Hon. Keith D. Davis (Ret.) joined JAMS after a distinguished 35-year judicial and legal career. Judge Davis devoted over 23 years of service to the San Bernardino Superior Court, where he spent a majority of that time hearing civil cases in the Rancho Cucamonga, San Bernardino Historic and San Bernardino Justice Center courthouses. Early in his judicial career, he was an advocate for the use of mediation in a variety of cases. During his time as a San Bernardino Juvenile Court judge in the late 1990s, he started the Dependency Mediation Program, which is now a cornerstone of Juvenile Court.

During his time handling a heavy civil caseload, Judge Davis earned a reputation for being fair, patient and tireless.

Until a complex civil courtroom was created, he heard both regular and complex civil matters in his department. He handled a wide variety of civil matters and heard hundreds of settlement conferences in virtually every area of civil litigation.

Previously, Judge Davis was a deputy district attorney in the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office. After two years, he joined a law firm and began representing public entities, private businesses, law enforcement agencies and individuals.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• 35 years of judicial and legal experience
• Over 23 years of experience as a judge on the San Bernardino Superior Court
• Heard hundreds of settlement conferences in virtually every area of civil litigation
• Developed the Dependency Mediation Program for the San Bernardino Juvenile Court

Representative Matters

• Business/Commercial
• Breach of contract disputes between corporations and manufacturers
• Cases involving fraud between consumer buyers and sellers
• Dissolution of partnership involving general and limited partners
• Construction Defect
• Several cases involving homeowners’ associations, developers, builders and subcontractors
• Handled litigation and ultimate settlement involving 6 public entities, including the state of California, and over 2,000 plaintiff homeowners regarding nuisance and other tort claims involving construction of the I-210 Freeway
• Employment
• Several wrongful termination cases involving punitive damages
• Wrongful termination involving a Fortune 500 Company
• Discrimination and hostile work environment cases involving gender, race, religion and age
• Numerous wage and hour claims
• Employment cases involving retaliation claims
• Government/Public Agency
• Matters involving law enforcement misconduct, including allegations of excessive force
• Wrongful death and serious injury cases involving law enforcement
• Cases involving dangerous condition of public property, including city, county and state
• Wrongful death matters involving public entities
• Handled administrative hearing for the city of La Habra regarding an appeal of the police chief’s revocation of a CCW permit for a medically retired police officer
• Insurance
• Handled numerous insurance coverage disputes in both personal and commercial policies
• Insurance coverage disputes involving food contamination coverage issues
• Personal Injury Torts
• Several motor vehicle serious injury and wrongful death cases involving automobile v. automobile, automobile v. pedestrian and automobile v. bicycle
• Products liability matters involving automobile rollovers
• Serious injury cases involving alleged dangerous conditions on properties involving large institutions
• Premises liability matters involving slip/trip and fall
• Elder abuse matters involving physical abuse in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities
• Elder financial abuse involving family members
• Professional Liability
• Professional negligence matters involving dental and medical malpractice
• Claims involving assisted living and nursing home care, including failure to properly monitor condition of patients and general claims of negligence
• Legal professional negligence claims

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS.

Awards

• Law Library Advocate Award, American Association of Law Libraries, 2011
• Leadership Award, Bench-Bar Coalition, 2010
• A-V Rated Trial Lawyer, Martindale-Hubbell

Memberships and Affiliations

• Member, California Judges Association, 1997–present
  • President, 2010–2011
• Member, California Judges Foundation, 1997–present
  • President, 2004–2005
• Member, Board of Trustees, San Bernardino County Law Library, 2003–present
  • President, 2005–present
• Advisory Member, Judicial Council of California, 2010–2011
• Member, Court Facilities Advisory Committee, Judicial Council of California, 2010–present
• Chair, San Bernardino County Advisory Redistricting Commission, 2021

Background and Education

• Judge, Superior Court of California, County of San Bernardino, 1997–2020
• Partner; Wilson, Borror, Dunn & Davis; 1987–1997
• Deputy District Attorney, San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, 1985–1987
• Law Offices of Richard L. Roberts, 1984–1985
• Law Offices of Robert J. Bockelman, 1979–1984
• J.D., Golden Gate University School of Law
• B.S.F.S., Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University