Consumer class action against automobile manufacturer alleging breach of warranty of the brake system
- Collective actions involving property damage caused by asbestos
- Class action alleging personal injury caused by silica exposure
