Hon. David A. Rosen (Ret.)

Profile

Hon. David A. Rosen (Ret.) brings a wealth of legal experience to his role as a mediator and arbitrator at ADR Services, Inc. Throughout his career as a Judge and as a litigator, Judge Rosen has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to upholding justice and promoting effective dispute resolution methods. His deep-rooted understanding of the law, combined with his approachable demeanor and empathetic nature, make him an invaluable asset to those navigating the complex realm of alternative dispute resolution.

Judge Rosen was appointed to the Los Angeles Superior Court in 2015. He began his career on the bench handling a criminal assignment and later transitioned to Family Law, where he served for four years. From 2021 to 2023, Judge Rosen presided over a civil assignment, overseeing a broad spectrum of civil and commercial cases. His expertise spans personal injury claims, products liability, business disputes, real estate matters, and employment lawsuits.

Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Rosen spent over 36 years at Rose Klein & Marias LLP in Los Angeles, where he held various roles including Associate, Partner, and eventually Managing Partner. Judge Rosen specialized in civil litigation and represented clients in a wide range of cases, handling trial preparation, trials, and appeals. He has particular depth of experience in Personal Injury, Toxic Exposure, Asbestos, and Employment matters. Among the notable cases he handled, from 1986 to 1996 and again from 2005 to 2009, he served as Liaison Counsel for the Los Angeles County Asbestos Litigation. Additionally, he helped to successfully manage the In re: Coordinated Latex Glove Cases from 1998 to 2003, and the Coordinated San Gabriel Valley Groundwater Litigation from 2003 to 2006. Judge Rosen was serving on the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee of the NFL Concussion Multi-District Litigation when he was appointed to the bench.

As an attorney, Judge Rosen briefed and argued over twenty cases of various types before the California Courts of Appeal, two cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and four cases before the California Supreme Court.

Judge Rosen previously served on the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Litigation Section and on the Board of Governors for the American Association for Justice, the Consumer Attorneys of California, and the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles. He graduated from UCLA in 1978 and received his J.D. cum laude from Loyola Law School in 1981.

AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION

Personal Injury: Products Liability, Toxic Tort, Defective Machines, Medical Devices, Drugs, Auto Accidents, Premises Liability, Wrongful Death

Workplace Accidents: Construction Accidents, Dangerous Premises, Defective Products, Toxic Exposures

Professional Liability: Medical Malpractice, Legal Malpractice

Employment: Wrongful Termination, Breach of Contract, Discrimination, Harassment, Wage & Hour, Class Action/PAGA Claims

Family Law: Child Custody, Child Support, Spousal Support, Property Characterization, Evaluation and Division, Parentage, Status, Attorney’s Fees

Business/Commercial: Contracts, Debts, Consumer Remedies

JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE

Judge of the Superior Court, County of Los Angeles    2016-2023

  • Civil Assignment, Glendale Courthouse, 2021-2023
  • Family Law Assignment, Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 2017-2018, 2021
  • Family Law Assignment, Chatsworth Courthouse, 2018-2021
  • Criminal Assignment, Metropolitan Courthouse, 2016-2017

LITIGATION EXPERIENCE

Rose, Klein & Marias LLP, Los Angeles    1979-2016
Practice focused on civil litigation, handling trial preparation, trials, and appeals, especially in personal injury, toxic exposure, and employment matters.

  • Managing Partner, Los Angeles, 2001-2016
  • Partner, 1988-2016
  • Associate, 1981-1987
  • Law Clerk, 1979-1981

EDUCATION

  • J.D. cum laude, Loyola Law School    1981
  • B.A., University of California, Los Angeles    1978

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

  • Executive Committee, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Litigation Section, 2011-2016
  • Member, California Commission on Access to Justice, 2003-2006
  • Board Member, American Association for Justice, 2008-2016
  • Board Member, Officer, Consumer Attorneys of California, 1993-2016
  • Board Member, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, 1994-1996, 2005-2016

SELECTED PUBLISHED ARTICLES

“Briefing Witnesses for Deposition or Cross-Examination,” Forum, 2015
“Some Common, and Not So Common, Issues of Admissibility at Trial,” Advocate, 2010
“Use and Abuse of the Sophisticated User Defense,” Advocate, 2009
“Toxic Torts,” Forum, 2005
“Third Party Litigation and Workers’ Compensation,” Forum, 2003

Representative Cases

Asbestos

  • Handled thousands of asbestos exposure cases from 1981 through 2015, involving industrial, commercial, familial, military, and other exposure histories. All types of non-malignancies and malignancies; personal injury, wrongful death, survival, loss of consortium. Handled trial preparation, jury trials, bench trials, settlements, appeals.
  • Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel in Los Angeles Superior Court asbestos litigation, 1987-89, 1994-96, 2005-10. Creditors Comm. in JTThorpe, Thorpe, Western MacArthur bankruptcies.

Class Action / Wage & Hour

  • Handled wage & hour case in United States District Court on behalf of a group of delivery truck drivers, resulting in a seven-figure settlement.
  • Wage & hour and WARN Act case in United States District Court on behalf of a group of employees of a shipping and trucking company, resulting in a seven-figure settlement.
  • Age discrimination case in United States District Court on behalf of several dozen plaintiffs versus a large tech employer.
  • Several individual employment disputes, including wrongful termination, breach of contract, discrimination, and harassment issues, each resolved for between five and six figures.
  • Handled three-week jury trial of breach of employment contract/fraud case.

    Division of Settlement Proceeds

    • Judge Rosen successfully tried approximately a dozen CCP sec. 377 division cases (division of proceeds among wrongful death heirs), where gross proceeds were in six and seven figures. Handled a large groundwater contamination case, with over 1,000 clients, and participated in the division of the eight-figure settlement proceeds.

    Employment

    • Plaintiff, an eight-year employee of defendant company in collections, alleged wrongful and retaliatory termination, discrimination based upon age, national origin, and sexual orientation, as well as Labor Code violations relating to wages and hours. Defendant denied and disputed nearly each fact alleged by Plaintiff.
    • Plaintiff worked for defendant company as a freelance recruiter for about 15 months. Most of that time, he was paid as an 1099 independent contractor. For part of the time, he was an employee of an employment service, assigned to defendant. Defendant's HR officer, also a named defendant, encouraged Plaintiff to apply for a permanent, salaried employee management position at Defendant. Job was essentially offered to plaintiff. However, upon informing defendant that his orthopedic problems had worsened and he was facing a spinal fusion surgery with a lengthy recovery time, plaintiff claims defendant withdrew the job offer. Defendant claims that plaintiff rejected the job offer or said he could not fill the job because of timing and health coverage issues, and that Plaintiff subsequently changed his mind and tried to accept the offer, but by then Defendant had settled on another, better qualified candidate. Plaintiff also alleges classification and unpaid wages violations in addition to the disability discrimination alleged.
    • Handled wage & hour case in United States District Court on behalf of a group of delivery truck drivers, resulting in a seven-figure settlement.
    • Wage & hour and WARN Act case in United States District Court on behalf of a group of employees of a shipping and trucking company, resulting in a seven-figure settlement.
    • Age discrimination case in United States District Court on behalf of several dozen plaintiffs versus a large tech employer.
    • Several individual employment disputes, including wrongful termination, breach of contract, discrimination, and harassment issues, each resolved for between five and six figures.
    • Handled three-week jury trial of breach of employment contract/fraud case.

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    Environmental / Toxic Tort

    • Handled dozens of benzene and other BTEX exposure cases from 2004 through 2015.
    • Lockheed chemical exposure litigation involving over 20 plaintiffs, resulting in aggregate 7-figure settlement.
    • Santa Susana Field Lab. Chemical and nuclear radiation exposure cases.
    • San Gabriel Valley and Pomona water contamination cases involving hundreds of plaintiffs, resulting in an 8-figure settlement.
    • Handled Southern California Gas/Porter Ranch gas leak cases on behalf of approximately 20 families.
    • Handled Southern California Gas/Playa Vista Prop. 65 case on behalf of an environmental group.
    • Multiple Prop 65 lead, acrylamide matters.
    • Mold exposure cases.
    • Dozens of silicosis, other toxic exposure, and nuisance cases.
    • Handled a three-week bench trial of a family mold exposure case resulting in a six-figure verdict.
    • Handled a toxic exposure matter involving a single plaintiff versus approximately 25 defendants, which resolved before trial.

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    Family Law

    • Presided over hundreds of Family law cases in Mosk and Chatsworth courthouses, including RFO hearings, trials, and settlement conferences.
    • Numerous seven-figure familial estate cases involving issues of spousal and/or child support, child custody, parentage, status, property characterization, evaluation, and division, and attorney’s fees.

    Legal Malpractice

    • Judge Rosen handled approximately a dozen such cases of five and six figure values, based upon allegations of failures to comply with the statute of limitations, failures to properly advise of rights when rejecting a case, or failures to obtain appropriate results. He presided over a two-week jury trial of a legal malpractice case where failure to advise and fraud were alleged. He has mediated several legal malpractice cases, including, inter alia, a case arising out of a family law matter, and a case arising out of a medical malpractice matter.

    Medical Malpractice

    • Plaintiff in a medical malpractice matter settled that underlying case, and then sued his counsel in that case, alleging professional negligence and fraud.
    • Judge Rosen handled approximately a dozen medical malpractice cases including alleged lack of informed consent, failures to diagnose, or mis-prescription. He presided over an alleged failed surgery and mis-diagnosis case involving eight defendants which resolved prior to trial. He presided over a jury trial of an alleged botched surgery and sexual battery which resolved during the presentation of evidence.

    Minor’s Compromise

    • Judge Rosen successfully handled hundreds of such petitions for compromises ranging from five to six figures, and, separately, ruled upon dozens of such petitions.

    Personal Injury

    • Member of Steering Commission for NFL brain trauma litigation, representing several dozen plaintiffs or their families.
    • Plaintiffs’ Liaison Counsel for latex protective gear litigation.
    • Intra-ocular lens litigation.
    • Serious injury automobile accident case, in which a nonagenarian pedestrian was run over by another nonagenarian while the latter was attempting to parallel park on a city street. Resolved for over $1.4 million.
    • Handled a complex auto vs. auto case involving issues of rental agency liability, CA Probate Code sections 550, 552, and 9390, as well as allegations of fraud.
    • Handled several sexual abuse of minor cases, including one in which plaintiff is aphasic and A.S.D.
    • Handled a three-week jury trial of an automobile defect injury case; defense verdict.

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    Insurance

    • Plaintiff brings truck to defendant for repair. Due to a fire of unknown cause, the truck (and a lot of defendant's premises) are destroyed. Plaintiff submits his claim for damages including loss of use, lost earnings, and personal property destroyed to defendant's insurer. While negotiating those claims with the carrier, plaintiff asks to be reimbursed for the repair cost of the truck that he had paid defendant. Carrier plaintiff that reimbursement is not covered by their policy and advises Pltff. to take up the reimbursement issue directly with defendant. Plaintiff does so. Defendant agrees to reimburse plaintiff for the repair of the now destroyed truck. Defendant has plaintiff sign a full release in exchange for that money, then carrier and defendant claim that that release relieved them from all of plaintiff's claims. Plaintiff here sues for breach of contract, negligence, inter alia.

    Products Liability

    • In addition to the cases listed under environmental and toxic torts, Judge Rosen has worked extensively on defective machine cases based primarily on a lack of point of operation guarding, as well as defective automobile/crashworthiness cases. Presided over a three-week jury trial of an automotive product liability case against Tesla.

    Professional Liability

    • Handled a medical malpractice matter involving eight defendants, resolved prior to trial.
    • Handled jury trial of a medical malpractice/sexual battery matter, which settled during presentation of evidence.
    • Handled a two-week jury trial of a legal malpractice case.

    Proposition 65

    • Judge Rosen successfully handled approximately a dozen such cases, including food consumption cases relating to acrylamide, as well as cases where the exposure was based upon lead ingestion or inhalation. Successfully handled a Prop. 65 case based upon inhalation of BTEX chemicals against Southern California Gas Company.

    Toxic Mold

    • Judge Rosen handled approximately a dozen home or workplace mold exposure cases and also presided over a three-week bench trial of a family mold exposure case resulting in a 6-figure verdict.

    UIM/UM

    • Judge Rosen has handled several arbitrations of these matters, both as a practicing attorney and as a neutral. Values have ranged from five to six figures.

    Testimonials

    I thought Judge Rosen was excellent. Very well prepared. Developed an in depth understanding of the case quickly and the personalities involved. Our case was a very difficult one to settle but Judge Rosen did his best to reach an agreement.”


    Judge Rosen brings a great deal of intelligence and gravitas to his mediations. He’s very thoughtful, well-prepared, and he doesn’t get riled up. He takes a very legal and practical approach in a very calm and measured way. He can speak very well with business owners and executives. For a more complex legal issue – or something where you’re dealing with professionals or more intellectual folks – I think he comes off very well for both sides.”


    Judge Rosen is not perceived as somebody that’s for one side or the other. He’s perceived as somebody with integrity. And he worked each side the way an effective mediator should by understanding what’s the medicine, what happened in the incident, what are the expectations of the party, what’s at issue and what can I accomplish here. He gave my client a really good understanding about what could be done and what couldn’t be done. That allowed us to kind of reset our expectations, and I think he did the same thing with the other side. Had we just continued with our original expectations, we probably wouldn’t have settled because we would have been seeking way more than they would have paid.”


    I appreciated Judge Rosen’s willingness to thoughtfully discuss the case’s merits. He engaged with me, he engaged with the other side very specifically about various issues of the case and how he would address them. He didn’t just go back and forth, delivering a message of: ‘Their offer is this. What do you want to do?’ He really would engage on a granular basis on the arguments that were being made and how – if he were on the bench – he would probably be likely to look at it. And that was very helpful.”


    “I really appreciated working with Judge Rosen. Very intelligent, and he pushed to resolve our case.”


    Judge Rosen was able to get both sides to agree on a number, overall a positive experience. Would definitely use him again.”


    Judge Rosen is great. Very impressed with his preparation and even temperament.”


    Judge Rosen was an excellent choice for mediation. He was fair, and was well-versed on the case. Judge Rosen held a very productive pre-mediation meeting, and was thoughtful finding solutions on this matter. I look forward to working with David Rosen again.”


    “Great experience. Judge Rosen’s professionalism and insight on the case were helpful. Judge Rosen was very nice to my client and clear about what mediation is and the his role in the matter as well. I look forward to working with him again in the future.”


    “Judge Rosen is outstanding. I have now used him twice, on two very difficult cases (the first was difficult on liability, the second on causation), and he was able to get the cases to resolution in an amount that both the client and I thought was excellent. He has a great style, relates well to clients, and is very effective with both sides. I recommend him highly.”