Hon. Kathleen A. Roberts (Ret.) has been a full-time mediator, arbitrator, and special discovery master since 1995. Judge Roberts is highly regarded for her skillful facilitation, careful neutral evaluation, and persistence in resolving all types of disputes, as well as for her ability to manage complex arbitrations and provide well-reasoned awards. She is often called upon, both by attorneys and the courts, for assistance with their most difficult cases. 

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• As a United States Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) from 1985-1995, Judge Roberts adjudicated, supervised discovery, and settled thousands of cases in all areas of federal litigation
• Since joining JAMS, Judge Roberts has successfully mediated hundreds of disputes in complex commercial, employment, intellectual property, insurance coverage, securities and environmental cases
• Since joining JAMS, Judge Roberts has arbitrated hundreds of complex commercial, employment, insurance coverage, and other cases
• Judge Roberts is an Adjunct Professor at NYU School of Law where she has taught Alternative Dispute Resolution since 1998. She also co-teaches Advanced Commercial Mediation annually at the New York City Bar Association, and frequently lectures on mediation and arbitration to U.S. and international practitioners

Representative Matters

• Mediated hundreds of complex commercial contract, insurance coverage, and intellectual property disputes across all business sectors
• Mediated dozens of gender discrimination and sexual harassment claims brought by women at all levels of employment in a wide range of industries
• Mediated numerous Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims
• Mediated a breach of contract dispute between a national hospitality chain and accounting software consultants
• Mediated a breach of contract and deceptive practices by a crime victim against provider of home security system
• Mediated a class action asserting deceptive practices by a large tax preparation firm
• Mediated a dispute regarding state tax obligations of companies headquartered outside New York
• Mediated a class action asserting false advertising and misleading labeling of well-know sunscreen products
• Mediated multiple related securities class actions asserting claims pertaining to the sale of limited partnerships by a major financial institution
• Arbitrated several complex insurance coverage disputes pertaining to credit default insurance for automobiles and medical equipment
• Arbitrated under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), of a dispute between a United States software manufacturer and its Taiwanese distributor, and a dispute between partners in numerous business ventures in Russia and the former Soviet Union
• Arbitrated a contract dispute involving private security services in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Arbitrated a contract and employment dispute involving alleged customs violations regarding the importation of children's bedroom furniture from China
• Arbitrated an insurance coverage dispute involving the construction of a pipeline under the Mississippi River
• Since joining JAMS, Judge Roberts has been appointed as a discovery master by federal and state courts to supervise discovery and review privileged documents in complex commercial, patent, and product liability cases, as an election monitor for unions under court supervision, as a consultant to monitor a four-year consent decree in an EEOC pattern and practice case against a major restaurant chain, and as a trustee for a 36-story commercial retail and office building on Fifth Avenue

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS
• Mediation Settlement Day Frontline Champion Award, New York Unified Court System, 2016
• Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• Member of the mediation panels for the United States District Courts in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; Commercial Division of the Supreme Court, New York County; and Bankruptcy Courts of the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York
• Frequent participant in bar association programs and continuing legal education programs on mediation and arbitration
• Admitted to practice in New York and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
• Member of the New York City Bar

Background and Education

• United States Magistrate Judge, Southern District of New York, 1985-1995
• Assistant United States Attorney, Southern District of New York, Criminal and Civil Divisions, 1979-1985
• Law Clerk, Judge William C. Conner, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, 1977-1979
• J.D., Yale Law School, Editor of the Yale Law Journal, 1977
• B.A., summa cum laude, University of Massachusetts (Boston), 1971