Introduction
After serving on the Sacramento Superior Court bench for 18 years, In 2020, Judge Abbott retired and is available to serve as a Mediator, Arbitrator, and Private Judge. During his tenure on the bench, he presided over civil and criminal jury trials, civil case management calendars, complex civil cases, and law and motion. Judge Abbott has earned a reputation as a fair, intelligent, and flexible judge and was awarded Judge of the Year by several organizations.
Before his judicial career, he was a trial attorney for over 25 years in a tort litigation practice emphasizing product liability, professional negligence, general personal injury, and insurance bad faith. He was known as a respectful adversary trying dozens of cases and was admitted into the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) where he is still an active member.
Judge Abbott stated, “My goal as a professional neutral is to assist the parties to achieve settlement and resolve disputes with dignity, creativity, and respect. Judges don’t settle cases, lawyers and litigants do.”
Practice Areas
Experience Summary
Judge Abbott has been involved in a wide variety of cases as a trial lawyer for 28 years and a trial judge for 18 years.
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Hobbies & Interests
Judge Abbott has been a Rotarian for 30 years and is an advocate for literacy in public schools and serves on the advisory board of the Sacramento Chapter of Reading Partners a nonprofit that tutors children in reading and spelling. He also enjoys playing golf, bicycle riding, reading, traveling and crossword puzzles.
Experience Summary
BREACH OF CONTRACT
• Breach of contract involving a construction of a power facility
• Breach of contract involving software development companies
• Breach of a Health services contract for indigent care reimbursement
• Removal of general partner of a law firm
• Law partnership dissolution
• Stock re-purchase agreement; indemnity
• Breach of franchise agreement involving a motor vehicle company
• Breach of an Entertainment contract which resulted in payment of royalties
• Public construction contract, sewer system
• Insurance brokerage agreement with alleged fraud
EMPLOYMENT
• Constructive wrongful termination, defamation, retaliation
• Wrongful termination, retaliation, harassment
• Racial discrimination, retaliation
• Failure to provide reasonable accommodation, retaliation
• Whistleblower, retaliation, wrongful termination
• Wage and hour dispute, complex case
HEALTHCARE
• Pricing dispute for medically uninsured patients
• A complex case involving Indigent medical care reimbursement
• Invasion of privacy, disclosure of HIV status
MALICIOUS PROSECUTION
• Malicious prosecution arising from enforcement of waste disposal contract
• Malicious prosecution and predatory eviction, abuse of process
• First amendment rights, malicious prosecution
MOTOR VEHICLE
• DUI, wrongful death
• Lumbar spinal injury, surgical instrumentation, cage fusion
• Cervical spinal injury, disk excision with instrumentation
• Low impact, cervical spinal injury with disk excision
• Negligent maintenance and repair, traumatic brain injury
• Negligence by interstate carrier causing catastrophic injury; vicarious liability
PROFESSIONAL NEGLIGENCE
• Legal malpractice and fraud resulting from non-compliance with California Tort Claims Act
• Legal malpractice pertaining to creation of a conservatorship
• Legal malpractice, involving enforcement of judgment
• Medical malpractice, obstetrics care resulting in post-partum injury
• Medical malpractice, diagnosis and treatment of atroke
• Medical malpractice, diagnosis and treatment of pre-eclampsia
• Medical malpractice, management of psychiatric care
• Medical malpractice, failure to diagnose endometrial cancer
• Medical malpractice, failure to diagnose intervertebral disk injury
PRODUCTS LIABILITY
• Automobile, uncontrolled acceleration, wrongful death
• Automobile, defective tire, rollover, wrongful death
• Automobile, Lemon Law
• Construction heater, resulting in burns
• Defective passenger restraint which resulted wrongful death and settled with a structured settlement
PUBLIC ENTITY LIABILITY
• Police pursuit which resulted in a traumatic brain injury
• Dangerous condition of public property, highway design resulting in a catastrophic injury
• Negligent operation of emergency vehicle and resulted in a wrongful death
• Dangerous condition of public property, premises liability
• Dangerous condition of public property, pedestrian crossing resulting in a traumatic brain injury
REAL PROPERTY
• Electric signage, commercial lease
• HOA dispute, ownership of common area
• HOA, home improvement and maintenance