Rebecca Westerfield

www.jamsadr.com/westerfield

Experience

Hon. Rebecca Westerfield (Ret.) has been a full-time JAMS panelist since 1992 and has arbitrated hundreds of cases.

Work History

Serves on ADR panel for the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California Appointed Judge, Circuit Court of Jefferson Co., Kentucky (court of general jurisdiction), 1987-1992 Arbitrator/Mediator, JAMS 1992-present

Cases

Arbitration: Claims relating to valuations in stock purchase agreements; disputes involving breach of contract with a video distribution company; real estate matters involving breach of fiduciary duties by board of directors of homeowners association; professional fees disputes; investment banking firm contract dispute; alleged unsuitable investments
Business Disputes: Complex, multi party, high value disputes, including accounting, fraud and breach of contract; franchise disputes; social media network defamation claims
Employment: Variety of employment matters including sexual harassment claims against high profile corporate executives, celebrities, well-known professional athletes and public officials; wrongful termination disputes; discrimination claims against foreign owned companies; disputes involving violation of non-compete clauses with allegations of theft of trade secrets
Environmental: $40 million dispute regarding allocation of remedial costs for groundwater contamination
Estates and Probate: Matters involving disputes over value of real estate and stock held in trust; buyouts of ongoing business
Healthcare: Arbitrated contract disputes between healthcare providers and insurers; wrongful death medical malpractice; birth injury medical malpractice
International: Arbitration involving foreign owned companies fraud and contract disputes; mediations involving international laws including Turkey and Dubai; invoking the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards; multiple contract disputes with various European manufacturers; claims over Central American energy sources; disputes among Asian partnerships;

License(s)

Active member, State Bar of California Elected Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators Admitted to Bar of United States Supreme Court, 6th and 9th Circuit Courts of Appeals

Education

Masters in Liberal Arts, Stanford University, 2008
J.D., University of Kentucky, 1975 (Law Journal, National Moot Court Team)
B.A., University of Kentucky with distinction, 1972

Publications

Co-authored the ADR chapter of CEB’s Wrongful Termination Practice 2ed. (1997)

Awards

• Elected Fellow, College of Commercial Arbitrators • Recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” in Mediation, Best Lawyers, 2021 • Included on the ’National Mediators’ List, Chambers USA, 2019-2021 • Recognized, Mediation, Who’s Who Legal: California, 2019 • Recognized as an “ADR Champion,” National Law Journal, 2016, 2018 • Certified Mediator, International Mediation Institute, 2017 • ’Top Master,’ Daily Journal Top California Neutrals List, 2013 • ’Top California Neutral,’ Daily Journal, 2002–2012 (from the inception of the recognition to its conclusion) • Best Lawyer, Alternative Dispute Resolution Category, Best Lawyers in America, 2008–2018, and Northern California Super Lawyer, 2008, 2010–2019 • Best Lawyer in the Bay Area, San Francisco Business Times, 2009 • One of the Top Three Best Neutrals in the Bay Area, The Recorder, 2007 • One of the 500 Leading Judges in America, Lawdragon magazine, 2006 • Distinguished Mediator of the Year, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, 2003 • One of the Top 10 Mediators in the Bay Area, The Recorder, 2002

Panels

Co-Chair, International ADR Global Pound Conference (Northern California), 2016-2017
Presenter, USA-Italy Dialogue on Judicial Reform: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Rome, Italy, 2016
Presenter, USC-JAMS Arbitration Institute- Advanced Arbitration Academy, Los Angeles, 2016
Presenter, ABA Asia Pacific Summit on ADR, New Delhi, India, 2015
Presenter, Bangalore Chamber of Commerce, Conclave on Alternative Dispute Resolution, Bangalore, India, 2016
Participated in private mediation conclave sponsored by the Bangalore Chamber of Commerce, 2016
Presenter, Private Commercial Mediation Conclave, Bangalore, India, 2015
Trainer, ADR for Supreme Court of India (Delhi), High Court of Bangalore 2013
Presenter, International Summer School on Business Mediation, Admont, Austria (2006, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016)
Participant, International Human Rights Summer School, Oxford University-New College 2004

Associations

• Active Member, State Bar of California • Member, ArbitralWomen, 2019 • Advisor; Center for Advanced Mediation Practice; Bangalore, India; 2018 • Member, Advisory Council to the ABA International Human Rights Center, 2011–2014 • Member, Advisory Board University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Human Rights Center, 2009–present • Member, National Association of Women Judges, International Association of Women Judges, ABA Women in Dispute Resolution Committee • Member, International Academy of Trial Judges, Northern California International Arbitration Committee • Chair, International Human Rights Committee, The Bar Association of San Francisco, 2009–2011 • Member, American Bar Association House of Delegates, 1987–1991, 1996–2008 • Board of Directors, The Bar Association of San Francisco, 1994–1997 • Chair, American Bar Association Section on Individual Rights and Responsibilities (now Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice), 1994–1995

Miscellaneous

Adjunct Professor, University of California Berkeley School of Law
Lecturer, Stanford Law School