JOHN KENNEDY

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Current Position:  Arbitrator and Mediator based in Salt Lake City, Utah.

                            (Immediate past position: state district court judge)

Education and Professional Qualifications:

• A.B., Harvard University (cum laude)
• J.D., Stanford University School of Law (Law Review Board of Editors)
• Admitted: United States Supreme Court; District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals; Seventh, Ninth, and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeals; Illinois Supreme Court; Utah Supreme Court; District Courts of Utah and Northern District of Illinois, and pro hac vice in several additional Federal District Courts;  also admitted in various Tribal Courts
• Av rated since 1978
• Pepperdine University Straus Institute (“Mediating the Litigated Case”) 2012. (The Straus Institute has been ranked number one nationally in dispute resolution training since 2004)
• Utah State Court ADR Program; included on the Court’s ADR provider roster.
• National Judicial College (“Dispute Resolution Skills”)
• Advanced ADR Training, CDRS Dispute Resolution Training Institute
• Dispute Review Board Training, CDRS Dispute Resolution Training Institute

Work History:

• Private arbitrator and mediator
• Utah State District Court Judge (Third District)
• Partner and officer in the law firms of: Boyden & Kennedy, Nielson & Senior, and Edwards, McCoy & Kennedy; and Of Counsel with Durham, Jones & Pinegar  (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Associate Attorney with Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson (Chicago, Illinois)

ADR Experience:

While serving on the bench of the Third District Court, Judge Kennedy was asked by other Judges to mediate difficult and complex pending cases. Over the years, as a lawyer and as a Judge, he developed extensive experience in hearing and settling cases in a wide variety of fields including construction, contracts, professional malpractice, real estate, employment, insurance coverage and bad faith claims, business disputes, and property boundary conflicts.  He has successfully arbitrated scores of cases.

Professional Affiliations

• Member American Bar Association, Judicial and Dispute Resolution Sections
• Member Utah State Bar Association (Litigation and ADR Sections) and Salt Lake County Bar Association
• Member of the Utah Council on Conflict Resolution
• Fellow of the Advanced Science and Technology Adjudication Resource Center (“ASTAR”)
• Master of the Bench, Aldon Anderson Chapter, American Inns of Court

Kennedy’s Presentations

• "Ethics and Civility in Mediation." Utah Bar CLE presentation, May 2015.
• "It’s More than Just Money—Communicating through Offers and Counters.” Utah State Court Mediators’ Training Program, November 2014.
• “Mediating in Utah’s District Courts—How Judges Can Help.” Joint presentation with Hon. Anthony Quinn, Utah District Court Judges Annual Conference, May 2011.