With a combined 25 years of experience on the bench, Judge Casserly has presided over hundreds of civil trials and managed more than 1,000 matters. Appointed to the San Diego County bench in 1996, he oversaw criminal jury trials before becoming a criminal supervising judge, assigning cases for trial and settling hundreds of matters each month. In 2004, Judge Casserly was reassigned to the San Diego Superior Court Trial Department, handling civil trials and conducting weekly civil settlement conferences.
From 2010 until his retirement, he served on the Civil Independent Calendar Department, managing a high caseload, and conducting over 300 judicial settlement conferences nationwide. During his time on the bench, Judge Casserly served on the Center for Judicial Education and Research’s New Judge Orientation Faculty, helping new judges adjust to their roles and responsibilities. Prior to the bench, Judge Casserly also spent a combined 15 years as a deputy district attorney for Sacramento and San Diego counties.
Recognized by his peers for his dedication to the legal community and the hundreds of successful settlement conferences he conducted while on the bench, Judge Casserly received the 'Judge Moon Award' from the North County Bar Association in 2021.
Judge Casserly says, “During my time on the bench the job I enjoyed the most was conducting settlement conferences. I really became passionate about it. I’m looking forward to continuing to help people settle their cases in the private sector.”
With over two decades on the bench, Judge Casserly brings a wealth of knowledge, experience, and insight to alternative dispute resolution. Throughout his 25 years as a Superior Court Judge in San Diego, he presided over hundreds of trials and managed thousands of civil cases, including breach of contract, business disputes, construction defect, employment, personal injury, and real property matters.
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Judge Casserly enjoys playing tennis, golf, and horseback riding.
"Judge Casserly was amazing in a difficult case. "
- Partner and Member of a Top Firm's Employment and Labor Leadership Team
"Judge Casserly was extremely helpful in explaining the case to my client so he understood how difficult of a case it would be in trial, and to accept the best offer they provided him during mediation. "
- Attorney at a Personal Injury Firm
"Judge Casserly was very knowledgeable, cut to the chase, and effectively resolved the matter. I would use him in future matters based on this experience."
- Attorney on a Real Property case
"Judge Casserly was absolutely amazing. He was extremely effective in getting all parties to see "common ground," despite the parties' inclination to dig in their heels so that a global settlement was ultimately reached. Judge Casserly's demeanor and attitude, although very professional, were friendly and disarming making my clients feel very much at ease with him and, therefore, more receptive to his comments as to the merits of the claims and where he saw potential concerns as to liability. I would use Judge Casserly again in a heartbeat and highly recommend him as a mediator. He was a great judge on the bench and he has now proven himself to be a great mediator."
- Attorney with 20 Years of Litigation Experience, Regarding a Lemon Law Case
"Judge Casserly is highly skilled and helped us to resolve a large damages case."
- A Top Southern California Lawyer and San Diego North County Bar Association's Attorney of the Year
"Judge Casserly kept working on trying to resolve the case even after the parties reached an impasse. He got it done. "
- Top San Diego Lawyer with 40 Years of Experience
"In our recent mediation with Judge Casserly, he impressed me by being exceptionally well prepared and fully understanding of the complex issues from the perspectives of both sides. He was able to use his extensive experience, both as a trial judge and an effective settlement judge, to keep the mediation moving in a positive direction. He conducted the entire mediation in a professional and congenial manner that made the attorneys and their clients feel comfortable with the process."
- Attorney on a Personal Injury Auto case
"Judge Casserly was stupendous. He had a steady hand and a good understanding of the case, it was clear he read our briefs thoroughly and understood the pressure points before the proceeding even commenced. "
- Attorney on a Personal Injury case
Judge Casserly oversaw many breach of contract cases and trials while on the bench, including but not limited to:
• Plaintiff contractor contracted with the defendant homeowner to do a substantial house remodel. The work began and the defendant made numerous change orders and stopped paying, so the plaintiff stopped working on the project. The defendant hired others to complete the project. Plaintiff sued for breach of contract, and the defendant cross-complained for breach of contract and construction defect.
•Plaintiff bought a house from the defendant, and agreed to buy the property “as is.” After moving in the plaintiff discovered window leaks and sued, claiming failure to disclose, fraud, and construction defect.
•Defendant 1 bought a house, did some work on it, and then sold it to Defendant 2, who almost immediately resold the property because of a job transfer. Plaintiffs bought the property and found many problems that were not disclosed to them. They sued Defendant 1 for construction defect and Defendant 2 for failure to disclose.
•Plaintiff contracted with the defendant to buy 1500 avocado trees, and paid a non-refundable deposit. Defendant did not provide the trees on the agreed-upon delivery date, and months later the defendant agreed to deliver trees, but the trees he wanted to deliver were too small, so Plaintiff refused delivery. Defendant never delivered trees and the plaintiff sued for breach of contract.
•Plaintiff owned an industrial complex with large warehouse buildings and entered a commercial lease with the defendant who conducted cheerleading classes in the building. Because of Covid-19, the defendant could not operate the business, so the landlord deferred rent. The landlord then believed that the defendant was not being truthful about the status of the business and was operating as usual, demanded rent which was not paid, and sued to evict the defendant.
Judge Casserly is well-versed in complex business disputes and oversaw a variety of these matters while on the bench. Of note, includes:
•Plaintiff and Defendant agreed to go into business together and formed a corporation with the company owned 50/50. The defendant froze the plaintiff out of the business, all the employees went with him. The defendant also possessed all the trucks and equipment of the business. The plaintiff took cash from the business.
Judge Casserly understands the intricacies of construction defect, hearing cases such as:
•Plaintiff hired the defendant to be the general contractor on a very expensive home remodel. Defendant hired numerous subs to perform the work. After the work was completed, the plaintiff found many problems that required approximately $400,000 to repair. Plaintiff sued the defendant, and the defendant cross-complained against all of the subs.
Judge Casserly tried and settled a myriad of employment disputes including:
•Plaintiff was fired from his job as a bartender. The defendant claimed that he was fired for missing work and making crude and offensive comments to other employees. The plaintiff sued for wrongful termination claiming he was retaliated against because he had been making complaints about illegal activities by the employer.
•Plaintiff was the Administrative Assistant to the CEO of a company. She was an at-will employee. The company fired her claiming that she could not get along with other employees. Plaintiff sued for wrongful termination claiming she was fired because she complained that the company was not properly calculating her vacation time.
•Plaintiff and Defendant had a live-in relationship for many years. The plaintiff also worked for the defendant’s company and was categorized by the defendant as an independent contractor. The plaintiff broke up with the defendant and moved out of the condominium where they had been living together, sued the defendant claiming she had been misclassified as an independent contractor, and alleged numerous Labor Code violations. The defendant filed a cross-complaint claiming that the plaintiff stole property from him when she moved out.
Judge Casserly handled many personal injury trials. Some examples of cases include:
•Plaintiff tripped over the sliding door track that was in the bedroom of a house she was renting. She did not immediately report the incident, but sued the landlord after she moved out of the house after many disputes with the landlord. The plaintiff claimed that the track was not to code and was dangerous.
•Plaintiff was standing on the sidewalk in line waiting to enter a venue. During the movement of the crowd, the plaintiff tripped in the well of a tree that was planted along the sidewalk and broke her leg. She had surgery, needed at least one more surgery, and the prognosis for a full recovery was not promising. The plaintiff sued the show venue, the neighboring business, and the city, claiming negligence and dangerous condition of public property. The defendants denied any liability.
•Plaintiff was involved in an admitted liability auto accident. At the time of the accident, neither party claimed any injury. Sometime after the accident, the plaintiff had a diabetes-related hospital stay and claimed this was caused by the stress of the accident. The defendant contested that the hospital stay had any relation to the accident.
•Plaintiff was involved in an admitted liability rear-end auto accident. She suffered a soft tissue injury. She also claimed to have suffered a torn rotator cuff and needed surgery for that. The defendant denied that the rotator cuff injury was caused by the accident.
•Plaintiff was punched in the face at a house party and suffered significant injuries. The plaintiff sued the property owner for negligence, and the person he claimed hit him for battery.
•Plaintiff claimed that she was hit by a car while she was walking through a parking lot. The defendant claimed that he had been driving slowly in the parking lot and that the plaintiff had walked into the side of his vehicle.
•Plaintiff was knocked down by a large dog breaking both of her wrists. Defendant denied that his dog was the one that knocked the plaintiff down.
•The plaintiff, a student, tripped and fell on the school’s playing field. She claimed she tripped on a gopher hole, and that the school district had been previously notified of the poor condition of the field, but had done nothing about it.
•Plaintiff was severely injured when she drove her vehicle through an intersection on a green light and collided with a city fire truck that was traveling through the intersection on a red light. The fire truck was on an emergency call and was going through the intersection with its red lights and siren on.
Judge Casserly regularly presided over real property cases, such as:
•Plaintiff wanted to replace the wood fences on either side of her property with a block wall. She could not get an agreement from either neighbor, even if she paid all the costs. HOA would not approve the request without agreement from the neighbors, so the plaintiff sued the neighbors and the HOA.
•Plaintiff bought a house and then began major renovation work on the yard. She wanted to install solar panels on the slope between her property and her upper neighbor’s property but discovered that the neighbor had made many improvements that encroached on the plaintiff’s property. In addition, the water district had a 20-foot easement between the two properties and demanded that the plaintiff remove the encroachments. Plaintiff sued to resolve the various equitable issues between the three parties.
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