Personal injury, business, employment, real estate, insurance, medical malpractice
Retired judge James J. Di Cesare said he grew up wanting to be of service.
"My father was born in Italy... and my mother's also Italian," Di Cesare said. "They brought with them a great sense of civility, kindness, appreciation, faith, and commitment to serve other people. And that, obviously, is everything when you're a young person growing up."
A 1973 Pepperdine University School of Law graduate, Di Cesare grew up in Whittier and attended St. Paul High School, a private Catholic school that Di Cesare said reinforced his parents' values about helping others.
"I always wanted to contribute. I always wanted to be of service," Di Cesare recalled.
"And the best way to be of service was to be an attorney."
Di Cesare spent nearly 30 years as a civil litigator, representing plaintiffs in personal injury and business cases before taking the bench as an Orange County Superior Court judge in 2001.
"I loved being a judge," Di Cesare said, noting that he took satisfaction from helping attorneys get their cases ready for trial.
"I didn't want to be a problem for them," Di Cesare recalled. "I wanted to help nurture them through their discovery, through law and motion, trial setting and try to get them to a point where they could get their case tried and then give them a fair trial, where they could ply their skill without fear of embarrassment, repercussions, et cetera."
Di Cesare joined Judicate West's roster of private neutrals shortly after he retired from the bench in the spring of 2022. Since then, he's since been mediating disputes over employment, landlord-tenant, personal injury, business, and homeowners' association matters.
"Other than health issues, legal matters really are the most stressful and troubling and disruptive," Di Cesare said. "In mediation, we're able to relieve the stress so much earlier by resolving these cases. Not only can we do it sooner, we can do it with less risk, and we can do it with less expense."
Before his mediations, Di Cesare likes to receive briefs from all the parties and to speak over the phone with counsel. On the day of the mediation, he starts by introducing himself and explaining the process.
"Then we move on to the issues, and we talk directly about the issues and the law, and we do it knowledgeably, so that they understand," Di Cesare said. "Then with patience and kindness, I move forward. I'm very candid. I try to let them know that I do have competence to settle their case. I have the knowledge and the energy to do it, and that really sets the stage for successful mediation."
Di Cesare noted that careful listening is critical.
"That's how we establish the connection. We have those tough conversations about where they are, where they've been, what they've been through," he explained. "And that's true of all case types. They all are stress-generating and to have the opportunity to help reduce that stress really is a great reward."
Di Cesare added that he leans on his more than two decades as a judge when discussing a case's strengths and weaknesses.
"I spent so much time in a courtroom presiding over cases that I really have a very good sense as to what juries like, what they don't like, how much they will display their interest when approached with certain facts or explanations," Di Cesare said. "So, we talk about all those things if it's appropriate for the case."
Newport Beach defense attorney Jeff I. Braun, who tried cases before Di Cesare when he was on the bench and has since used him to mediate half a dozen catastrophic injury disputes, described the Judicate West neutral as extremely knowledgeable and diligent.
"His temperament is really appreciated by both sides," Braun said. "He's calm and doesn't get emotional about the process - even when emotions may be present in one room or the other by virtue of the way negotiations are going."
Braun also said that Di Cesare remains current with verdicts taking place in Southern California courts and how that impacts settlement guidance.
"He's methodical about the way he handles his mediations," Braun said. "He listens, he plays devil's advocate, so that the room can hear what is likely coming from the other side, and he's really good at closing cases."
Irvine defense attorney Vanessa A. Huey also tried cases before Di Cesare and has since used him to mediate several personal injury disputes.
"I didn't always agree with all of his rulings because, of course, some were against me," Huey said with a chuckle about Di Cesare's bench decisions. "But in retrospect, they were fair. He's very fair."
Like Braun, Huey said Di Cesare brings a calming demeanor to his mediations.
"He has a way of disarming and putting people at ease," Huey said. "I use him because he is just so professional, kind and courteous to both sides. And that's not the case with many mediators out there. ... He's able to bring parties together with that calmness, that disarming approach, and I think that's why he's pretty darn effective as a mediator."
San Bernardino plaintiffs' attorney William D. Shapiro, who appeared several times before Di Cesare on the bench and has since used him to mediate catastrophic injury cases, described the retired judge as an honest neutral who is an exceptional listener.
"When you cross the threshold doors of his mediations, you're walking into what I think is ultimate fairness and objectivity," Shapiro said. "But if you walk into a mediation with Jim Di Cesare and you're not ready, he knows it. He reads papers, and your papers need to be good. He's also a fact checker. If your papers aren't backed up with the evidence, he's very inclined to call you on it."
Shapiro also said that Di Cesare has terrific common sense and isn't someone who will be bowled over during negotiations.
"When you have Jim Di Cesare as a mediator, what you're looking at is precisely what a person would want - whether you're the plaintiffs' lawyer or the defense lawyer - because he has no dog in the fight," Shapiro said. "And while he has no dog in the fight, he fights like a dog to get the case settled."
Di Cesare agreed that he often doggedly pursues resolution long after an initial mediation hearing has concluded, explaining that he still sees each case as another chance to be of service.
"Working with plaintiffs and defendants - to be able to resolve their case and let them move on with their lives without waiting three or four years, that gives me a great deal of happiness," Di Cesare explained. "It always did. Resolving disputes was always something that was important to me - either as a lawyer, a judge and now as a mediator. There's just a great sense of reward."
Here are some attorneys who have used Di Cesare's services: William D. Shapiro, William D. Shapiro Law Inc.; Vanessa A. Huey, Law Offices of
Keevil Markham; Jeff I. Braun, McNeil, Tropp & Braun LLP; Brian L. Williams, Greenberg Gross LLP; Robert K. Gonter, Gates, Gonter, Guy, Proudfoot & Muench LLP.