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General Biography
Practice Areas
Business/Commercial
Employment Law
Family Law
Insurance
Intellectual Property
Personal Injury
Professional Liability
Real Property
Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities
Background and Education
Hon. William J. Elfving (Ret.) comes to JAMS following a 20-year judicial career on the Santa Clara County Superior Court and 30 years in private law practice.
As a judge, he served in the civil division for 17 years and in the family division for three years. His responsibilities included case management calendars, law and motion, ex parte matters, ADR calendars, judicial custody conferences, settlement conferences and trials.
In private practice, Judge Elfving practiced civil and family law. He tried cases in diverse areas, including legal malpractice, malicious prosecution, real estate, broker errors and omissions, personal injury, contracts, business and family matters.
ADR Experience and Qualifications
Settled hundreds of cases as a settlement judge, supervised thousands of temporary judge settlement conferences and managed thousands of cases by guiding them into mediation, early neutral evaluation and arbitration
Supervised the implementation of the multi-door courthouse alternative dispute resolution program and served as Chair of the Santa Clara County Superior Court Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee
Trained in mediation by California Center for Judicial Education and Research in conjunction with the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine School of Law
Served as a mediator and arbitrator in private practice
Experience with unfair competition disputes and B & P Code Section 17200 cases
Handled cases involving fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, receivers and injunctive relief, shareholder derivative actions, franchise litigation and charitable and religious organization disputes
Employment Law
Handled and presided over cases involving breach of contract, wrongful termination, whistleblowing, hostile work environment, failure to promote and non-competition agreements
Presided over wage and hour claims, including class actions and PAGA claims
Experience with cases involving sexual harassment and racial, gender, national origin and age discrimination
Heard cases regarding failure to accommodate, ADA and retaliation claims
Family Law
Presided over a department in the family division of the Santa Clara County Superior Court for three years
Heard matters involving child custody and visitation, child and spousal support, valuation and classification of assets and liabilities, division of property and debts, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, fraud and breach of fiduciary duty and attorney’s fees
Handled trust and estate litigation, including undue influence and lack of capacity disputes
Insurance
Presided over insurance cases, including issues of coverage, excess policies, claims handling and bad faith
Intellectual Property
Experience with matters involving theft of trade secrets, licensing agreements, fraud, breach of contracts and violations of confidential non-disclosure agreements
Personal Injury
Handled serious personal injury cases, including defamation, false arrest and imprisonment, wrongful death, elder abuse, sexual abuse, product liability and toxic torts
Heard cases regarding automobile, light rail, motorcycle and tractor-trailer accidents
Experience with Government Tort Claims Act, Gov. Code Sec. 900, et seq.
Professional Liability
Experience with standard of care litigation involving physicians, hospitals, dentists, chiropractors, nursing homes, lawyers and accountants
Real Property
Heard matters involving breach of contract, fraud and failure to disclose, lease disputes, easement and property line disputes, broker errors and omissions, trespass and nuisance, foreclosure, eminent domain, construction defects and covenants, conditions and restrictions
Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities
Completed Virtual ADR training conducted by the JAMS Institute, the training arm of JAMS.
Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, 2018- Present
"Lifetime Achievement Award," Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, 2018
John D. Foley Trial Judge of the Year, Santa Clara County Trial Lawyers Association, 2005
Executive Committee, Santa Clara County Superior Court, 2002 and 2004
Civil Division Supervisor, Santa Clara County Superior Court, 2001 and 2003
Appellate Department, Santa Clara County Superior Court, 2000
Consultant to the California Judges Benchbooks (CJER) on Civil Proceeding: Before Trial, Discovery, Trial, After Trial
Member, California Judges Association, 1998–present
Listed in Best Lawyers in America, 1995–1997
Associate, American Board of Trial Advocates, 1992–present
Fellow, American College of Trial Lawyers, 1990–present
Certified family law specialist
Director, Santa Clara County Legal Aid Society, 1975–1978
Chairman of Board of Directors, 1978
Trustee, Santa Clara County Bar Association, 1973–1976
Member, Santa Clara County Bar Association, 1967–Present
Background and Education
Judge, Santa Clara Superior Court, 1997–2017
Shareholder, Hoge, Fenton, Jones & Appel, Inc., 1967–1997
Captain, U.S. Army, active duty, 1965–1967
J.D., UCLA School of Law, 1965
B.A., Stanford University, 1962
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160 W. Santa Clara St., Suite 1600, San Jose, 95113 CA
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