The dispute-resolution service JAMS has tapped former judge Richard Neal to hear Charlie Sheen's $100 million lawsuit against Warner Bros. TV and "Two and a Half Men" creator Chuck Lorre, should the case be resolved through arbitration.
Neal is a former California Court of Appeals judge who has worked with JAMS since 2001. According to JAMS' profile of him, he largely handled insurance-related cases as a lawyer and a judge.
Sheen filed his suit against Lorre and Warner Bros. TV earlier this month, shortly after being fired from "Two and a Half Men." Since then, the parties have been involved in a pitched legal battle over whether the suit will go to arbitration, with Sheen's attorney, Marty Singer, fighting aggressively against arbitration.
Lawyers for Lorre and Warner Bros. TV still need to file a motion to compel arbitration, which a judge will have to agree to, before JAMS and Neal are allowed to take over. On Monday, Superior Court Judge Allan Goodman moved up the hearing on whether the suit can be arbitrated to April 19, much earlier than the original date of May 25.
