Thomas Rueter

Career

Hon. Thomas J. Rueter (Ret.) joins JAMS after 26 years of service as a U.S. magistrate judge in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, including four years as chief magistrate judge. Prior to ascending to the court, Judge Rueter served for nine years as an assistant United States attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, including four years as chief of the Narcotics Section with the Justice Department. Before his time working with the Justice Department, Judge Rueter was an associate in the Philadelphia office of White and Williams LLP. He also served as a law clerk for United States District Judge Joseph L. McGlynn, Jr.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

During his time on the bench, Judge Rueter conducted more than 4,000 settlement conferences, including business/commercial and class action disputes to personal injury, intellectual property, civil rights, insurance, employment, professional liability and franchise matters. Judge Rueter also served as the district court’s employment dispute resolution coordinator and, in that role, mediated a wide range of employment disputes for district court employees. He also has significant experience as a special master/discovery referee, having resolved numerous complex e-discovery matters.

Judge Rueter’s MDL settlement experience is particularly notable. In the case of In re Asbestos Litigation MDL 875, Judge Rueter oversaw the settlement of hundreds of cases transferred by the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 1991. Each case typically consisted of claims by multiple plaintiffs against multiple defendants. Judge Rueter also oversaw the settlement of several complex attorneys’ fees disputes in the high-profile MDL In re NFL Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation MDL 2323. This matter involved over 20,000 class members and nearly $1 billion in benefits.