Hon. David B. Moon, Jr. (Ret.) T: 310.203.8200 F: 310.203.8211

Judge Moon has been available to attorneys and their clients as a neutral since July, 2001. He provides mediation, arbitration and settlement conference opportunities to assist parties in resolving disputes. Having handled a wide variety of lawsuits as a trial judge, including complex matters such as construction defect, toxic tort, environmental, and class action lawsuits, Judge Moon has the experience to serve as a reference, special master, neutral fact-finder and temporary judge.

Judge Moon retired from the San Diego Country Superior Court after serving 23 1/2 years as a trial judge. He was Presiding Judge of the San Diego Municipal Court before being elevated in 1983. Assigned to the North County Division of the San Diego Superior Court, he has presided in virtually every department and served as its Supervising Judge. For 3 1/2 years preceding retirement, Judge Moon handled a civil independent calendar, both managing civil cases from filing to final disposition and trying those which did not resolve or settle.

Aside from his normal criminal assignments, Judge Moon concentrated his efforts as a civil case manager towards law and motion, settlement and trials in the following legal areas: personal injury, medical and professional malpractice, trade secrets, unfair business competition, intellectual property, real estate transactions, real property, toxic spills, products liability, CEQA mandate actions, eminent domain, employment, probate and trust litigation, insurance coverage and bad faith, breach of contact, fraud, and protracted domestic matters. He has employed innovative settlement techniques, including the use of non-attorney special masters, mini-trials, summary jury trials, and site inspections, to resolve cases thought to be unsettleable.

Judge Moon's philosophy towards case management is that the earlier the intervention in the dispute the more likely the parties are to settle their differences without protracted litigation and trial. Toward this end as a case manager, he has encouraged and sometimes compelled parties and their attorneys to facilitate discovery and engage in early mediation or a case evaluation session. Since most disputants would rather spend their time, money and emotional energy other than "in court", he understand a neutral's role is to ascertain the needs of the parties and fashion the framework for a resolution to the dispute. The neutral's tools then are a blending of rights, law, economics, and common sense tempered with respect and dignity.

Having served by assignment of the Court of Appeal, 4th District, Division 1, and having hundreds of his cases appealed in normal course, Judge Moon is cognizant of the tenor of the appellate court and the appellate process. Combined with presiding over many hundreds of jury trials, he has considerable experience in evaluating cases.

EDUCATION:

• Phillips Academy, Andover, Massachusetts, 1957-1960

• Stanford University, B.A., Political Science, 1964

• University of San Diego, School of Law, J.D., 1967
  

PROFESSIONAL LICENSES:

Admitted to the Bar, California, 1968; U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 1968

JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE:

• Judge, San Diego Municipal Court, 1978-1982 (all departments, including Presiding Judge)

• Assigned Judge, Court of Appeal, 4th District, Division One, 1982

• Judge, San Diego Superior Court, 1983-2001 (all departments, including Supervising, Probate, and Independent Calendar assignments; committee assignments include Executive committee and alternative dispute resolution)
  

LEGAL EXPERIENCE:

• United States Attorney's Office, San Diego, legal intern, 1965

• Miller and Evatt, legal intern, 1966-1967

• Brundage, Hackler, Williams and Zellmann, associate, 1968-1970 (labor law)

• Townsend and Moon, partner, 1970-1973 (domestic, criminal, corporate and probate)

• Bourne, McDade, Fitzgerald, Moon and Cline, partner, 1976-78 (criminal and civil litigation, labor law, domestic, business and probate)

• Law Offices of David B. Moon, Jr., sole practitioner, 1976-1978 (general civil litigation, construction law, real estate planning and development, general business law, criminal matters limited to felonies)
  

ADR EXPERIENCE:

• (July 2001-Present) Alternative Dispute Resolution: Mediation, Arbitration, Settlement Conferences, Discovery and Special Master References in all areas of law.
  

ADR TRAINING:

• Pepperdine College
  - Advanced Mediation 2004
  - Mediating the Litigated Case 2006

• Harvard Negotiation Insight Initiative 2007

• Rapport International, Leadership One 2005

• American Arbitration Association
  - Commercial Arbitration I 2002
  - Commercial Arbitration II 2003
  
  

• AAA Chairing an Arbitration Panel: Managing Procedures, Process & Dynamics (ACE005), 2006; Mediating the Litigated Case, Pepperdine University School of Law, 2006; Advanced Mediation, Pepperdine University School of Law, 2005; AAA Commercial Arbitrator II Training: Advanced Case Management Issues, 2004; Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University School of Law, Advanced Mediation Skills Forum, 2004; Arbitrator Update 2004; AAA Arbitrator I Training-Fundamentals of the Arbitration Process, 2004; California Judges Association, ADR Practice, 2001, 2000; Judicial Counsel, Administering Court ADR Programs, 2000; National Judges College, Civil Mediation, Reno, NV, 1999, 1997; California Center for Judicial Education and Research, ADR Workshop, 1997.
  

NATIONAL JUDICIAL COLLEGE:

• Graduate, Civil Mediation Course, 1997

• Instructor, Civil Mediation Course, 1999
  

AREAS OF EXPERTISE:

Probate, Trusts and Wills, Real Estate, Eminent Domain, Personal Injury, Professional Malpractice, Contracts, Construction Defect, Commercial Disputes, General Business, Insurance/Coverage, and Employment Law

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS:

California Judges Association, committee member, various years relating to Programs, Education, Ethics, Criminal Law; American Inns of Court (North San Diego County Chapter, Founder and first President); Association of Business Trial Lawyers; San Diego County Bar Association; North County (San Diego) Bar Association; Association for Conflict Resolution.

FACULTY/LECTURER/INSTRUCTOR:

• California Judicial Education and Research: Section/Discussion Leader, one-week induction course for new judges re: Evidence, Civil Practice, Probate, Adoptions

• Continuing Education of the Bar: Evidence, Documentary and Demonstrative Evidence, Criminal Law Update, Criminal Law and Procedure, Ethics

• California Judges Association: Ethics, Introduction to Computers

• The Rutter Group: Probate

• Continuing Legal Education: Eminent Domain

• Right of Way Association: Eminent Domain, mock trials

• San Diego Inn of Court: Civil Trials
  

BAR ACTIVITIES:

• Co-founder and first President, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Chapter, American Inns of Court (North County)

• Moderator, Bridging the Gap Programs (for new attorneys), San Diego and Vista

• Presenter/Speaker, various section, Bar Association of Northern San Diego County
  

AVAILABLE:

Throughout San Diego and Orange Counties

Download Judge Moon's Profile (PDF)