Hon. Stephen Kaus (Ret.) brings over 50 years of legal experience to his JAMS practice, including 12 years as a judge on the Alameda Superior Court. He managed a direct calendar department with 600 to 800 cases, overseeing complex multiparty and two-party disputes while conducting numerous trials and settlement conferences.

Before his judicial career, Judge Kaus served as a deputy public defender in Contra Costa County, transitioning to civil litigation in 1980. He represented professionals, including engineers, attorneys and judges, handling construction, insurance and commercial disputes, representing both plaintiffs and defendants in multiple complex cases.

In 1990, Judge Kaus joined a midsize San Francisco law firm, where he represented media, cable TV and telecom clients in employment, contract and franchising disputes. He chaired the litigation department, served on the Executive Committee and handled construction cases involving major public buildings such as concert halls and hospitals. He also served on the First District Court of Appeal mediation panel.

A dedicated leader in the Bar Association of San Francisco (BASF), Judge Kaus served on its board of directors and received its Award of Merit along with a special award from the San Francisco Public Defender for his work as chair of its Special Committee on Conflicts Counsel in 1995.

Representative Matters

• Antitrust & Competition
• Presided over case alleging that collusive generic drug settlement violated Cartwright Act and analogous statutes in all states by banning others from the market, including deciding demurrer to statutory allegations in 50 states; decided pretrial dispositive motion on effect of settlement with primary purchasers on ability of secondary purchasers to recover; Humana Inc. v. Bausch Health Companies Inc. (2023) 2023 WL 4552005
• Banking
• Presided over numerous actions involving banks, including foreclosure and fraud cases in wake of 2008 financial crisis
• As an attorney, counsel in the Lincoln Savings civil fraud case in Arizona federal court; included disputes with directors and officers insurer
• As an attorney, litigated cases involving bank service charges and handling of dormant accounts; Perdue v. Crocker Nat. Bank (1983) 141 Cal.App.3d 200 (unconscionability of bank service charge); Bank of America v. Cory (1985) 164 Cal.App.3d 66 (failure of controller to enforce Unclaimed Property Act)
• As an attorney, led team that successfully foreclosed on collateral for loan to Taiwanese furniture company, including judicial sale of national furniture retailer, through a receiver for approximately $65 million
• Bankruptcy
• As an attorney, led team that obtained ruling that United States courts were not subject to stay order from Taiwanese court; In re Master Home Furniture Company Ltd. (2001) 261 B.R. 671
• As an attorney, litigated bankruptcy judge’s sanctions against attorney for allegedly violating automatic stay
• Business Commercial
• Presided over dispute between exchange-listed life sciences companies over the validity in California of employment noncompete clauses signed elsewhere, including deciding jurisdictional dispute
• Presided over $40 million-plus compensation dispute between terminated subsidiary CEO and NASDAQ-listed public corporation
• Heard and decided court trial over dissolution of corporate dental practice
• Heard and decided court trial over alleged fraud by developer that induced investor to commit millions of dollars
• Presided over litigation between founder and substantial privately held construction system designer and fabricator involving compensation and competition issues
• Heard and decided numerous motions concerning entitlement to and amount of attorneys’ fees
• As an attorney, litigated multiple substantial law partnership disputes, including JAMS arbitration over substantial asbestos and product liability practice
• Civil Rights
• As an attorney, handled dispute over church governance involving factual issues as well as jurisdiction of civil courts over activities of religious corporations; Singh v. Singh (2004) 114 Cal.App.4th 1264 

Anti-SLAPP Motions 

• Heard and decided multiple anti-SLAPP special motions to strike challenging complaints, including:
  • Student disciplined in high school sued former classmates, alleging that they wrote letters and posted them online, intentionally harming his reputation and college prospects; Doe v. Ledor (2023) 97 Cal.App.5th 731 (affirmed)
  • Comedy club patron sued over offensive and allegedly homophobic remarks by entertainer
  • Doctor’s cross-complaint when sued by his partners
  • As an attorney, litigated anti-SLAPP motion in Oregon federal court to defamation, etc., complaint brought by “enlightenment” provider against publisher of negative information; Higher Balance, LLC v. Quantum Future Group, Inc. et al. (2008 D. Oregon) 2008 WL 5281487; 37 Media L. Rep. 1181
• Class Action & Mass Tort
• Presided over numerous class action matters involving discovery issues, class certification, notice, settlement approval and attorneys’ fees, including:
  • Class of borrowers sued mortgage brokerage alleging that brokers were rewarded for providing loans with higher interest rate than other loans for which class members were qualified
  • Occupants of private student housing sued lessor corporation alleging unfair practices during closure of university during pandemic
  • Numerous wage and hour class actions
• Construction Defect

• Presided over multiple cases alleging defects in both individual homes and multiple homes in housing developments, including motions, discovery issues and staging the litigation for resolution
• As an attorney, representation of design professionals, principally engineers, including a sizeable international engineering firm, in multiple construction defect matters involving large public structures, such as hospitals, university buildings, performing arts centers and sports stadiums; participation in litigation, arbitration at JAMS and multiparty mediations
• As an attorney, successful representation of geotechnical engineer in litigation brought by numerous Foster City homeowners involving alleged foundation cracking and adequacy of builder’s proposed repair
• As an attorney, representation of landowners and homeowners in multiple disputes with contractors, adjoining property owners, governmental entities and insurers over earth movement and water damage
• Employment Law
• Presided over many employment-related matters, including wage and hour, wrongful termination and discrimination
• Handled pretrial matters, including dispositive motions, and jury trial in whistleblower case alleging employee was terminated in retaliation for identifying and reporting serious safety issues with medical implant product their employer was developing
• Handled numerous Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) cases from filing to resolution, including arbitrability, application of United States Supreme Court and California Supreme Court decisions, discovery issues, summary judgment and settlement approval
• Presided over jury trial in which longtime scouts alleged age discrimination by NFL football team in their termination
• Presided over jury trial alleging that termination of nurse by hospital was age discrimination
• Presided over matter in which plaintiff alleged that his termination as morgue attendant by hospital was racial discrimination and a violation of the employer’s duty to engage in an interactive process under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA)
• Presided over disability discrimination and retaliation case brought by employee of fire district, including multiple dispositive motions and in limine motions, leading to settlement; applied Fireman’s Bill of Rights and civil service protections
• Environmental Law
• Heard and decided jurisdictional issues under Public Resources Code section 25531 in dispute over thermal powerplant siting decision by California Energy Commission; Communities for a Better Environment v. Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (2020) 57 Cal.App.5th 786 (affirmed)
• Presided over numerous cases under California Proposition 65 (Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986), including motions, discovery disputes and resolution
• Governmental & Public Agency
• As an attorney, represented daily newspaper and television stations on access and Brown Act issues
• Presided over numerous cases brought by and against governmental entities, including claim requirements, discovery and liability
• Presided over California attorney general and Los Angeles district attorney’s suit against leading vape manufacturer alleging marketing to juveniles; heard and decided dispositive motions and substantial discovery disputes prior to resolution as part of $462 million multistate settlement
• Heard and decided substantial taxpayer writ petition alleging improper contracting by city police commission and failure of Mayor’s Office to comply with Public Records Law
• Presided over suit brought by county elected official who alleged that she had been provided an inadequate and conflicted defense by the county in highly publicized tort trial
• Presided over multiple suits involving permitting issues or code violations
• Presided over attorneys’ fees issues in reversal of Employment Development Department’s (EDD) decision in unemployment law claim; Land v. Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board (2023) 97 Cal.App.5th 286 (affirmed)
• As attorney, handled suit by registered sex offender alleging map issued by police department infringed his privacy on behalf of municipality
• As attorney, handled multiple disputes with franchising authorities in state and federal courts involving major cable company
• As attorney, successfully litigated case in Alameda County Superior Court to change ballot description of local proposition
• Health Care
• Presided over pretrial motions and decided seven-week court trial in qui tam case brought by doctor and patient alleging substantial hospital overcharges by major hospital system over multiple years for anesthesia and surgical recovery
• Presided over pretrial motions and multimillion-dollar jury trial concerning payment to which plaintiff hospitals were entitled for emergency care of members of large managed care medical plan under the Knox-Keane Act
• Insurance
• Presided over first- and third-party insurance coverage disputes
• As a judge, heard and decided whether insurer had done an adequate investigation in serious injury case where denial was based on employee exclusion
• Presided over matter concerning an insured’s right to independent counsel because of a conflict of interest with insurer
• As an attorney, handled numerous matters involving litigation of coverage disputes and bad faith allegations, particularly first-party coverage for earth movement and water damage
• Personal Injury
• Presided over multiple personal injury matters, including pretrial motions, discovery disputes and jury trials; issues included liability, damages, appropriate Howell charges and medical liens
• Managed a portion of court’s asbestos caseload, including discovery disputes, dispositive motions, general case management, settlement and jury trials; subjects of jury trials included exposure to dust from factory employment, brake repair, pipe cutting, work on ships and talcum powder, as well as secondhand exposure issues
• As an attorney, represented daily newspaper and television stations on defamation issues
• Professional Liability

• Presided over multiple suits alleging medical or legal malpractice
• As an attorney, successfully litigated legal malpractice matter in San Francisco jury trial
• Real Property
• Presided over cases asserting various property law issues, such as quiet title, property line location, easements and damage from water flow, involving private parties and governmental entities
• Presided over multiple cases, including court trials, involving HOA disputes with homeowners regarding maintenance, payment of dues and other breaches of CCRs
• Presided over multiple matters involving misrepresentations in real estate sales, entitlement to real estate commissions and other real estate contractual issues
• Supervised unlawful detainer actions in two different courthouses, including law and motion, settlement, court trials and jury trials
• Heard and decided court trial involving alleged breach of commercial lease and cross-complaints alleging that building owner intentionally forced tenant out with intent to take over business
• Presided over and litigated cases involving right to a view and tree-trimming ordinances
• As an attorney, handled multimillion-dollar real estate fraud case in federal court; Hyde & Drath v. Baker (1964) 24 F.3d 1162
• Interpreted Berkeley rent control statute in relation to remodeled housing; see NCR Properties, LLC v. City of Berkeley (2023) 89 Cal.App.5th 39 (affirmed)

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Selected Awards and Honors

• Trial Judge of the Year, Alameda Contra Costa Trial Lawyers Association, 2021
• Award of Merit, Bar Association of San Francisco (for work establishing bar association-run program for appointment of counsel in public defender conflicts cases), 1995
• Clarence Gideon Award for Public Service (presented by San Francisco Public Defender Jeff Adachi for work to improve representation of indigent defendants) 

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Panelist, California Trial Evidence, Practicing Law Institute, 2013
• Co-Instructor (with James Wagstaffe), Federal Civil Procedure, University of San Francisco School of Law, 1994–1995
• Panelist, Ethics, Rutter Group, 1995
• Co-Instructor (with David C. Coleman III), Criminal Trial Practice, UC Berkeley School of Law (formerly Boalt Hall), 1980–1983
• Instructor of multiple California Continuing Education of the Bar courses, including Civil Pretrial Procedure and Law and Motion

Memberships

• Author, Continuing Education of the Bar, Prosecutorial Misconduct (annual supplement), 1978–1982
• Member, California State Bar Commission on Corrections, 1977–1980
• Member, Bar Association of San Francisco 1980–2012, 2025
  • Member, Board of Directors, 1999–2000
  • Chair, Special Committee on Conflicts Counsel, 1995–2012
  • Member, Judicial Evaluation Committee, 2000–2001
• Member, Alameda County Bar Association, 2012–2025
• Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association 2000–2025
• Admitted to bars of United States Supreme Court, California Supreme Court, Third and Ninth Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal, all four California Federal District Courts, Middle District of Pennsylvania, District of Oregon

Background and Education

• Judge, Alameda County California Superior Court, 2012–2024
  • Civil Direct Calendar Judge, 2013–2015, 2017–2024
  • Juvenile Delinquency Court, 2016–2017
  • Unlawful Detainer (law and motion and court trials), 2012–2013
  • Co-Chair, Information and Technology Committee, 2015–2024
  • Member, Rules and Forms Committee, 2014–2024
• Partner; Cooper, White & Cooper LLP; 1992–2012
• Partner; Kaus, Kerr & Wagstaffe and Law Offices of Stephen Kaus; 1980–1992
• Deputy Public Defender, Contra Costa County, 1974–1980
• J.D., UC Berkeley School of Law (formerly Boalt Hall), 1973
• B.A., cum laude, Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles, 1970
• University of Sussex; Brighton, England; 1968–1969