Judge (Ret.) Pierre H. Bergeron

Pierre joins MSD after six years of service as a judge on Ohio’s First District Court of Appeals. Pierre’s colleagues elected him Administrative Judge in 2021, during which he helped guide the Court through the pandemic and led a comprehensive revamping of the Court’s technology and case management systems. Pierre served as a visiting judge on the Ohio Supreme Court, as well as the Fourth, Sixth, and Tenth Appellate Districts. He was also selected to teach “new judges school” to incoming Ohio appellate judges, and presented at numerous judicial education conferences.

Prior to his election as judge, Pierre served as chair of the Appellate and Supreme Court Practice as a partner at a global law firm, and he previously clerked for the Honorable David A. Nelson on the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Pierre is one of the few lawyers in Ohio to argue multiple cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pierre brings a wealth of experience and perspective to ADR matters, appellate and commercial litigation. He is also a recognized thought leader—teaching state constitutional law at the University of Cincinnati College of Law and serving as the Lively Professor of Government and Law at Centre College. He has published articles in the law reviews of Wake Forest, Emory, Cincinnati, Tennessee, and Kentucky, among others.

Pierre has been active in bar-related organizations, including serving as President of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, Trustee of the Cincinnati Bar Association, Life Member of the Sixth Circuit and as a member of the Council of Chief Judges of State Courts of Appeals, the Ohio Judicial Conference, and the American Judges Association.

ADR

Pierre is a recognized leader in ADR-related work and recently served on the Ohio Supreme Court’s Dispute Resolution Commission.

Arbitration: As an arbitrator on the American Arbitration Association panel, Pierre has chaired multiple 3-arbitrator hearings and arbitrated healthcare, commercial, and family business disputes. As a lawyer, he arbitrated numerous cases to award, including multi-million dollar healthcare disputes, close corporation equity disputes, and financial services cases. He brings the unique perspective of both a former judge and a seasoned commercial litigator to the arbitrator role.

Mediation: As a judge, Pierre spearheaded the creation of the First District Court of Appeals’ mediation program. Recognizing the value of mediation from his considerable experience in mediation as an advocate, Pierre researched appellate mediation programs and secured funding from the Ohio Supreme Court to launch the mediation program. Pierre has extensive mediation experience and structuring complex settlements.

Special master: By virtue of his role as a judge and his complex commercial litigation experience, Pierre is ideally situated to serve as a special master to assist courts in resolving complex litigation matters. Pierre understands these situations both from the judicial perspective as well as the lawyer/client perspective, and brings that practicality and understanding to challenging scenarios.

Expert Witness: As a judge, Pierre wrote and participated in several opinions concerning the availability and amount of attorney’s fees, and sanctions issues. He litigated several such matters while in practice, and one of his Supreme Court arguments involved the causation requirement for a federal court’s “inherent authority” sanctions. He has represented lawyers and law firms in delicate sanctions and fee-related disputes.

Appellate

Pierre has served at the highest levels of both bench and bar in appellate matters.

As an appellate judge, Pierre participated in decisions involving over 1,000 cases, including merits cases, motions, and original actions. He helped modernize and overhaul the Court’s rules, revitalized its case management process, and helped improve the Court’s overall efficiency. He understands how an appellate court ticks.

As an advocate, Pierre argued approximately 75 appeals and participated in countless others in appellate courts across the country. He has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Second, Fifth, Sixth, and Eleventh Circuits, the Ohio Supreme Court and numerous state appellate courts. He has won appeals in cases involving $500M+ in dispute and handled an array of topics from complex healthcare disputes to foreign anti-suit injunctions. He was appointed to the Sixth Circuit Rules Advisory Committee and frequently presents at appellate CLEs.

Commercial Litigation

In practice, Pierre routinely handled complex commercial disputes, often with multiple hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, including healthcare, financial services, commercial contracts, and matters related to governmental investigations. These cases were pending in courts across the country, and often involved complicated discovery processes and e-discovery protocols, along with intensive motion practice. Pierre understands how to manage high-stakes cases efficiently and to help achieve the client’s overall objective.