Hon. James Lambden

California Court of Appeal, (Ret.)

First District, Division Two

​​Mediator • Arbitrator • Discovery Referee • Appellate Consultant

Justice James Lambden brings to his ADR practice nearly four decades of experience as a trial lawyer, trial court judge and Associate Justice of the California Court of Appeal.

Resume

Hon. James Lambden (Ret.) is a nationally respected neutral who blends legal expertise with unrivalled depth of practical knowledge. With over four decades of experience—including 14 years as a civil trial attorney, eight years as a trial judge, and 17 years as an Associate Justice on the California Court of Appeal—he brings a panoramic understanding of the law, and of people, to every matter he handles.

Since joining ADR Services, Inc., Justice Lambden has mediated or arbitrated more than 1,000 cases, including class actions, catastrophic loss claims, complex insurance disputes, UIM arbitrations, peer review hearings, and administrative proceedings. His ability to settle cases—efficiently, thoughtfully, and with dignity—stems not only from his formidable legal credentials, but from a life spent immersed in ideas, public service, and cross-cultural understanding. He says everyone in a dispute deserves to be heard.

Justice Lambden’s approach is evaluative and intuitional. He prepares meticulously, listens attentively, and brings his natural curiosity to each case. His legal analysis first connects to the stories of the people involved in the case. He describes his mediation philosophy as rooted in “diplomacy and attention to the interests of all parties.” He discourages adversarial metaphors and encourages all participants to tell their stories. By connecting personally to people and listening attentively he searches for “whatever can be agreed upon.”

His career reflects his commitment to access and fairness. Justice Lambden is a founding member of both the State Bar Commission on Access to Justice and the Tribal/State Courts Commission. He served for nine years as Chairman of the California Supreme Court’s Standing Committee on Access and Fairness.

As a jurist, he authored more than 1,100 appellate opinions, nearly 100 of which set legal precedent. He presided over major cases on the trial bench, and appeals including the Barry Bonds divorce appeal and the 101 California Street shooting case. He has mediated matters ranging from a $100 million international subrogation dispute involving sovereign insurers to a healthcare class action affecting over 7,000 employees.

Justice Lambden’s worldview and guiding belief is that justice requires compassion. A self-described student of stories and archetypes, he has traveled extensively and worked alongside international mediators and scholars. He has held many blue-collar jobs and served as a legislative consultant. He sees conflict not as competition but rather a problem to be resolved by recognition of shared humanity.

Attorneys and clients describe him as affable, calm, and full of stories which he uses to disarm tension and build trust in emotionally charged and highly conflicted settings. He is known to invest himself in every case and he keeps in touch long after an initial mediation session. He often assigns “homework” to move a case closer to resolution, tracks court milestones, and reconnects to follow up when the moment “feels right”—all because he knows resolution is a process rather than a singular event.

For Justice Lambden, dispute resolution is more than a job. It is, in his words, “honorable to resolve strife through reasoned discussion” and “extraordinarily satisfying to bring to that endeavor his whole life experience as judge, lawyer, traveler, philosopher, listener, storyteller, and above all his belief in the dignity of compassion.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Fourteen years as a trial lawyer, Fitzgerald, Abbott & Beardsley
Practiced nationwide in disputes involving insurance, healthcare, probate, construction, commercial contracts, torts, employment and real estate
Mediator, arbitrator, referee, appellate consultant and pro tempore judge

JUDICIAL BACKGROUND

Seven years as a trial judge, Superior Court of Alameda County
Including four years presiding over the Law and Motion Master Calendar
Named ACCTLA “Civil Trial Judge of the Year”
Seventeen years on the First District Court of Appeal; author of over 1,000 appellate opinions

PROFESSIONAL TEACHING/EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Author and frequent lecturer on civil procedure and substantive law topics for the California Judges Association, the California State Bar, Local Bar Associations, CELA (California Employment Lawyers Association), CEB (Continuing Education of the Bar, UC Berkeley), and CJER (California Judicial Education and Research).
Co-Author, California Civil Practice: Procedure, Westlaw
Contributor, California Appellate Practice, Matthew Bender
Witkin Lecturer, Bernard Witkin Judicial College, Berkeley
State Bar of California Litigation Section programs, including: “Effective Summary Judgment Motion Practice: A Judicial Perspective”
Co-author, “Stop Shooting Down Tort Liability, It is Time to Resuscitate the Abnormally Dangerous Activity Doctrine Against Handgun Manufacturers.” Stanford Law and Policy Review, Vol. 12:143 (2001)

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES/ASSOCIATIONS/AFFILIATIONS

Board of Trustees, UC College of Law SF (formerly Hastings)
Sustaining Distinguished Fellow, International Academy of Mediators
California Society of Healthcare Attorneys
Board Member, California Dispute Resolution Council
International Centre for Dispute Resolution (AAA)
Board Member, Voluntary Legal Services Corporation (Access Alameda)
Chairman, Access and Fairness Committee, 2003-2012 (Principal standing committee of the Judicial Council)
Chairman and Founding Member, California Commission on Access to Justice (California State Bar)
Bar Association of San Francisco
San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
Alameda/Contra Costa Trial Lawyers Association (ACCTLA)
American Bar Association
Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL)
Hastings Alumni Association; University of California Alumni Association
Shriver Pilot Projects Committee (California State Bar)
Board Member, National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness
Member Board of Directors, California Judges Association
Member Board of Directors, Alameda County Bar Association
Executive Chairman, Alameda County Bar Association Foundation
Board of Directors, Bay Area Center for Law & the Deaf (BACLAD)
Founding Member, Deaf Counseling Advocacy & Referral Agency (DCARA)
Founding Member, Tribal Court/State Court Forum

PROFESSIONAL HONORS AND AWARDS

Honored by Resolution of the Alameda County Bar Foundation for Public Service
Bench Bar Coalition “Jurist of the Year” Award for work with the Legislature to increase funding for legal services, 2007
Opening Doors to Justice Award, One Justice, 2008
Benjamin J. Aranda Access to Justice Award, 2013
Bar Association of San Francisco, Barristers Choice Award, 2014

EDUCATION, SERVICE AND BAR ADMISSION

United States Naval Reserve, 1968-1971
University of California, Berkeley, B.A., Political Science, magna cum laude
University of California College of the Law, San Francisco, J.D.
Admitted to California Bar, December 18, 1975