JAMS Founder
Hon. H. Warren Knight (Ret.), the Founder of JAMS, passed away on November 15, 2012. From its small start in Santa Ana, California in 1979, JAMS has grown to 26 offices in the United States, London and Toronto, with affiliates in Italy, The Netherlands and Ireland.
After his retirement in 1999, Judge Knight remained active on the Board and involved in the leadership of the company, especially when it came to important efforts such as the JAMS Foundation In 2009, the Foundation established the first Warren Knight Award, which was presented to the Bronx-based organization Effective Alternative in Reconciliation Services (EARS), along with a $25,000 grant, in recognition of the organization’s creative use of ADR to benefit the community.
Judge Knight was most proud of creating the JAMS Foundation, the largest provider of grants to nonprofits in the dispute resolution field, and the JAMS Society, in which JAMS associates perform thousands of hours of pro bono activity each year for numerous causes. He was the recipient of many awards, including the D’Alemberte-Raven Award from the ABA, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and the Founders Award from the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel.
Judge Knight’s distinguished judicial career included six years of service with the Orange County Superior Court and two years with the Orange County Municipal Court, South Judicial District. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was in private practice with Portigal & Knight in Orange County for 12 years.
ADR Experience
- Heard thousands of settlement conferences and developed an expertise in personal injury, medical malpractice, disability retirement, hospital staff hearings, dissolutions and complex civil litigation.
- While on the Civil Jury Trial Panel, Judge Knight worked with three other judges to create Settlement Conference Week. He helped draft the rules and participated in that program for two years.
- Law experience primarily consisted of a general insurance defense practice, with specialization in personal injury and insurance coverage issues.
- Lectured extensively on ADR in the United States and Europe, traveled to China with the "People to People" delegation, published numerous articles and books on the subject, and written arbitration rules and clauses for use by businesses, insurance companies, and attorneys.
- Appeared on "ABC Business News" and other network news broadcasts, and has been written about in the Wall Street Journal and other national print media and by many publications specific to the legal community.
- "Founders' Award," the Association of Media & Entertainment Counsel (AMEC), 2011
- "D'Alemberte-Raven Award" for outstanding service in dispute resolution, American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Dispute Resolution, 2010
- "Lifetime Achievement Award," American College of Civil Trial Mediators (ACCTM), 1997
- "Trial Judge of the Year," Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, 1974 and 1978
- Member, California Judges Association, 1971 to 2012
- Honorary S.J.D., University of Virginia, Charlottesville, 1971
- Former member, American, Virginia, West Virginia, and Orange County Bar Associations; Association of Southern California Defense Counsel; American Board of Trial Advocates
- Chairman of the Board of Directors, JAMS, 1979-1999
- Judge, Orange County Superior Court, 1973-1979
- Judge, Orange County, Municipal Court, South Judicial District, 1971-1973
- Private practice, Portigal & Knight, Orange County, 1959-1971
- U.S. Marine Corps, 1955-1959
- LL.B., University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, 1955
- B.A., University of Virginia , Charlottesville, 1952
Hon. H. Warren Knight (Ret.)
JAMS Founder
1929-2012
Hon. H. Warren Knight, retired Orange County, CA Superior Court Judge and founder of JAMS, The Resolution Experts, passed away on Thursday, November 15, 2012 in Newport Beach, CA from complications from COPD. He was 83 years old.
Warren Knight was born in Charleston, West Virginia on October 16, 1929. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1952 and University of Virginia School of Law in 1955. He joined the Marine Corps in 1955 and was stationed in California until his discharge four years later. He practiced law in Orange County until he was appointed to the Orange County Municipal Court, where he served from 1971-1973. He served on the Orange County Superior Court from 1973-1979 and was named Trial Judge of the Year by the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association in 1974 and 1978. In recent years, he was the recipient of numerous other awards from the legal community, including the D’Alemberte-Raven Award from the American Bar Association, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Civil Trial Mediators and the Founders Award from the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel.
Judge Knight’s experience in the courtroom, where civil cases could take as long as five years to get to trial, inspired him to leave the security of a judgeship in 1979 and open a one-man mediation practice in Santa Ana, CA. Thus was the beginning of the first JAMS office and Judge Knight’s extraordinary contributions to the field of alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
At that time, arbitration and mediation were rarely chosen voluntarily by attorneys, but Judge Knight believed he could convince them to embrace private dispute resolution as a quicker and more efficient process. Changing the legal culture was an uphill battle, but Judge Knight, encouraged by his wife Carolyn and his friend and then Appellate Court Justice Jack Trotter, was not deterred. His reputation as a fair and thoughtful judge, coupled with his warmth and unbridled enthusiasm for ADR, soon brought lawyers to the mediation table. As business increased, fellow judges and attorneys joined JAMS as mediators and arbitrators in locations throughout California. Thirty years later, JAMS has grown to be the world’s largest private ADR provider with hearing locations across the globe.
“Judge Knight was a visionary,” said JAMS neutral Justice Trotter. “He saw a better way for lawyers to do business and he never stopped believing it.” Indeed, Judge Knight will be remembered by his friends and colleagues as a down-to-earth mentor who was incredibly generous with his time, a teacher who never missed an opportunity to learn something new himself. Judge Knight possessed the ideal disposition for a mediator: a comforting presence, superior listening skills, a sharply honed sense of justice, and an infectious sense of humor. His lifelong commitment to conflict resolution has inspired new generations of lawyers to view ADR as both essential and commonplace. Judge Knight’s legacy lives on in two of his proudest achievements: the JAMS Foundation, which provides grants to nonprofits in the dispute resolution field; and the JAMS Society, in which JAMS associates perform thousands of hours of pro bono activity each year for numerous causes.
Judge Knight’s family and loved ones would agree that he lived life to its fullest. He spent 10 years of his “semi-retirement” in Sun Valley, ID, where he enjoyed fly fishing, hiking and making new friends. He was passionate about travel and loved planning new adventures for him and Carolyn. More recently, he lived in California, where he worked on his family genealogy for many years and had just completed a book for his children. He also became a mentor in the Newport/Mesa ProLiteracy Program at the Newport Beach Public Library, where he mentored two students.
Judge Knight is survived by his wife, Carolyn and his five children and eight grandchildren: son Andrew Knight, his wife Meg and their children, Ben and Becky; daughter Betsy Scuderi, her husband Mike, and their children, Joseph and Michael; daughter Ellen Gordon and her children, Katie and Garrett; son John Knight; and daughter Kimberly Deck, her husband Jim and their children Siena and Julian.
