Resume – Joe Ramsey, Esquire

[Resume also avaliable as a PDF]

Personal

Born August 21, 1937, in La Grande, Oregon.

Education

  • Stanford University A.B. 1959 – Pre-Legal Curriculum
  • Stanford University J.D. 1961

Admitted To Practice In

  • California
  • Eastern District of U.S. District Court
  • Northern District of U.S. District Court
  • Central District of U.S. District Court
  • United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
  • United States Supreme Court

Legal Practice Experience

  • January to August, 1962: Deputy Attorney General, California Department of Justice
  • August 1962 through August 1997: General and appellate private practice in Sacramento, including significant representation of plaintiffs, but more often for defense.

Litigation experience spans cases throughout California, mainly in Northern California Superior Courts and United States District Courts for the Eastern and Central Districts of California in the areas of:

  • Agribusiness
  • Automobile liability
  • Business disputes/all types
  • Construction accidents
  • Construction defects
  • Contract/all types
  • Defamation
  • Employment/all types
  • Environmental pollution and contamination
  • First Amendment/free speech and religion
  • Government tort liability
  • Health care
  • Insurance/coverage and bad faith
  • Personal injury/all types
  • Premises liability
  • Probate and trusts
  • Products liability/all types
  • Property damage
  • Professional liability/all types
  • Real estate/all types

Trial Experience

Has tried at least one case to verdict or judgment in United States District Court for the Eastern District of CA, Washoe County, NV, and the following California counties:

  • Alameda
  • Amador
  • Butte
  • Calaveras
  • Contra Costa
  • El Dorado
  • Monterey
  • Nevada
  • Placer
  • Plumas
  • Sacramento
  • San Bernardino
  • San Joaquin
  • San Francisco
  • San Mateo
  • Shasta
  • Sierra
  • Siskiyou
  • Stanislaus
  • Tuolomne
  • Yolo
  • Yuba

Significant trials completed with resulting appeals, including:

  • Allen v. Allstate Insurance Co. 656 Fed.2d 487 (9th Cir. 1981) [DOL]
  • Reserve Insurance Co. v. Pisciotta 30 Cal.3d 800 (1982)
  • Sagadin v. Ripper 175 Cal.App. 3d 1141 (3rd Dist. 1985) [DOL]
  • Neary v. Regents 3 Cal. 4th 273 (1992)

Mediation

Since 1986, mediated nearly 3,500 disputes involving the following areas:

  • Agribusiness disputes
  • Business disputes including typical contract and tort claims
  • Construction defect claims based on contract, tort, and strict liability
  • Employment claims of all types
  • Environmental pollution
  • Insurance coverage, duty to defend, and bad faith claims
  • Intellectual property claims
  • Landlord tenant
  • Marital dissolution (money issues only)
  • Personal injuries cases of all kinds (auto, premises, product liability)
  • Probate and estate litigation
  • Professional negligence of all kinds (accountant, architect, engineering, insurance agent/broker, legal, medical, securities dealer, realtor)
  • Residential, commercial, and light industrial real property disputes including boundary, easement and nuisance issues. 
  • Sexual molestation and harassment

Arbitration

Selected to serve as the neutral arbitrator in nearly 500 cases. Of those cases, has heard and decided approximately 150 cases which did not settle. Single neutral arbitrator in binding arbitrations, involving:

  • Wide variety of business disputes
  • Uninsured/underinsured motorist
  • Wide variety of personal injury
  • Coverage and insurance bad faith
  • Legal and medical malpractice

Superior Court Judge

By stipulation of all parties, served as Superior Court Judge in Sacramento and San Joaquin Counties.

Referee/Master

Served as referee/master in more than 70 complex multi-party cases, including but not limited to construction defect cases.

Honors

  • AV Rating by Martindale-Hubbell
  • American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) – Advocate rank.
    • 1997 recipient of Sacramento Valley Chapter Civility Award
  • Anthony M. Kennedy American Inn of Court – Master, 1990 – present
    • Member Executive Committee, 1992 – 2007
    • Active Emeritus, 1997 – present
    • Recipient: Enright Professionalism Award from California Council Inns of Court, 2002
  • Selected Best Lawyers in America 2010, Alternative Dispute Resolution
  • Diplomate Member of The California Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, 2009-Present

Professional Public Service

  • Sacramento County Bar Association, Fee Arbitration Committee– 1978-1980; Chair 1980-1984
  • California Senate Judiciary Committee Testimony
    • Expert Witness on Proposed Tort Legislation – 1983 through 1984
  • California Continuing Education of the Bar – Panel Participant
    • Documentary and Demonstrative Evidence – 1983, 1985
    • Commercial Bad Faith – 1985
    • Handling Trial Objections – 1986
    • Effect of Proposition 51 – 1986
  • Sacramento County Superior Court:
    • Pro Tem Settlement Conference Judge – 1988 through 1997
  • Prisoner Civil Rights Volunteer Mediator Pilot for the Eastern District of California, 2010
  • Membership in Sacramento County Bar Sections: ADR, Environmental, Health Care, Probate and Estate Planning, and Real Property.

Presentations

  • “Time and Cost Efficient Resolution of Family Law Matters” – Family Law Section of SacramentoCounty Bar, 2001.
  • “Bridging the Gap” – (Panel Participation) Sacramento County Bar Association, 2003.
  • “ADR Services” – (Panel Participation) Placer County Bar Association, 2003.
  • “Ethical Pitfalls in Mediation” – Matheny, Sears, Linkert & Long, 2005.
  • “Ethical Considerations in Electronic Discovery” (panel participant) – CLE Presentation for McGeorge College of Law Graduates, 2007.
  • “Maximizing Mediation Success” – ADR Section of Sacramento County Bar, 2008, McDonough, Holland & Allen, 2008, and Probate & Estate Planning and ADR Sections of Sacramento County Bar, 2008.
  • “Practice Pointers for Arbitrations” – Arnold Law Firm, 2008.
  • “Obtaining Better Mediated Settlements” – Anwyl, Scoffield & Stepp, 2008, Greenberg Traurig LLP, 2009, Wilke, Fleury, Hoffelt, Gould & Birney, 2009 Kronick, Moskovitz, Tiedemann & Girard, 2009, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, LLP, 2009, Matheny Sears, Linkert & Jaime, 2009, and Trainor Fairbook, 2009, Office of the Attorney General, 2009, Weintraub Genshlea Chediak, 2010.
  • “Obtaining Better Mediation & Arbitration Results” – Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP, 2010.
  • “Starting Right & Staying Right with Civil Litigation” – Litigation/Commercial/Bankruptcy Sections of Bar Association of San Francisco, 2010.
  • “Alternative Dispute Resolution Overview” – UCD Law School, 2011.
  • “5th Annual King Hall Negotiations Competition” – (participant judge) UCD Law School, 2011.
  • “Mediations of 28 USC Section 1983 Prisoner Litigation Fundamentals” – (panel participant) UCD Law School, 2011.

Distinguished community service

  • The Humane Society of the United States
    • Member, Board of Directors – 1978 through 2005
    • Vice Chairman, Board of Directors – 1987 through 1994
    • Chairman, Board of Directors – 1994 through 1999
    • Chair of the Board Emeritus – 2005 to present

Authorship

Available to serve as Mediator, Neutral Arbitrator, Special Master, Discovery Referee or Pro Tem Superior Court Judge

Fees range from $500 to $750 per hour for most cases. Up to $15,000, flat rate, per diem, on multi-party complex litigation. All fees shared equally by participating parties unless otherwise agreed by the parties. (1/2012)

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