Gary S. Davis, Esq. has over 43 years of experience as a litigator, representing a variety of plaintiffs and defendants. Since joining JAMS in 2006, he has served as a neutral mediator, arbitrator, and discovery referee in matters varying in type and complexity. Each case Gary works on, whether big or small, he approaches thoughtfully and adjusts his methodology depending on the facts. Mr. Davis has experience with a wide array of matters including business and commercial disputes, employment, cases involving government or public entities, insurance matters, personal injury claims, professional liability, as well as school district and education related cases. He is able to apply his trial skills in mediation by helping parties to understand and asses the risks and rewards of litigating a case in courts.

Mr. Davis has earned a stellar reputation based on his fairness and ability to bring parties together, even in extremely difficult situations, and having them reach a consensus. He is adept at identifying and focusing on key issues, while respecting all parties involved. His focused and considerate approach to ADR, ensures that all parties are heard to enable an equitable resolution.

When handling matters that are often emotionally charged, Gary is able to skillfully resolve these cases by balancing emotion with logic. He is appropriately sympathetic while at the same time being mindful of the law governing the case. His skill is bringing parties together in extremely difficult and sensitive situations.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Began mediating and arbitrating in 1993 while still practicing law, before beginning a full-time ADR practice with JAMS in 2006
• Has served as a mediator and/or arbitrator in matters involving national interest, catastrophic injuries, as well as claims for substantial damages
• Conducted over 1,500 cases involving all aspects of personal injury torts, including brain damage, paralysis, burns, and wrongful death

Representative Matters

• Education Law
• Successfully mediated numerous claims brought against schools and school districts (ranging from primary school to university level), including allegations of dangerous condition of public property and other premises liability claims, athletic injuries, employment issues, as well as claims involving injuries occurring off school premises
• Settled cases brought against schools alleging violations of constitutional law such as freedom of expression (as to speech and clothing) and sexual discrimination (with regards to providing athletic facilities and equipment)
• Extensive experience resolving school bus accidents
• Resolved claims arising out of athletic events (football and wrestling)
• Settled sexual misconduct claims including: improper conduct of teachers with students, teacher-student parties, and sexual harassment of students by other students
• Settled claims of improper supervision of students, including one claim brought by teenage student who lost an arm in a school sponsored and supervised tug-of-war contest
• Successfully mediated Title IX disputes in claims brought by student athletes and coaches
• Resolved a matter against a school for failure to train a physical education teacher on the proper use of a defibrillator to resuscitate a student that collapsed who sustained brain damage as a result of the incident; included claims against the manufacturer of the defibrillator for product liability
• Settled employment disputes involving allegations of discrimination (disability), sexual harassment, and breach of contract
• Successfully mediated numerous claims arising out of catastrophic injuries brought against school districts, including allegations of dangerous condition of public property and also several claims involving injuries occurring off school premises
• Employment Law
• Employee/Independent Contractor
• Arbitrated and mediated cases where the issues involved centered around a determination of whether plaintiff or claimant was an employee or Independent contractor under the law of the 2018 California Supreme Court Case of Dynamex Operations and California Assembly Bill 5 that became effective in January 2020
• Examples of such case handled include the claims of ride share drivers affiliated with national companies, exotic dancers affiliated with gentlemen clubs, drivers offering delivery services and those occupations involved in so called “gig jobs”
• The above claims often involve wage & hour disputes, tip disputes related to minimum wage and benefit disputes.
• Harassment
• Multiple sexual harassment claims involving female to male, male to female, and same sex harassment 
• Successfully mediated and arbitrated claims of sexual harassment including claims brought by same-sex litigants; jail employees against supervisors; and racial discrimination and wrongful termination claims brought by minority employees against a public entity
• Miscellaneous Employer/Employee Litigation
• Numerous disputes with claims brought under whistle blower statutes
• Multiple claims brought against private and public school districts arising out of catastrophic injuries occurring after school hours and on highways, issues of termination, and respondent superior cases involving improper teacher conduct with students
• Mediated claims brought by Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses including claims involving non-competition and trade secret cases and claims brought involving financial institutions as well as national accounting firms
• Unpaid Wages/Benefits
• Mediated employment disputes over entitlement to severance packages
• Mediated claims of wages not paid
• Mediated claims based on allegations of violations of California Equal Pay Act involving a variety of types of employers including international and Fortune 500 companies as well as small businesses
• Wage and Hour 
• Arbitrated wage and hour claims brought under the Private Attorney General Act PAGA 
• Arbitrated wage and hour complaints involving transportation company 
• Arbitrated wage and hour claims brought forward against behavioral health center
• Wrongful Termination
• Handled case involving alleged employer retaliation claims 
• Successfully mediated multiple wrongful termination cases
• Mediated wrongful termination claims brought by minority employees against public entities
• Dispute involving defamation claims brought by employees against employers and resolved claims regarding wrongful or constructive termination
• Dispute with claims based on allegations of discrimination including gender, ethnic, and disability claims
• Dispute with claims of wrongful termination based on discrimination and retaliation for conduct or whistle blowing
• Settled numerous discrimination claims based on gender, age, and disability
• Governmental & Public Agency
• Provided ADR services involving multiple claims against public utilities including resolution of claims from catastrophic burns, damages resulting from black-outs, general claims against public agencies from dangerous conditions
• Experienced litigator, mediator, and arbitrator with governmental entities under the California Tort Act, including allegations of dangerous conditions on public property (streets, highways, and guardrails) resulting both from design and/or maintenance defects
• Successfully concluded claims of violations of civil rights, wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and/or unlawful imprisonment made against governmental entities
• Experience with claims brought against a public entity for actions by an off-duty law enforcement officer who, in the guise of making a traffic stop, assaulted a private individual
• Extensive experience resolving cases related to injuries sustained in school bus accidents
• Resolved claims arising out of athletic events (football and wrestling)
• Successfully mediated highway design cases involving allegations of improper design, improper and inadequate signage, faulty guardrails, and flooding
• Mediated to resolution multiple civil rights cases involving allegations of false arrest,
• Settled numerous sexual misconduct and harassment claims involving educational institutions, including: improper conduct of teachers with students, teacher-student parties, and sexual harassment of students by other students
• Mediated cases involving public utilities and allegations of various public utilities codes
• Settled multiple Title IX Cases
• Settled claims of improper supervision of students, including one claim brought by teenage student who lost an arm in a school sponsored and supervised tug-of-war contest
• Settled employment disputes involving educational institutions involving allegations of discrimination (disability), sexual harassment, and breach of contract
• Successfully mediated numerous claims arising out of catastrophic injuries brought against school districts, including allegations of dangerous condition of public property and also several claims involving injuries occurring off school premises
• Successfully mediated numerous cases involving allegations of dangerous conditions of public property resulting in catastrophic personal injury such as brain damage, paralysis and death
• Health Care
• Managed Health Care Disputes
  • Resolved insurance liability disputes for out-of-network services and charges
  • Resolved billing and bill coding disputes
  • Resolved several managed health care disputes including those involving compensation and valuation disputes, privilege disputes between hospital and physician, as well as conflicts between physicians and nursing staff
  • Compensation and valuation dispute among members of urology practice
  • Handled cases involving billing and bill coding issues
• Medical Product Liability
  • Failure to timely resuscitate blamed on faulty defibrillator 
  • Failed orthopedic results blamed on faulty medical device
• Health Care Employment
  • Health care employment disputes
  • Medical employment claims based on gender discrimination and harassment, race discrimination and age discrimination, and failure to accommodate employees with disabilities
  • Claims based on retaliation
• Elder Abuse
  
  • Claims against skilled nursing facilities, rehab centers and hospitals with issues of application of micra v enhanced remedies for neglect under Elder Abuse Act
  • Claims involving issues of nutrition, hygiene and failure to monitor leading to bed sores
• Personal Injury
• Conducted over 1,500 cases involving all aspects of personal injury torts, including claims of catastrophic injuries, brain damage, paralysis, burns, and wrongful death
• Matter alleging breach of mall security standards by the mother of a young boy who was shot and rendered a paraplegic; case settled for several million dollars
• Successfully resolved a case involving allegations of hypoxic brain damage caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from equipment furnished by a national rental firm
• Successfully resolved claims against national manufacturers for death, brain damage, and catastrophic burns
• Settled matter alleging negligence in use of pesticides resulting in the die off of bees rented to pollinate crops
• Numerous mediations and arbitrations of elder care disputes involving allegations of negligent care, issues of nutrition and hygiene, failure to monitor, malpractice for failure to follow a doctor’s orders, and wrongful death
• Successfully mediated death case post-verdict which had resulted in a $10 million judgment with petition pending before the California Supreme Court
• Resolved several cases involving premises liability and bodily injuries sustained at big-box general merchandise stores, supermarkets, and rehabilitation facilities
• Handled matters involving public entity liability
• Handled matters involving
• Product Liability
• Cases involving claims of manufacturing and design defects of automobiles including gas tanks, tires, and roof construction. Successfully resolved claims against national manufacturers for death, brain damage, and catastrophic burns
• Cases involving hulling equipment, recreational vehicles and medical devices
• Case involving allegations of hypoxic brain damage caused by carbon monoxide poisoning from equipment furnished by a national rental firm Public Entities
• Claims brought against public school districts arising out of catastrophic injuries occurring both during and after school hours, on and off grounds: including matters involving supervision, playground and athletic equipment, diving accidents, athletic injuries, harassment, claims involving disabled students, and claims of failure to protect students from bullying activities
• Cases involving termination and respondent superior cases involving improper teacher conduct with students
• Numerous claim involving road design, traffic signals and signage and claims of dangerous conditions of public property
• Professional Liability
• Medical/Dental Malpractice
• Resolved a medical malpractice matter involving the prolonged labor and failure to intubate a baby that was born with extreme cognitive, physical, and sensory impairments due to the mother’s methamphetamine usage; global resolution of claims for over $2 million dollars
• Successfully resolved medical cases involving claims for failure to diagnose cancer, eyesight loss, emergency room issues, surgical injuries, improper radiation of pregnant patient, and psychiatric negligence
• Matters involving allegations of improper surgery, failure to diagnose, improper medication and claims against nurses, as well as hospitals and doctors
• Cases involving catastrophic birth defects
• Settled a medical malpractice claim in which a one year-old child was put in restraints after a surgical procedure which resulted in scars on the face
• Successfully mediated matter in which a dermatologist performed a face-lift surgery without proper qualifications in his office leaving the patient scarred; settled for high six figure sum paid entirely by the uninsured doctor
• Cases involving objects left in patients after surgical procedures
• Claims of failure to diagnose cancer
• Claims of wrongful death arising out of surgery
• Claim arising out of the death of a psychiatric patient hospitalized with mental problems who died after jumping out of a hospital window
• Mediated and settled dental professional liability claims
• Claims related to physical therapist causing severe burns to paralyzed patient
• Claims related to viscerated cornea resulting in blindness in eye after cataract surgery
• Appointed neutral arbitrator of cases involving allegations of medical negligence
• Lack of consent cases
• Handled cases involving allegations of eldercare abuse
• Legal Malpractice
• Resolved case of alleged legal malpractice which included issues related to the transfer of land without access to a well
• Resolved cases involving allegations of legal negligence which almost always included evaluating issues of causation and merits of the underlying case (some of which included personal injury, product liability, estate planning, dissolution and trial tactics cases)
• Several claims based on claims of attorneys’ actionable negligence and issues of duty, breach of contract and causation and damages
• Claims related to statutes of limitations
• Claims related to failure to properly appeal
• Cases with allegations of negligent handling of criminal case
• Cases with allegations of conflict of interest
• Cases involving legal malpractice related to dissolution, tax representation and estate planning

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

• Recognized with AV Preeminent Status as a Top Rated Lawyer for over 30 years, Martindale-Hubbell
• Member, Stanislaus County Bar Association, 1965-present
• Northern California Super Lawyer, Alternative Dispute Resolution category, San Francisco Magazine, 2006-2012
• Fellow, American College of Trial Attorneys, 1997-2012
• Named Plaintiff Personal Injury Super Lawyer by San Francisco Magazine, 2005
• Member, Board of Directors of Association of Defense Counsel for Northern California, 1985-1994
• Member with rank, Advocate of American Board of Trial Attorneys, 1978-2011
• President, San Joaquin Chapter, ABOTA, 1978
• Member, National Board, ABOTA, 1980 2982
• Admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of The United States; and the California State Supreme Court and the United States District Court, Eastern District of California
• Invited as guest speaker at 2010 Employment Law Seminar sponsored by Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California and Nevada
• Invited as guest speaker at 2009 San Diego meeting of California School District Attorneys
• Author of numerous legal articles including “Warning of Dangers of Cyber Bullying in a School Setting” and “Proper System Can Alleviate Damages Associated with Title IX Violations”

ADR Profiles

• "Humble Roots," Daily Journal, ADR Profile, October 20, 2017

Background and Education

• Mediation and Arbitration Training, JAMS Institute, 2006
• Shareholder/Mediator/Arbitrator, Curtis & Arata, 1999-2006
• Trimbur, Davis & Clark / Davis, Echols & Boyd
• Cardozo, Trimbur & Nickerson
• J.D., University of California, Hastings School of Law
• B.S., University of Arizona