Hon. Janet L. Sanders (Ret.), JAMS Mediator and Arbitrator

Hon. Janet L. Sanders (Ret.) joined JAMS after over two decades of distinguished service on the Massachusetts Superior Court and six years on the Massachusetts District Court. She presided in the Business Litigation Session of the Massachusetts Superior Court for nine years, the last six as its administrative justice. Throughout her career as a jurist and as an ADR practitioner, she has consistently demonstrated exceptional skill in navigating high-stakes litigation. She is recognized within the legal community for her diligence, persistence, and innovative approaches to securing mediation settlements and for her skill in conducting arbitrations in a learned, efficient and streamlined manner.

Judge Sanders is adept at addressing the most difficult legal issues while at the same time making the parties and their counsel feel both heard and understood. Attorneys who appeared before her consider her the “gold standard,” as she understands the practical realities of business litigation and the need to resolve matters in a manner that is fair, reasonable and efficient. Armed with a vast knowledge of the law, Judge Sanders uses her intellect and compassion to focus on the issues that are essential in resolving disputes of all stripes, both large and small.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

Extensive judicial experience handling complex business and commercial disputes, including class actions, mass torts, multi-party litigation, high-profile cases like the Massachusetts opioid litigation, and a wide range of matters such as personal injury, wrongful death, employment discrimination, Massachusetts Wage Act violations, insurance, environmental regulation, professional malpractice, and corporate disputes among investors, stockholders, officers, partners, and departing employees.
Substantial arbitration and mediation experience, including cases involving federal Video Privacy Protection Act violations, predatory lending practices, commercial lease disputes, fraud/misrepresentation in business sales, breach of contract and unfair business practices, disputes over defective products or services, and conflicts between businesses and employees, such as non-compete issues and misappropriation of funds. Her mediation experience also includes claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, retaliation, and breach of contract against private and public employers; disputes over pandemic-related business losses between healthcare entities and insurers; defamation claims involving public employees; and personal injury claims such as slip and fall cases.
Served on a variety of committees, including the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Committee on Judicial Evaluations and the Superior Court Education Committee. She trained and mentored new judges and took an active interest in continuing legal education, both within the superior court and with outside organizations, presenting on topics that included employment discrimination, the Massachusetts anti-SLAPP statute, evidence, trial advocacy and noncompetition agreements.

Representative Matters

Business & Commercial

Arbitration alleging violation of federal Video Privacy Protection Act by large video streaming companies
Arbitration alleging predatory lending practices in violation of state laws against usury and unfair and deceptive business practices
Mediation of claims and counterclaims between developer of security systems and departing employee who formed competing business
Multiple mediations between corporate entities alleging the delivery of defective products or services
Mediation of dispute between company and its manager where company alleged that manager had diverted money from business for his own personal benefit
Mediation of dispute alleging fraud/misrepresentation in sale of business
Mediation of breach of contract and unfair/deceptive business practices claims between corporate entities concerning the development of a software platform to be used by one company in managing health care benefits for its corporate clients
Mediations of disputes alleging violations of commercial leases
Presided over multiple trials (jury-waived and jury) involving intracorporate and intercorporate disputes that included claims alleging breach of fiduciary duty, misrepresentation, misappropriation of trade secrets and ownership of intellectual property
Adjudicated disputes over governance and dissolution of closely held businesses
Adjudicated dispute concerning ownership of church property following a schism in a congregation
Adjudicated cases involving interpretation of complex commercial contracts, including a loan agreement between a nonprofit organization constructing low-cost housing and certain investors claiming right of first refusal
Presided over three-week jury trial of a case brought by a Massachusetts college against a national accounting firm alleging professional malpractice
Presided over hearings regarding the proposed acquisition of smaller hospitals by a large Boston health care entity and the possible impact of such a merger on health care costs for Massachusetts residents

Class Action & Mass Tort

Presided over class actions alleging violations of the Securities Act, including claims regarding the adequacy of disclosures in corporate acquisitions and mergers
Presided over class action against entities and individuals associated with Bernard Madoff
Presided over consumer class actions alleging unfair and deceptive business practices, including a claim of unfair debt collection practices
Presided over litigation brought by Massachusetts cities and towns against manufacturers and distributors of OxyContin, including a lawsuit brought by the attorney general against Purdue Pharma and its officers and directors

Employment Law

Multiple mediations of claims against both private and public employers by employees who alleged wrongful termination, gender/national origin discrimination, retaliation and breach of contract
Multiple mediations alleging violations of Massachusetts Wage Act and noncompete agreements
Presided over multiple cases, including class actions, alleging violations of the Massachusetts Wage Act
Adjudicated disputes concerning interpretation and enforcement of noncompetition agreements
Presided over multiple cases involving claims of employment discrimination

Environmental Law

Adjudication of a dispute concerning construction of biocontainment lab researching infectious diseases
Judicial review of administrative agency decisions applying state and federal environmental and land use regulations

Insurance

Mediation between large health care entity and its insurer regarding coverage of pandemic-related business losses
Presided over lawsuit brought by area restaurants against their insurers seeking to recoup business losses from COVID-19 closures
Presided over multi-party litigation regarding insurers’ coverage obligations to their insured, sued for asbestos-related injuries to workers that were sustained over decades
Adjudicated disputes concerning insurance coverage obligations for environmental cleanup costs

Personal Injury

Mediation of slip and fall claim
Mediation alleging defamation by public employee
Presided over defamation claim brought against major news outlet and community leaders who opposed construction of a mosque
Presided over three-week jury trial of wrongful death case against a crane manufacturer and the entity that leased it
Presided over multiple jury trials alleging medical malpractice, products liability and premises liability

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

Member, Boston Bar Association (BBA)
Member, American Law Institute, 2018–2025
Education Committee, Superior Court 2004–2023
Member, New Judges Training Committee, Superior Court, 2011–2023
Judicial Mentor, Trial Court Judge-to-Judge Mentor Program, 2011–2023
Member, SJC Committee on the Judiciary and the Media, 2017–2023
Member, SJC Committee on Judicial Evaluations, 2013–2019
Member, Boston Inns of Court, 2006–2025
Member, Editorial Board, Boston Bar Journal, 2006–2009
Former Member, National Association of Women Judges
Former Member, Women’s Bar Association
Former Co-Chair and Member, Section on Complex Litigation, Massachusetts Bar Association

Selected Publications

“Jury Selection in Progress: Yes, You May Enter,” Boston Bar Journal, Vol. 54 No. 3, Summer 2010
Article on Business Litigation Session, Lawyer’s Weekly, March 9, 2017
“New Standing Order: Hello, Standard Definitions; Goodbye, General Objections,” Boston Bar Journal, Vol. 53 No. 2, March/April 2009
“Judicial Evaluations: What Would John Adams Think?” Reflections of the Justices, Massachusetts Superior Court, 2009
“When Everything Slowed Down: Evaluating the Right to Speedy Trial in a Pandemic,” Boston Bar Journal, Vol. 65 No. 2, April 7, 2021

Selected Awards and Presentations

Judicial Excellence Award, Massachusetts Association of Trial Attorneys, 2010
Panelist for MCLE, BBA and MBA on topics including employment law, business litigation, anti-SLAPP statute, evidence, trial advocacy and noncompetition agreements
Annual presentations on business litigation, MCLE and BBA, 2011–2020

Teaching and Academic Work

Teaching team member in trial advocacy workshops, Harvard Law School, 1998–2005
Boston University School of Law
- Instructor in trial advocacy, 2008–2013
- Instructor in legal writing, 1989–1993
Instructor in master’s program for criminal justice, Suffolk University, 1998–1999

Background and Education

Massachusetts Superior Court, 2001–2023
- Associate Justice, Business Litigation Session, 2013–2014
- Administrative Justice, Business Litigation Session, 2014–2020
- Regional Administrative Justice, Norfolk County, 2007–2011
Massachusetts District Court, 1995–2001
- Presiding Justice, Concord District Court, 2000–2001
- Associate Justice, Waltham District Court, 1995–2000
Partner; Zalkind, Rodriguez, Lunt & Duncan; 1990–1995
Associate, Hill & Barlow, 1984–1989
Law Clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Robert Keeton, 1984
Law Clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel, 1982–1983
J.D., magna cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1982
- Board of Student Advisers
- Research Assistant to Professor Arthur Miller
Freelance Reporter; National Law Journal, Texas Monthly, UPI; 1977–1979
Reporter, Houston Chronicle, 1976–1979
B.A., Stanford University, 1976
- Phi Beta Kappa
- Honors in comparative literature