Litigation Law, Mediation Law and Arbitration Law

In this episode of the JAMS podcast, JAMS neutrals Hon. Robert D. Foiles (Ret.) and Hon. Thomas Drechsler (Ret.) explore how personal injury cases are evaluated, what makes a claim ready for meaningful settlement discussion, and how digital evidence, credibility, and settlement strategy can shape the path to resolution.

Commercial and residential construction projects expose property owners and general contractors to significant risks arising from personal injury, property damage and construction defect claims. Contract documents can help allocate those risks to the responsible parties, while insurance can protect against losses that cannot be avoided or fully transferred. Common risk management tools include contractual indemnity, prevailing-party attorneys’ fees provisions, insurance requirements and early alternative dispute resolution (ADR) clauses.

Florida juries continue to deliver multimillion-dollar verdicts in personal injury cases despite 2023 tort reform efforts, with non-economic damages now routinely exceeding medical expenses by factors of 20 to 180 times. Corporate defendants in transportation, hospitality, and insurance sectors face unprecedented exposure as plaintiffs' attorneys successfully leverage anchoring arguments and juror sympathy to secure outsized awards. How should businesses and insurers recalibrate their risk management strate

The U.S. Department of Justice has announced significant revisions to its Justice Manual affecting False Claims Act enforcement, particularly regarding the use of guidance documents in civil and criminal actions and the dismissal of qui tam lawsuits. These changes reinstate 2017 policies while adding substantial new detail about when and how DOJ may rely on sub-regulatory guidance in enforcement proceedings, and signal a potentially more active approach to evaluating whether private whistleblower actions

On April 6, 2026, the same day that the Colorado Supreme Court issued its decision in Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Company, LLC v. Regional Rail Partners, Governor Jared Polis signed Senate Bill 26-074 into law. The legislation, which took effect on August 12, 2026, clarifies the amounts that may be included in mechanic’s liens and public construction payment claims, as well as the circumstances under which those claims may be considered excessive.

A federal court in Idaho has allowed an ATDS claim to proceed to discovery despite the heightened pleading standards post-Facebook v. Duguid, finding that allegations of repetitive SMS messages and online consumer complaints were sufficient to infer automated dialing equipment usage. The decision also permits treble damages claims to advance, marking another unusual loss for BigLaw firms in TCPA litigation where defendants typically prevail at the pleadings stage.

Under Florida law, the distinction between a permissive and mandatory forum selection clause can hinge on something as small as a single comma. In Treasure Coast Classical Academy v. The Optima Foundation, the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal held that a comma separating a governing law provision from a venue designation provision rendered the venue clause permissive rather than mandatory, allowing the plaintiff to file suit in the venue where the causes of action accrued.

A California federal court dismissed claims under the Federal Wiretap Act and California Invasion of Privacy Act, ruling that plaintiffs failed to establish Article III standing when they could not prove their personal information was actually intercepted by third-party tracking technology on a retail website. The decision highlights the evidentiary burden plaintiffs must meet when alleging privacy violations through website tracking pixels and similar technologies.

The United States Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Montgomery v. Caribe Transport II, LLC fundamentally alters freight broker liability by eliminating a longstanding federal preemption defense. How will this ruling reshape carrier selection practices and expose brokers to increased negligent hiring claims across the nation?

For hundreds of years, the world’s sovereign nations refused to allow any other foreign sovereign to be sued in their courts without the sovereign’s consent. The guiding principle was “absolute sovereign immunity,” an outgrowth of the ancient legal precept rex non potest peccare, understood to mean “the king can do no wrong.” The principle also was recognized as wise foreign policy because it extended "grace and comity" to other sovereigns.

Recent federal court decisions are reshaping the landscape of personal jurisdiction and enforcement of international arbitration awards following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling in Fuld v. Palestine Liberation Organization. The DC and Ninth Circuits have issued critical opinions clarifying how Fifth Amendment due process standards apply differently than traditional Fourteenth Amendment minimum contacts analysis, particularly in cases involving foreign sovereigns and international arbitration. These deve

The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Paxton v. City of Austin reveals a procedural trap for businesses suing the government: winning the right to be heard can paradoxically freeze the entire case. When governmental defendants challenge a court's jurisdiction and lose, they can immediately appeal, putting all proceedings on hold—potentially for months or years.