Hon. Diane M. Welsh (Ret.)

Judge Welsh is trusted and respected by both the plaintiff and defense bar as an arbitrator and mediator of complex catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death cases. Judge Welsh is remarkably successful at settling cases with multiple defendants and complex insurance coverage issues. As a U.S. Magistrate Judge for 12 years, she conducted hundreds of settlement conferences in virtually every area of personal injury. At JAMS, Judge Welsh has mediated cases involving quadriplegia, paraplegia, amputation of limbs, crush injuries, R.S.D., traumatic brain injuries, burns, chronic pain, blindness, loss of hearing, and drowning. 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. She is a frequent speaker at Continuing Legal Education programs on settlement negotiation, mediation, and the ADR Act.

Representative Matters

• Workplace Injuries: Mediated and arbitrated cases involving negligence; product liability claims involving constructions falls; electrical accidents, trench collapses; accidents involving industrial equipment such as cranes, fork lifts; chemical exposure, fire, and explosions; hundreds of settlements involving cross claims for indemnity and contribution between general and subcontractors and compromise of workers’ compensation and healthcare liens
  • Case involving worker who mixed artificial flavoring to be sold to bakeries exposed to Diacetyl causing lung disease
  • Case involving boilermakers who died as a result of nitrogen asphyxiation at a refinery during a turnaround
  • Case involving a tree trimmer electrocuted by power lines
  • Matter in which a PVC pipe connection to a sulfuric acid tank broke causing fourth degree chemical burns to two workers resulting in one death and one disfiguring injury
  • Case in which a mason installing sidewalks at a residential construction site operating a front end loader hit the collar of a propane tank causing an explosion suffering severe burns and death
  • Case involving a food production worker who lost an arm in a meat grinding machine
  Medical Malpractice: Mediated and arbitrated negligence claims against hospitals, laboratories, pharmacies, surgeons, anesthetists, neurologists, orthopedists, radiologists, internists, dentists, ophthalmologists, obstetricians, pediatricians, gynecologists, including claims for failure to diagnose cancer in a timely manner
  
  Nursing Home Negligence: Mediated cases involving death and personal injury from falls, pressure ulcers, infections, malnutrition, allegations of abuse and neglect
  
  Product Liability: Mediated hundreds of cases involving defective products including industrial and commercial equipment, consumer products, tires, air bags, seat belts, roll-overs, and automobiles
  • Suit against a national window manufacturer involving three-year-old who pushed on screen and fell three stories to his death
  • Case involving negligence claims against church youth groups and chaperones when an inexperienced 12-year-old was permitted to operate a powerful snow mobile without a helmet hitting a tree suffering brain damage and spinal cord injury
  • Mediated and arbitrated hundreds of motor vehicle collision cases including accidents with tractor trailers, trucks, police cars, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians
  • Case in which a paraplegic being transported by Para transit vehicle did not have his wheelchair secured; wheelchair fell over causing facial and head injuries
  • Negligence claims against apartment complex owners, manager, and contract lifeguard agency for child who drowned in swimming pool
  • Negligence claims against owner of apartment building and property manager where doors were barricaded preventing mother and children tenants from escaping fire
  • Negligence claims against property owner and managers for air conditioner in vacant apartment causing water leak to the apartment below; blind tenant slipped on water suffering permanent disabling orthopedic injuries
  Toxic Torts: Cases involving exposure to numerous hazardous substances including asbestos, chemicals, lead paint, mold; environmental class actions
  
  Municipal & Governmental Tort Liability: Cases involving excessive force by police, police motor vehicle accidents, injuries and death, suicide while in police custody, negligence for failing to respond to emergency call for ambulance or 911 calls
  • Case against school district for injuries to students including rape and assault by fellow students
  • Civil rights cases against prison for assaults by guards; failure to provide medical care
  Aviation: Mediated claims by passengers of the Swissair flight 111 and several accidents involving private planes, one which crashed into a house injuring the resident
  
  Dram Shop/Liquor Liability:
  • Claim by young female on business trip taken to four bars by her male supervisor where she became intoxicated and was sexually assaulted by supervisor
  • Several cases involving intoxicated patrons who operated motor vehicles causing injury or death to themselves or others
  Premises Liability: Mediated and arbitrated hundreds of cases involving accidents on sidewalks, restaurants, hotels, swimming pools, retail stores, and apartment complexes