The 2022 Lawdragon Plaintiff Issue by Lawdragon

PLAINTIFFISSUETHE

A nationally recognized trial boutique that prosecutes high-stakes, complex business litigation on a success-fee basis, Reid Collins has recovered billions of dollars for our clients and created precedent to protect investors and hold wrongdoers accountable. We are proud to congratulate twelve of our partners on being named to the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America. Craig A. Boneau | Joshua J. Bruckerhoff | Keith Y. Cohan Rachel S. Fleishman | J. Benjamin King | Eric D. Madden Nathaniel J. Palmer | William T. Reid, IV | Gregory S. Schwegmann Lisa S. Tsai | Jeremy H. Wells | Michael J. Yoder To learn more about why sophisticated business plaintiffs choose Reid Collins, please visit our website. RELENTLESS | REVOLUTIONARY | RECOGNIZED Austin | Dallas | New York | Washington, D.C. | Wilmington Reid Collins & Tsai LLP www.reidcollins.com “The special forces unit for complex litigation.” Lawdragon

POMERANTZ CONGRATULATES OUR NEWEST LAWDRAGONS NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LOS ANGELES • PARIS • TEL AVIV www.pomlaw.com PARTNERS Brenda SzydloJordan L. Lurie OF COUNSEL Brian Calandra J. Alexander HoodSamuel J. Adams Ari Y. Basser Louis C. Ludwig Veronica V. MontenegroOmar Jafri Jennifer Banner Sobers PROTECTING INVESTORS IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD

{} CONTENTS 4 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 16 LETTER FROM THE EDITOR AND PUBLISHER 18 A NEW FRONT With ESG securities litigation on the rise, Pomerantz is once again at the helm. 26 FROM KELLER LENKNER TO KELLER POSTMAN The litigation giant continues to reach new heights for plaintiffs in massive cases. 34 TAKING ON WALL STREET Levi & Korsinsky has leveraged technology to fuel its blockbuster plaintiffs-side practice. 45 LAWDRAGON 500 LEADING PLAINTIFF FINANCIAL LAWYERS These lawyers are the best in the nation – many would say the world – at representing plaintiffs in complex financial cases. Featuring: 48 Ophelia Camiña of Susman Godfrey 58 Jeremy Lieberman of Pomerantz 67 Debra Wyman of Robbins Geller 70 Gustavo Bruckner of Pomerantz 76 Barney Balonick of Balonick Law 82 Daniel Drosman of Robbins Geller 86 Jennifer Pafiti of Pomerantz 94 Adam Levitt of DiCello Levitt 48 26 34

{} CONTENTS 6 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 180 132 108 105 LAWDRAGON 500 LEADING PLAINTIFF CONSUMER LAWYERS The remarkable 500 lawyers featured here are the warriors who fight the good fight for consumers, seeking justice and providing hope. Featuring: 108 Kelly Hyman of The Hyman Law Firm 117 Brian Denney of Searcy Denney 124 June Bashant of Rouda Feder 132 Stephen Garcia of Garcia & Artigliere 138 Susan Capra of Clifford Law Offices 142 Brian LaCien of Smith LaCien 148 Natasha Cortes of Grossman Roth 156 Gregory Barnhart of Searcy Denney 161 John Feder of Rouda Feder 169 LAWDRAGON 500 LEADING PLAINTIFF EMPLOYMENT LAWYERS The talented professionals who’ve devoted their careers to helping workers protect their rights have continued to excel in an unpredictable legal landscape. Featuring: 172 Jennifer Ostertag of The Genie Harrison Law Firm 180 Sam Maduegbuna of Maduegbuna Cooper 186 Jim Rosen of Rosen Saba 194 Jessie Weber of Brown Goldstein 200 Emile Davis of Dolan Law Firm 208 Joyce Smithey of Smithey Law Group 214 Alan Romero of Romero Law

10 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM © Lawdragon Inc. 2022. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. Please disregard all solicitation, reprint and plaque requests from services that do not use an “@lawdragon.com” email. These are unauthorized and fraudulent. We request that you purchase any desired services from Carlton Dyce at Forcarlton@lawdragon.com.editorialinquiresorto pitch stories, contact John Ryan at john@lawdragon.com. For reprints or other promotional materials, contact Carlton Dyce at carlton@lawdragon.com. You can also purchase products at the Lawdragon Shop at www.lawdragon.com/lawdragon-shop.Issue25 LAWDRAGON INC. 333 Washington Blvd. #467 Marina Del Rey, CA 90292EXECUTIVEPUBLISHER/CHIEFOFFICER K atrina D ewey K atrina @ law D ragon . com EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT J ohn r yan J ohn @ law D ragon com VICE PRESIDENT, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT AND SALES c arlton D yce carlton @ law D ragon com ART DIRECTOR S tephanie B lac K man SB @ B lac K man D e S ign net SENIOR EDITORS J ame S l angfor D J ame S @ law D ragon com a li S on p reece a li S on @ law D ragon com ASSISTANT EDITOR e mily J ac K oway e mily J ac K oway @ gmail . com EDITORIAL ASSISTANT m ichelle f ox michelle @ law D ragon com LAWDRAGON PHOTOGRAPHY e DD ie a rro SS i , l aura B ari S onzi , D awn B owery , a my c antrell , nicK coleman, rory earnShaw, J ovan K a n ova K ovic , J o S h r itchie p rinte D in c ana D a

Innovating Mass Practice

Combining our unparalleled resources—including an elite bench of attorneys, an expert in-house client services team, a proprietary data & IT infrastructure, and an expansive network of partners— we achieve meaningful victories for our clients en masse.

Austin

Together with our partner firms and vendors, we will continue to take on the most powerful corporations in the world—and win.

Chicagokellerpostman.com|Washington,D.C.|

We’re revolutionizing the mass action landscape for plaintiffs through groundbreaking approaches to mass arbitrations, mass torts, and class actions. We are a 100-strong team of professionals who have secured recoveries for over 500,000 clients.

CHICAGO’S PREMIER PLAINTIFFS’INJURYPERSONALFIRM 312.236.9381 // 70 West Madison | 55th Floor | Chicago, llinois 60602 // www.PowerRogers.com CONGRATULATIONS JOSEPH A. POWER, JR. & LARRY R. ROGERS, JR. for being named as Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America. LAWDRAGON 500 PLAINTIFF CONSUMER LAWYERS Power Rogers is proud to have 11 of its partners recognized by Lawdragon. Joseph KathrynDevonBalesteriBruceConwayCarolynDaley Sean LarryThomasJosephHoulihanPowerPowerRogers,Jr. Larry Rogers, Sr.* Thomas (*)JonathanSiracusaThomasLawdragonHallofFame

SDSBS attorneys recognized by 2021 Lawdragon We are honored to receive this recognition. Searcy Denney attorneys have been recognized in Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Consumer Lawyers 2021 Guide. This selection is one of the most elite distinctions in the legal profession. The distinguished careers of Chris Searcy and Jack Scarola were recognized by selection in Lawdragon’s Hall of Fame. Jack LAWDRAGONScarolaHALLOFFAME BrendaSHAREHOLDERFulmer Chris Searcy LAWDRAGON HALL OF FAME GregSHAREHOLDERBarnhart Sia Baker-BarnesSHAREHOLDER BrianSHAREHOLDERDenney WEST PALM BEACH / TALLAHASSEE u 8OO.78O.86O7 u WWW.SEARCYLAW.COM AVIATION & RAILROAD DISASTERS • BOATING & WATERCRAFT INJURIES • VEHICLE ACCIDENTS • COMMERCIAL DISPUTES CONSTRUCTION DEFECTS • DEFECTIVE DESIGN • INTELLECTUAL PROPERTIES • MASS TORTS • MEDICAL MALPRACTICE PREMISES LIABILITY • PROFESSIONAL LIABILITY • TRUCKING ACCIDENTS • UNSAFE PRODUCTS • WILL AND TRUST DISPUTES

“It’s a go-to team for high-stakes litigation.” — CHAMBERS AND PARTNERS www.mololamken.com CHICAGO 300 North LaSalle Street Chicago, IL 60654 T: 312.450.6700 NEW YORK 430 Park Avenue New York, NY 10022 T: 212.607.8160 WASHINGTON, D.C. 600 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037 T: 202.556.2000

LEADERS IN ACHIEVING JUSTICE for victims of catastrophic injury and wrongful death EXPERIENCE MATTERS. SMITH LaCIEN LLP 70 W Madison Ste. 2250 Chicago, IL 60602 | (312) 509-8900 www.smithlacien.com | info@smithlacien.com PRACTICE AREAS Wrongful Death | Medical Malpractice | Brain Injury | Aviation | Class Actions | Product and Drug Liability | Catastrophic Injury | Trucking Accidents • $1.55 billion Settlement – Takata air bag litigation, largest U.S. auto-related recall in history – co-lead counsel • $93 million Settlement – International airplane crash near Amsterdam – co-counsel with Kreindler & Kreindler of New York • $19 million Verdict – Truck collision, wrongful death of 29-year-old tow truck driver • $8 million Settlement – Helicopter crash resulting in death of pilot, reconstruction/product liability case • $10 million Settlement – Pharmaceutical adverse reaction resulting in victim’s blindness • $20 million Settlement – Medical malpractice –college student suffered severe brain damage while undergoing heart surgery • $18.5 million Settlement – Female working as an “extra” during the filming of a car crash stunt for the movie, “Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon,” suffered traumatic brain injury • $17.6 million Verdict – Financial malpractice and accounting error yields record verdict MORE THAN $2 BILLION IN SETTLEMENTS AND VERDICTS MORE THAN 100 SETTLEMENTS AND VERDICTS THAT EXCEED $1 MILLION COMBINED TRIAL EXPERIENCE OF MORE THAN 60 YEARS

W {} A LETTER

The vast range of cases implies a diversity of practice specialty that is matched by our sustained attention to greater inclusiveness among our Lawdragon 500 lawyers. While Lawdragon has led the way in legal recognitions on the diversity front, the reality is that these lawyers have tended more and more to mirror the diversity of their client base – the individuals and groups who are the true heroes in leveling the playing field of our justice system. As the world teeters between the traumas of war, climate catastrophe and divisive elections, the stories in this magazine remind us of the progress made and the hope for the future found in ethical, principled advocacy. FROM THE PUBLISHER AND EDITOR KATRINA DEWEY Publisher and katrina@lawdragon.comCEO JOHN RYAN john@lawdragon.comEditor-in-Chief WE ARE BACK TO NORMAL –OR

HETHER

– IS A MATTER OF ONGOING DEBATE, WITH VIEWPOINTS THAT VARY BY CITY, JOB, FAMILY AND ANY NUMBER OF FACTORS. IN ONE SENSE, THAT VERY MUCH APPLIES TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION. FROM ANOTHER VIEWPOINT, HOWEVER, NOT A WHOLE LOT HAS CHANGED FOR THE LAWYERS FEATURED IN THESE PAGES. AFTER ALL, THEY HAVE ALWAYS FACED UNCERTAINTY IN PURSUING ACCESS TO JUSTICE FOR THEIR CLIENTS. TACKLING GREED AND MISCONDUCT FOR LITIGANTS FACING MORE POWERFUL ADVERSARIES TAKES AN ONGOING PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT TO CONFRONTING ONE NEW NORMAL AFTER ANOTHER, TO THRIVING IN A SPACE WHERE INNOVATION IS OFTEN AS IMPORTANT AS GRIT, DETERMINATION AND A GOOD CROSS-EXAMINATION.

MORE AT PEACE WITH A NEW NORMAL

If fraud, dishonesty and cover-ups have continued unabashed, so have the tireless work of these lawyers and law firms – many of them long-time honorees in the three practice specialties honored in our third annual Plaintiff Issue: plaintiff financial litigation, plaintiff consumer litigation and plaintiff employment and civil rights law. An impressive number of new honorees have taken their place alongside the better known veterans in the myriad historic battles waged in American courts over the past year: those involving the Opioid epidemic, natural disasters and climate change, police brutality, new avenues of financial crimes, voting rights and the evolving employee-employer relationship – among so many more critical issues.

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“a dealmaker” —CHAMBERS USA A founding partner of Seeger Weiss LLP, Christopher A. Seeger has led some of the most complex, groundbreaking, and high-profile litigations in the U.S., at both the state and federal level, the National Prescription Opiate Litigation, which the Washington Post called “the “one of plaintiffnation’sthegreatestlawyers” —LAWDRAGONCHRISTOPHER A. SEEGER largest federal court case in U.S. history”; 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation, which Reuters called “the largest multidistrict litigation in history”; the ongoing “Dieselgate” scandal; and the history-making Football League Players’ Concussion Injury Litigation seegerweiss.com NEW JERSEY 55 Challenger Road Ridgefield Park, NJ 07660 NEW YORK 100 Church Street New York, NY 10007 PENNSYLVANIA 1515 Market Street Philadelphia, PA 19102 MASSACHUSETTS 1280 Centre Street Newton, MA 02459

ESG has become increasingly prominent in the past 10 to 15 years, with the SEC now focusing on ESG disclosures and setting reporting requirements. The rationale, to which Pomerantz is keenly attuned, is that ESG issues go beyond being good for the world; they are increasingly understood to be financially material to the viability of a company – and therefore inherently important to investors.

BY ALISON PREECE

A NEWFRONT

With ESG securities litigation on the rise, Pomerantz is once again at the helm.

From climate change to racial discrimination, sexual harassment to the war in Ukraine, investors are increasingly pressing for accountability and transparency when it comes to a company’s ESG (environmental, social and corporate gover nance) practices. Institutional investors are in a particularly strong position to drive change, so naturally Pomerantz, the long-standing plaintiffs’ securities litigation powerhouse, is at the forefront of these issues.

“We’re meeting the demands of the marketplace, and the demands of investors,” says Jeremy Lieberman, Managing Partner at Pomerantz and a titan in the plaintiffs’ securities bar. “It’s something that the investor community is very concerned about.”

“ESG is very much at the forefront of topics right now for pension funds and asset managers,” says Jennifer Pafiti, a Pomerantz partner and Head of Client Services. “If some information comes out pursuant to an ESG issue and the share price falls, people want to address that, now more than ever.”

For example, if a company was using shoddy practices to evaluate the environmental risk of building a new pipeline, then the pipe leaks and causes pollution, that affects the financial health of the company. The value of shares decline, and investors are robbed of their ability to accurately assess risk and viability. And of course, if something was concealed to investors or there was an outright lie, that is clear-cut securities fraud.

The suit, which is led by Lieberman and partner Emma Gilmore, also points to the bank’s inadequate vetting of other problematic clients, including Vladimir Pu tin’s cousin and other Russian oligarchs, as well as its ongoing business with the founders of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. Lawyers for Deutsche Bank argued that, while these relationships and actions may have violated the firm’s code of ethics, it was really a matter of mismanagement. Internal ethics policies, they argue, are immaterial to the bottom line of a company, and therefore out of the purview of securities claims. “It’s a very cynical argument,” says Lieberman. “Inves tors want to know if you’re violating the law. These are important issues. Investors in Deutsche Bank would certainly want to know that Jeffrey Epstein was a client, and that he had over 40 complaints of victimization of minors that were flagged to management.”

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“I think the courts were struggling to see that these issues are really what securities laws are meant to address,” says Lieberman. “Securities fraud is not just lying about your revenues, but any issue that’s material to investors is fair game. If you’re a bank, you have to make sure that money that’s coming in and out of the bank is not tainted with fraud, not tainted with criminal activity.”

Further, when ESG problems are rampant at a company, “it raises eyebrows about how else they’re poorly running their institution,” says Pafiti. “It’s usually a canary in the coal mine,” says Lieberman. “If you have poor governance, poor respect for envi ronmental issues, poor compliance with laws, you’re probably going to end up at some point cheating in vestors with straight out fraud or financial manipulation.”

The securities case centers around the bank’s “know your customer” policies, which are a key part of its anti-money laundering controls, and misstatements surrounding them. “Epstein was making hundreds of payments to the vic tims he was abusing,” says Lieberman, “and to various co-conspirators, for hotel expenses, tuition – with very strange notations on the wire transfer records.”

“We were really shocked,” says Lieberman, “because it was a very strong case. There were repeated warnings by the Federal Reserve, ignored by defendants. They engaged in $10B worth of wash sales in Russia to laun der money out of the country.

Thanks in part to the tenacious advocacy of Pomer antz and similar firms, courts are now recognizing that these ESG concerns are important to investors – both on their own and because they often portend even worse misconduct.

Risky Business

One of Pomerantz’s current ESG securities cases is against Deutsche Bank, targeting the bank’s onboard ing of and continued relationships with bad actors, including the notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In 2020, news of the bank’s issues with internal controls surfaced and their stock price dropped, wiping out significant value.

In one landmark ESG case against the casino heavy weight Wynn Resorts, Pomerantz has been able to connect the dots between the sexual misconduct of its former CEO Steve Wynn and the financial health of the company. For more than a decade, Wynn was

Sunlight is the Best Disinfectant

In May 2022, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the Southern District of New York denied a motion to dis miss the case, adopting Pomerantz’s argument that the statements surrounding the code of ethics were indeed Rakoff’smaterial.rulingspeaks to a crucial shift underway in ESG litigation, where the viability of a company goes beyond its ability to produce strong returns; increas ingly, a company’s ethical and moral code is being understood as material to investors. It wasn’t long ago that courts were prone to dismiss cases of this nature. In fact, Pomerantz brought an action in 2016 against Deutsche Bank after they were fined $650M by the New York Department of Financial Services for ignoring repeated warnings regarding their internal anti-money laundering controls, which was dis missed, twice: in district court and then the 2nd Circuit.

CHICAGO, IL | NEW YORK, NY | PALM BEACH GARDENS, FL PHILADELPHIA, PA | RALEIGH, NC | WASHINGTON, DC Antitrust | Civil Rights & Employment | Complex Tort Litigation | Consumer Protection Employee Benefits / ERISA | Ethics & Fiduciary Counseling | Human Rights | Public Client Securities Litigation & Investor Protection | Whistleblower / False Claims Act Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC salutes Lawdragon’s Leading Plaintiff Lawyers and congratulates our own honorees: Gary AnitaCarolAgnieszkaAndrewDonnaMichaelSuzanneManuelMichaelS.BenjaminMaryAzorskyBortschellerBrownDouglasBunchDolceDominguezDuganEisenkraftEvansFriedmanFryszmanGildenHill Brent Johnson Richard Koffman Kalpana Kotagal Leslie JulieLauraKitVictoriaBetsyDanielJeanneEmmyTheodoreKroegerLeopoldLevensMarkeyMcCuaigMillerNugentPiersonPosnerGoldsmithReiser J. Douglas Richards Sharon MichelleChristineCatherineStevenDanielDanielJosephAnikoChristinaRobertsonSalerSchwarczSellersSmallSommersTollTorellWebberYau 202.408.4600 | cohenmilstein.com

Pomerantz laid out a fact pattern for the federal court of Nevada that showed how this ongoing pattern of sexual misconduct and cover-up amounted to secu rities fraud. The case, led by Lieberman and partner Murielle Stevens Walsh, was originally dismissed but an amended class action has been granted approval to Theproceed.harassment and cover-up were brought to light in a Wall Street Journal investigation in 2018, part of a tidal wave of up-turned stones in the #MeToo movement. The stock fell 10 percent following the news.

Among other topics, the panelists and attendees are able to discuss the SEC’s developing agenda when it comes to ESG and related securities regulations. sexually harassing his employees and paying millions of dollars in undisclosed settlements to settle those actions. None of this was ever disclosed to investors. Even worse, “the board, which is run by the CEO, was covering up for the perpetrator,” says Pafiti. “When the board is run by the CEO, and the CEO is the problem, where does an employee go when they need to com plain about the CEO? “At that point, the problem is cultural,” says Pafiti. “The CEO thinks he’s untouchable because the board is covering up for him, paying these women to be quiet. So employees feel they have no real recourse.”

Securities fraud is not just lying about your revenues, but any issue that’s material to investors is fair game. If you’re a bank, you have to make sure that money that’s coming in and out of the bank is not tainted with fraud, not tainted with criminal activity. – Jeremy Lieberman

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“The Roundtable is an opportunity for corporate coun sel, CIOs, CEOs and others making these crucial de cisions to get together and discuss best practices and common issues, and to share their ideas and knowledge,” says Pafiti. “Sometimes they find not just mentorship, but avenues to explore that they otherwise wouldn’t have.”

Jeremy Lieberman. Photo by Laura Barisonzi “ ”

An Investment in Knowledge From their vantage point at the forefront of ESG secu rities actions, Pomerantz is also focused on education in the area. The firm holds a regular Corporate Gover nance Roundtable, spearheaded by Pafiti, for institution al investors, in order to promote both networking and knowledge. “We believe in bringing people together to discuss the common themes and issues that affect the value of their assets,” says Pafiti.

“As soon as there is some kind of public disclosure about these payments,” says Pafiti, “that’s affecting the financial health of the company.” Prior financial statements are then called into question. “We got the court to understand that these were false and misleading statements relating to those issues,” says Lieberman. In another prominent ESG case, Pomerantz brought an action on behalf of shareholders in the sports behemoth Nike, after uncovering widespread gender discrimination and harassment at the company that was allegedly repeatedly ignored by the board. Nike proceeded to initiate an internal investigation, resulting in the departure of 11 top-level executives.

The 2022 event, which featured special guest speaker President Bill Clinton, was focused on ESG issues. The theme was: The Collective Power to Make Change.

The firm secured the lead plaintiff role for USS, despite them not having the largest loss, which is the traditional criteria. “The judge was very thorough,” says Pafiti. “He asked the general counsel of these funds: ‘What have you done to select your counsel? How did you come together? How are you informed of this?’”

The SEC had been considering allowing forced ar bitration clauses for securities fraud claims, which would be a “death knell” to securities class actions, says Lieberman. “Corporations are still pushing for that type of bylaw, and they would like to see it in the Chamber of Commerce. But the SEC under the current administration is probably less prone to allow forced arbitration.”

The firm filed the claims in 2015 and, after “a titanic amount of paperwork and lots of sleepless nights,”

“Morrison created a dual class system for investors,” says Lieberman. “If an investor purchased shares on a U.S. exchange, in the case of fraud, they would get a recovery. If they happened to make a purchase of the same com pany outside of the U.S., they couldn’t get a recovery. It didn’t make sense, particularly in our globalized world.”

The first case they brought to challenge the Morrison ruling came out of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The firm represented investors in the UK who had purchased BP on the London Stock Exchange. Through their novel legal theory of supplemental jurisdiction, they were able to persuade the UK court to hear the claims under UK law. As is so often the case when Pomerantz is involved: The recovery was phenomenal, the precedent was set, and the world got a little more just.

What they are allowing, however, are forum selection clauses, which dictate where certain claims can be liti gated. “It’s low hanging fruit,” says Lieberman, “because you’re not stopping someone from bringing a class action, you’re just dictating where the forum should be. But it’s one of the ways they’re attempting to chip away at investors’ rights.”

Jennifer Pafiti.

says Pafiti, settled the case three years later for a stag gering $3B. The case was the largest settlement ever in the U.S. not involving a restatement of financials; the largest case ever against a foreign defendant; and the largest with a foreign plaintiff.

Going back even further, Pomerantz is perhaps best known – and emulated by others in the securities bar –for their work following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2010 ruling in Morrison v. National Australia, which barred investors who bought securities on non-U.S. exchanges from bringing claims in American courts.

Photo by Laura Barisonzi

While ESG securities litigation is very hot at the mo ment, Pomerantz has a long history of finding innova tive ways to hold corporations accountable for fraud. One of their landmark wins, where they achieved $3B for defrauded investors in Brazilian oil giant Petro bras, centered around corruption at the corporate governance level. “The company had a lot of complaints over the years about transparency, and about the right to put an independent director on the board,” says Lieberman. Institutional investors held meetings to discuss these concerns, but Petrobras did not make the reforms. Ultimately, “there was a major bribery scandal that rocked the markets, with huge consequences for investors.”

Pomerantz’s client in the case was Universities Super annuation Scheme, the largest private pension fund in the UK. USS was traditional, conservative, and not prone to litigation. But Pafiti, who had a long-standing relationship with USS, knew this was going to be a historic case worth pursuing. “Every now and again, there’s that one case that comes across where the conduct is so egregious and the losses for the client are so significant,” says Pafiti, “that it just makes sense to move.”

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The Long Fight for Lasting Good

DOUBLING DOWN The litigation giant continues to reach new heights for plaintiffs in massive cases. From Keller Lenkner to Keller Postman:

ON MASS PRACTICE PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE FIRM BY JAMES LANGFORD

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Postman has also been named Managing Partner. “Warren is a natural fit for the managing partner role: organized, patient, creative, decisive and responsive,” says Keller. “His steady leadership ensures that we have an even greater capacity for expansion and rapid growth in the years ahead.”

Keller’s thriving mass-tort practice has taken off in record time. The firm leads several of the largest masstort cases in the country, including those against the makers of Similac and Enfamil cow-milk-based infant formulas, which have allegedly caused necrotizing enterocolitis in infants, leading to life-long injury or death; 3M, which sold defective earplugs to the U.S. military that are alleged to have caused hearing loss and related issues in over a quarter million ser vicemembers; and the makers of Zantac heartburn medication, which was pulled from the market after it was found to contain cancer-causing ingredients. Aside from being deeply invested in these cases, the firm also holds coveted court-appointed leadership positions in the litigation. Keller, for example, is serv ing as the Chair of the Law-and-Briefing committee in the Zantac multi-district litigation. And in the 3M

In recognition of its new emphasis, the firm changed its name earlier this year to Keller Postman. The new name recognizes Ashley Keller, who is a co-found er of the firm and built the powerhouse mass-tort practice, and Warren Postman, who spearheaded the firm’s revolutionary mass-arbitration practice.

In just four years, the founders of Keller Len kner have revolutionized mass practice, pioneering a successful mass-arbitration strategy and adding new dimensions to traditional mass-tort tactics. The results have been astounding. The firm has grown to a 100-strong team of profes sionals and has secured recoveries for over 500,000 individuals. Building off that success, the firm is doubling down on its commitment to mass practice and developing innovative techniques for mass arbitrations that will be applied to mass torts, as well. As co-founder and CEO Adam Gerchen put it, “We fundamentally believe that the scale of mass actions will continue to grow, so our core focus – which has remained steadfast –is and always will be on innovation, excellence and significant investment in ensuring the highest-levels of execution for our clients.”

“It’s a natural progression that mirrors some of the changes occurring in the broader legal ecosystem,” says Gerchen. “We have always prided ourselves on evolving as individuals and in our various businesses, so it was a straightforward decision for us in name, role and function.”

Warren Postman (left) and Ashley Keller

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Iterating on its success with mass arbitrations, Keller Postman now partners with firms who have filed class actions in court and face the risk of a defendant’s seeking to compel arbitration. “When we appear as co-counsel in class action cases, our track record in mass arbitrations changes the calculus for de fendants,” explains Postman. “A motion to compel arbitration no longer represents a get-out-of-jail-free card, so we are seeing some defendants choose instead to resolve claims on a classwide basis.”

Postman upended what had effectively become a form of corporate immu nity by giving individuals access to arbitrations. He represents individual claimants and helps put their cases before arbitrators, en masse. That forc es corporate defendants to pay their share of arbitration fees and finally face the prospect of legal liability for their illegal conduct, leaving those defendants – as reported by the New York Times – “scared to death.”

of our job is to make it easier for clients to complete the many administrative tasks that are necessary to perfect their claim. Those administrative tasks may not be as glamourous as developing a novel legal argument, but they are every bit as crucial to deliv ering for our clients.”

The firm is committed to “continuing to scale our client services capabilities, which helps level the playing field for plaintiffs squaring off against big corporations and means more of our clients will succeed in their claims,” says Postman. The firm will also be expanding its data, IT and litigation-support functions, which will increase the impact of its legal Gerchenteam. agrees, noting how the synergies between the firm’s innovations in mass arbitrations and its innovations in mass torts promise to accelerate the firm’s success in both. “The core foundation of what’s made our mass-arbitration practice successful, aside from Warren as its architect, is the immense invest ment we have made in our platform across sourcing litigation, Keller and his team have similarly taken a leadership role in briefing and appeals. Keller ascribes the firm’s success not only to its re markable collection of talent, but also to its reputation among mass-tort leaders across the country and the partnerships that it has developed as a result. “We have deepened our referral relationships, which allows us to better serve an even larger group of clients,” says Keller. “This ensures that we represent one of the largest cohorts of plaintiffs in every tort we are active in, giving us a stronger bargaining position for those we represent. And that leads to what I’m most proud of – the unparalleled results we have achieved for hundreds of thousands of clients,” says Keller. On the mass-arbitration side, Postman’s vision of taking on once-untouchable mega-companies – such as Amazon – has for the first time given hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans a realistic avenue to vindicate their rights. For decades, corporations have closed the courthouse doors to individual claimants over disputes about wages or deceptive practices by requiring them to arbitrate such claims and then imposing large fees on them to access the arbitrators. Postman upended what had effectively become a form of corporate immunity by giving individuals access to arbitrations. He represents individual claim ants and helps put their cases before arbitrators, en masse. That forces corporate defendants to pay their share of arbitration fees and finally face the prospect of legal liability for their illegal conduct, leaving those defendants – as reported by the New York Times – “scared to death.” After failed attempts to evade their own arbitration clauses, defendants have begun discarding them altogether simply to avoid facing a mass-arbitration campaign. Amazon, for example, dropped its arbitration requirement for all of its customers after the firm filed more than 75,000 arbitration demands against it for illegally recording customers with its Alexa devices. “Countless plaintiffs each year give up on valid claims they have against large corporations because pur suing those claims is too expensive, burdensome, or not worth the hassle. A working mother with a sick child may not be able to gather all the relevant medical records from numerous healthcare pro viders. A busy delivery driver might not have time to document all his expenses. Or a consumer who was overbilled might give up after being unable to track down a billing statement,” says Postman. “As a firm that represents individual plaintiffs, a key part

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Postman expects the firm’s growth to continue in D.C. It is also seeking top talent for its office in Texas, headed by Zina Bash, former Senior Counsel to the Attorney General of Texas and a former clerk on the D.C. Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

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Postman joined the firm at its founding from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, where he was Vice President and Chief Counsel for Appellate Litigation. A former clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, he also spent four years at Jones Day in Washington, D.C. As the head of Keller Postman’s Washington office, he has built a talented, experienced team, that quickly achieved significant victories for the firm’s clients. “D.C. has been a great market for finding highly ac complished lawyers who are looking for the sort of creative, entrepreneurial practice Keller Postman offers,” says Postman, who firm associates commend for his approach to recruiting. “I have never taken a hard-sell approach to recruiting and prefer just to have an open discussion about fit,” says Postman. “Our firm is not for everyone – we are an intense group of people who operate with a sense of urgency and are always looking for a new challenge. But for people who thrive in that envi ronment, our firm offers an opportunity to be part of an elite team, exciting and rewarding work, and unparalleled opportunities for professional growth. Adam Gerchen

The firm will also be opening an office in Miami, to support its growing docket there.

When we find someone who’s the right fit, I think the firm tends to sell itself.”

“The ingredients for continued growth and success remain the same: work with an unmatched team of dedicated professionals who will deliver great outcomes to our clients,” says Keller. and origination, IT infrastructure and people, both on the lawyer and operations sides,” says Gerchen. “We in turn have used that scaled, institutionalized approach to intake and processing – and our intel lectual capital – to succeed at the highest levels in mass torts.”

Commenting on the firm’s trajectory, Postman notes: “Our firm has grown rapidly based on the quality of our team, but our growth has been fairly organic. That has required our lawyers to be jacks-of-all-trades and has led to a certain amount of reinventing the wheel. Our focus now is on moving to an organizational structure and culture that will allow us to scale to the next level. We will also be empowering the many rising stars at the firm – both lawyers and non-lawyers – to step up and take on greater responsibility in the organization,” says Postman.

While excited about the firm’s next phase, its leaders understand the importance of the sturdy foundation that has enabled it to achieve such rapid success.

The Modern Law Firm. Refocused. Insightful enough to reinvent the law ﬁrm paradigm. Nimble enough to take on everything in our path. Bold enough to recover $45 billion for our clients.

BY JAMES LANGFORD Ed Korsinsky

PHOTOS BY NICK COLEMAN

The question of whether nature or nurture wields the most influence over personal development is at least as old as the debates between Plato, who believed innate traits were dominant, and his pupil Aristotle in the 4th century BCE. In Ed Korsinsky’s case, the difference is immaterial since they led to the same outcome.

An enterprising lawyer with a passion for digital technology, Korsinsky founded a plaintiff securities firm in 2003 with partner Joe Levi that has pioneered a technology platform enabling clients to identify portfolio holdings involved in litigation, track case development and recover damages.

Levi & Korsinsky has leveraged technology to fuel its blockbuster plaintiffs-side practice.

TAKING ON WALL STREET

American Dream

As a young lawyer, Korsinsky quickly realized that junior lawyers don’t always have the skills to write a stellar brief or try a case, but he knew he had a skillset that some of his peers lacked. “I said, ‘Look, I can apply technology in a way that would add value on the legal end,’” he explains.

“I just felt like I could do more, I could change the world, impact the world in a different way, if I were a lawyer,” he says. Another factor was “being raised in a home where the legal profession was looked up to.”

In addition to notching landmark victories includ ing a $79M recovery in E-Trade Financial Corp. securities litigation and indemnifying Google Inc. investors for up to $522M in losses in a corporate governance matter, the firm prides itself on client communications in complex cases that can take years to resolve. “We have over 160,000 retail clients in our system,” Korsinsky says. “Rather than making them call us regularly, we realized the next level was having a system where information is pushed to them that they can read at their leisure. I think clients appreciate that: They don’t always want to be talking to lawyers. People are shy or busy, and we’re busy, so we put that into the equation. Technology is one way to oil that machine, smooth out the process and make that interaction a lot richer.”

“That was the environment I grew up in: I actually had some consulting gigs when I was a teenag er, fixing and writing software for some clients in the neighborhood,” Korsinsky says. “I became the computer geek.”

CORE Development

He still remembers his father’s frustration the day he disassembled a computer simply because he loved tinkering with the parts.

36 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM

By the time Korsinsky had to decide on a career, it was clear that technology and the law were the two most likely options.

Added Value “I was very interested in the law, in the intellectual portion of it, but for some reason I always came back to, ‘How can I make this more efficient? How can I add something that’s unique and valuable?’”

In keeping with that philosophy, the firm maintains a room at its lower Manhattan offices where personnel tinker with software systems and hardware, ensuring that its technological services remain cutting-edge.

“I was always very interested in the American dream,” says Korsinsky, who traces his successes to his child hood and his parents.

Technology continued to play a role, though, from the firm early in his career where he implemented a customer relationship management, or CRM, system that fostered better communication with clients to Korsinsky’s co-founding of CORE, the platform that Levi & Korsinsky leverages today.

Years later, it’s that focus on unique value-adds that differentiates Levi & Korsinsky from its rivals.

The son of Russian immigrants, the managing partner of Levi & Korsinsky grew up watching his father – who had been a professor of electrical and mechanical engineering before moving to New York – represent himself in landlord-tenant court.

The elder Korsinsky was thrilled to be in a country where he could speak his mind and assert his rights in court, often wishing he had been a lawyer. His true passion, though, was technology. “We had one of the first IBM PCs, as soon as it came out,” Korsinsky recalls. “He got a government grant to get that in our house. It cost $5,000 for a comput er without a hard drive, just two floppy-disk drives.”

Over the years, he helped his father seek several patents for software and hardware involving facial recognition, he says, and “we learned a lot together. We worked on those projects together, and I was tinkering with cameras attached to a PC that was digitizing pictures and images before, I think, any civilian was.”

Hands-on participation is key, too. To build CORE, the firm relied on over 20 developers rather than outsourcing. “We’re not very big believers in outsourcing,” Kors insky says. “I think you have to be there. You have to be involved. What sets us apart is that all the way, from the top down, it’s software that’s written with real lawyer buy-in and interaction as opposed to some consultant coming in, you telling them what you want and them coming back with a big binder that you sign off on. It’s a different level: You really have to roll up your sleeves.”

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‘Game-Changing Events’

“These are game-changing events for people,” Kors insky says. “Families have been broken. Dreams have been shattered. I’ve spoken to many people who had to change their entire trajectory because of a stock.”

Because the firm’s attorneys helped develop CORE, it’s easier to input developments from court, which are then fed seamlessly to clients who “get to see real-time what we’re doing for them,” Korsinsky says. Better-informed clients pay dividends by making the firm smarter, he adds. “I’ve had clients tell me, ‘Now that I really understand what you’re trying to do, what about this? What about that?’ They’re engaged, and more engaged clients make us look at the case, perhaps, from a different perspective. Some clients may be industry insiders who bring special experience, information or knowledge and that makes us better lawyers, helps us be more effective at what we do.”

Class-action cases can be lifesavers for small inves tors who don’t have the ability to litigate their own claims, he says, allowing them to band together and muster the financial clout to make pursuing a lengthy, complex court action worthwhile.

Simply being tech-savvy can make a difference in case outcomes. In one matter, Levi & Korsinsky ne gotiated a $35M settlement after using metadata – which can include dates and times of file creation and alteration as well as identifying people who made modifications – to show that a company and Adam Apton

“Whereas, on the plaintiff side, we have personal cli ents – a 70-odd-year-old gentleman from Wisconsin who has lost his 401(k) because he invested in, take your pick of, any number of companies that was up to no good and his retirement savings are on the line,” Apton adds. “Winning in a case like this feels great.”

Taking on Tesla Among the headline-making class actions on Levi & Korsinsky’s docket now is fraud litigation against Tesla Inc. over CEO Elon Musk’s August 2018 Twitter posts announcing he had secured funding to take the electric-car maker private for $420 a share, a substantial premium to its price at the time.

While securities law may not have the visceral appeal of personal-injury or environmental litigation, viola tions of investment laws and corporate malpractice can take a huge toll on families who rely on their portfolios to fund major life milestones, from buying a house to paying for a child’s college education and retirement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, which deemed the statements largely untrue, subsequently settled its own claims against Musk and Tesla for cash fines of $20M each and corporate governance

For him, and for the firm’s partners, the opportunity to help such investors is what makes plaintiffs’ law “Onattractive.thedefense side, every case is a number in a much larger loss run that is one sheet in a much larger Excel spreadsheet, and it’s your job to make that number as small as possible,” says Adam Ap ton, a New York-based partner who joined Levi & Korsinsky after stints at a defense firm specializing in mass tort and Heller Ehrman, a century-old San Francisco-based firm that didn’t survive the 2008 financial crisis.

its lawyers had been less than forthright about what documents should have been available to the firm and its clients.

LEGALEXCEPTIONALJOURNALISMSINCE2005 lawdragon.com

changes that included Musk relinquishing the title of chairman for three years.

Spinning vs. Misleading “Some companies, no question, are going to take advantage of that and are not going to be completely honest,” he adds. “Our cases often focus on where does spin stop and fraud begin? Companies are allowed to spin, but not to mislead. Where the line starts and stops is often complex and not always obvious and social media just allows further ways of Separately,spin.”

Beyond the macroeconomic benefits, Levi & Korsinsky emphasizes the firm’s impact on individuals. “It’s the human aspect that I always focus on, and I try to impart that to everybody here,” Korsinsky says. “We’re not just going to court to win on esoteric, or maybe not esoteric, legal issues. There are people behind this.”

Cases involving the painkillers have surged in the past several years as state governments joined with Washington to fight a surge in opioid deaths that totaled nearly 500,000 from 1999 to 2019 alone, according to figures from the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The first wave started with a jump in prescriptions for opioids, the agency said, and governments have subsequently accused medication producers in law suits of misleading stakeholders from patients to healthcare providers about the risks involved. Pharmacies face their own challenges. The Levi & Korsinsky litigation includes claims that some filled opiate prescriptions even though they were riddled with red flags, Nespole says. “There are many critics of plaintiff’s litigation, but get rid of us and see what happens to the economy, see what happens to consumers, see what happens to investors,” he says. “You’ll go back to a world of pure caveat emptor.”

40 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM through America and the world, that’s going to hit the way you reach investors and analysts,” Porritt says.

Levi & Korsinsky is lead counsel in the shareholder matter, filed in September 2018 in U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

“It’s quite a momentous case,” says Nick Porritt, a D.C.-based partner who began his legal career in New Zealand and joined Levi & Korsinsky in 2012. “We’ve more or less finished fact discovery, we’re winding up expert discovery and going full-steam ahead toward trial.”

the firm is involved in opioid litiga tion, representing shareholders in suits against the boards of medication-makers including Ameri sourceBergen and against Walmart, whose pharma cies filled prescriptions for the narcotic painkillers, says Greg Nespole, who grew up on New York’s Upper East Side and moved into securities litigation after defending suspects in organized crime and racketeering cases.

The matter raises interesting questions about the future of legal requirements for corporate dis closures, which the SEC mandated be available to all shareholders simultaneously, rather than a select few, with Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) in October 2000. Often, companies have complied via public pre sentations and required filings with the SEC, which had to be made within two days and were carefully scrutinized by lawyers beforehand. The agency has, however, allowed disclosure via so cial media platforms including Twitter and “with the fracture of corporate and advertising communication Nick Porrit

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That includes the firm’s employees as well as its clients. Part of the vision he and Levi had was building a firm that would be more fun to work for. Not in the gimmicky, video-games-and-beanbags manner of tech companies but through policies that would accommodate staffers’ preferences on attire and scheduling, for example.

Korsinsky views that as a huge letdown. “Why not give them the credit they’re due,” he asked. “They persevered: Why not give them more responsibility instead of less responsibility?”

The results of that decision have shown that both nature and nurture depend on a third, and often more random, variable: opportunity. “The ones who are given opportunities and get out there and really shine are then given more opportu nities,” Korsinsky says. “They add such tremendous value and grow into amazing lawyers.”

The firm allowed remote work before Covid-19 made the practice ubiquitous as well as flexible scheduling. “We work hard so I don’t want any of the extraneous requirements that come with a stuffy office, the kind of culture that comes from the top down,” he says. In a professional setting, “I think what fun means is that the people around you care about what your issues are, and take the time to help you address them,” Korsinsky explains. On occasion, he concedes, “we’ve been burned by doing this, but that’s fine. As long as we stay true to our values, ultimately, I feel good about myself and they feel good about themselves.”

“So one of the factors that I think was important for us was to get into a practice where we had license to do something different,” he says. “In plaintiffs’ class-action work, you don’t have a big client tell you what to do and who they want to see and a gener al counsel who’s directing traffic in a very intimate way, so you have a lot more freedom. We’ve taken advantage of that.”

The reason, predictably, is that allocating responsi bility based on age is what high-dollar clients expect.

Building a Better Workplace

Korsinsky himself remembers how often he was shut down as a young attorney and sees value in hiring people in a similar position who have the drive to succeed. In finance industry jargon, it amounts to arbitrage. “Yes, they still need experience and they’re missing some things, but there’s so much more that they can offer than firms give them credit for,” he says. “You have really smart people who go through law school, do very well in law school and persevere. They graduate, sometimes with honors, and they go out and get their first job and they’re told, ‘OK, go sit in the back room and do document review.’”

Levi & Korsinsky also prides itself on fostering the next generation of lawyers. Greg Nespole “There are many critics of plaintiff’s litigation, but get rid of us and see what happens to the economy, see what hap pens to consumers, see what happens to investors. You’ll go back to a world of pure caveat emptor.”

42 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM

LAWYERS

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Katherine Lubin Benson, Elizabeth J. Cabraser, Lin Y. Chan, Daniel P. Chiplock, Nimish R. Desai, Nicholas Diamand, Eric B. Fastiff, Steven E. Fineman, Rachel Geman, Brendan P. Glackin, Dean M. Harvey, Lexi J. Hazam, Richard M. Heimann, Sharon M. Lee, Bruce W. Leppla, Michael Miarmi, Robert J. Nelson, David Rudolph, Jonathan D. Selbin, Daniel E. Seltz, Michael W. Sobol, and David S. Stellings MUNICH

Recognized Robbins Geller attorneys include: A. Rick Atwood Jr., Aelish Marie Baig, Randall Baron, James Barz, Alexandra Bernay, Luke Brooks, Spencer Burkholz, Patrick Coughlin, Patrick Daniels, Stuart Davidson, Mark Dearman, Michael Dowd, Travis Downs III, Daniel Drosman, Jason Forge, Paul Geller, Benny Goodman III, Elise Grace, Tor Gronborg, Robert Henssler Jr., James Jaconette, Rachel Jensen, Chad Johnson, Laurie Largent, Arthur Leahy, David Mitchell, Brian O’Mara, Willow Radcliffe, Jack Reise, Darren Robbins, Robert Robbins, Samuel Rudman, Joseph Russello, Scott Saham, Jessica Shinnefield, Mark Solomon, Shawn Williams, David Wissbroecker, and Debra Wyman.

Congratulations to all the attorneys recognized, including the 39 Robbins Geller attorneys named Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America. Attorney Advertising rgrdlaw.com | 1-800-449-4900 RECOVERING ASSETS | REFORMING BUSINESS | RESTORING CONFIDENCE

LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 45 500

And who better to lead the charge than Robbins Geller’s Paul Geller who joined with fellow lead counsel and Plaintiff 500 members Elizabeth Cabraser of Lieff Cabraser; Joe Rice of Motley Rice; and Chris Seeger and Jennifer Scullion of Seeger Weiss to fashion a $26B settlement in the sprawling Opioid litigation.

These 500 lawyers are the best in the nation – many would say the world – at representing plaintiffs in securities and other business litigation, antitrust, whistleblower claims and increasingly complex financial litigation and data privacy invasions. When we posted online the list you find in these pages, we expected this moment to be full of piss and vinegar. We got that at least half right. Their practices are roaring, but the Covid-19 clog has been real. Despite that, monstrous settlements and a few trials began to emerge last year and carry into 2022.

This guide is 33 percent female and 15 percent inclusive. Plaintiff financial members of our Lawdragon Hall of Fame are also included here, designated with an asterisk.

46 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Michael Absmeier GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS Amir Alavi HOUSTONAZA J. Daniel Albert KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Anthony Alden QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Abe Alexander BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Fields Alexander BECKHOUSTONREDDEN Jeff Almeida GRANT & WILMINGTONEISENHOFER Parvin Aminolroaya SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Naumon Amjed KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Demetrios Anaipakos HOUSTONAZA Jeffrey Angelovich NIX AUSTINPATTERSON Michael Angelovich NIX AUSTINPATTERSON Maribeth Annaguey BROWNE GEORGE LOS ANGELES Seth Ard SUSMAN GODFREY NEW YORK Gregory Asciolla LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK J. Clayton Athey PRICKETTWILMINGTONJONES A. Rick Atwood Jr. ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Gary L. Azorsky COHENPHILADELPHIAMILSTEIN

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 47 Aelish Marie Baig ROBBINS GELLER SAN FRANCISCO Clayton Bailey BAILEYDALLASBRAUER Sean Baldwin SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Barney Balonick BALONICK LAW OFFICES LOS ANGELES Lauren Guth Barnes HAGENS CAMBRIDGE,BERMANMASS. Alexander Barnett NEWCOTCHETTYORK Barry Barnett SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Randall Baron ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO David Barrett BOIESNEWSCHILLERYORK Michael Barry GRANT & WILMINGTONEISENHOFER James Barz ROBBINSCHICAGOGELLER Zina Bash KELLERAUSTINLENKNER Samuel Baxter* MCKOOL MARSHALL,SMITHTEXAS Bradley Beckworth NIX AUSTINPATTERSON Matthew Behncke SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Eric J. Belfi LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Katherine L. Benson LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Daniel Berger* BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE

Ophelia Camiña SUSMAN GODFREY (HOUSTON)

“This was before we had access to the underlying evidence, so we had our hands tied behind our back,” she says. “We had to act fast and work smart.”

In one shining incident of this prowess, she was able to secure a take-nothing award for a mortgage loan company that was being sued under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act for over a billion dollars.

Camiña charts out her plaintiff cases early with lots of document review and informal interviews, ﬁnding the facts and determining which depositions and witnesses she’ll need. She learned to use the same method in her defense work. “This helps me get in front of the plaintiffs’ lawyers” when working for the defense, she says. “I can often uncover a treasure trove of evidence that can help turn a case completely around.”

“The Act is really just an anti-hacking statute,” says Camiña, “but it carries statutory damages for each access.” Meaning those damages add up, fast.

The key difference between the sets of software was that the client’s used a superior method of storing information, which made it inherently more valuable.

Camiña’s ﬁrst step was to interview the developers of her client’s software.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM

Over 30 trials later, working deftly on both sides of the V, Camiña has made it her mission to pass the wisdom she accumulated in her own highly successful career to a future generation of attorneys. Alongside all her career wins, Camiña has been a longtime organizer, mentor and advocate for inclusiveness in the legal field. The first in her family to attend law school, she credits her scholarship and the mentorship of her professors with helping her reach the finish line. Now she’s focused on passing on that help. “Mentoring is a responsibility, an investment in the future,” she says. “I consider my work helping advance the careers of women and people of color to be my most important legacy.”

Luckily, that’s a sweet spot for Camiña. Facing $1B damage claim, a lot of ﬁrms would recommend working toward a settlement. But Camiña and her team forged ahead in preparation for trial.

The case was ﬁled in Federal Court, and in a “rare move,” says Camiña, the judge entered a temporary injunction, preventing her client from using its software system in the interim.

OPHELIA CAMIÑA LEARNED EARLY IN HER career to prioritize results over tasks – one of the many lessons she absorbed as a protégé of the legendary Steve Susman. “He taught us all to work very smart, fast and strategic,” says Camiña, “that was his motto. It’s not about pushing paper or meeting deadlines, it’s about the steps that will get us closer to the goal.”

She hired Dr. Michael Stonebraker, a highly respected computer scientist specializing in database systems. An adjunct professor at MIT, Stonebraker’s research has been essential to the development of many relational databases. He also founded several successful database companies and received a Turing Award for his database work.

Camiña is a partner at Susman Godfrey, a former member of the Executive Committee, and one of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers. Among many successes in her career, she secured a $239M jury verdict for department store Dillard’s to recoup losses from a faulty software sale, and won a hard-fought $15M jury verdict for software maker GlobeRanger over a trade secret dispute. Susman was a pioneer in the art of handling commercial cases on a contingency fee basis, and Camiña has taken up that torch. She believes that thorough preparation is essential, whether she’s defending a client or pursuing a case for them. “I cut my teeth on plaintiffs’ contingent fee work,” she says, “where you need to keep things lean and agile. I’ve found that works well for a defendant, too.”

“I became convinced of two things,” she says. “First, that our client had written their system from scratch, in what’s called the clean room environment, which meant they did it on their own. And second, that any similarities between our system and the plaintiff’s system were solely due to their purpose.”

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 49 OPHELIA CAMIÑA BY ALISON PREECE

While many of Camiña’s cases have gone to trial and she always prepares as if they will, the big wins often come before that point. Her client – which we won’t name here for conﬁdentiality reasons – had been accused of copying the plaintiff’s software system when creating a competing system. Both systems stored pertinent information for their mortgage loan business, such as the names, addresses, employers and income of prospective borrowers.

50 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Daniel Berger* GRANT & NEWEISENHOFERYORK Max Berger* BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Steve Berman HAGENSSEATTLEBERMAN Stuart Berman KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Norman Berman* BERMANBOSTONTABACCO Alexandra Bernay ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Matthew Berry SUSMANSEATTLEGODFREY Gene Besen BRADLEYDALLAS Julia Beskin QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Vineet Bhatia SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Michael Blatchley BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Jeffrey Block BLOCK & BOSTONLEVITON David Bocian KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. David Boies* BOIESARMONK,SCHILLERN.Y. Swathi Bojedla WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Craig Boneau REIDAUSTINCOLLINS Amanda Bonn SUSMAN GODFREY LOS ANGELES Rebecca Boon BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK

One of her other crucial mentors was the Hon. Judge Jerry Buchmeyer, whom she clerked for in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 51

Teaching Facts and Taking Names

She strives to be seen as a “trusted teacher” in the courtroom, which she achieves by focusing on the most important issues, not wasting time on minutiae, and “never, never overselling my case,” she says. In this way, she builds trust and credibility.

“If I’ve done my job during trial,” says Camiña, “then I have the credibility by closing to paint the picture for the judge or jury, because they’re more open to listening to how I think they should decide the dispute.”Shecredits

The nature of the dispute required a pre-suit mediation. “We chose a mediator who was very cerebral, super smart, could grasp difﬁcult patent concepts and felt comfortable navigating an area of the law that was not well deﬁned,” says Camiña.

“Judge Jerry taught me so many lessons,” says Camiña, “about the art of storytelling and levity, and about how the legal profession demands hard work and dedication. But ﬁrst and foremost, he taught me to never lose sight of myself. Today we would call it being well-grounded.”

The nonproﬁ t research center had patented an important advancement in the ﬁeld of immunotherapy and had licensed that patent to a major pharmaceutical company, which in turn developed a blockbuster drug. The pharma company stopped paying the center royalties under its reading of the license agreement. “We read the license agreement much differently,” says Camiña, to the tune of “a big damage number with many, many zeros.”

Many of Camiña’s cases involve complex technology, and while she doesn’t have any formal tech training, she considers that a strength. “If I can learn it,” she says, “then I can break it down and teach it to the jury, or to the judge.”

“He was the absolute authority on relational databases,” says Camiña. Still, “we were venturing outside the box. He was not a professional expert, had never testified before. And he certainly didn’t need the money.” He wasn’t even aware of the lawsuit before Camiña approached him. She fl ew to Massachusetts, explained the facts of the case to him, and told him how his testimony could make all the difference. He accepted the “Wechallenge.couldhave hired any number of experts on database systems and they would’ve been persuasive,” says Camiña, “but nobody can outclass the inventor in his knowledge of the technology.” They were ultimately able to prove that the software was sufficiently different. They got attorney’s fees covered in the process.

Sounds about right – she is endlessly patient, warm and kind, but knows when to unequivocally lay down the law. All those traits were called on in a case she handled for a leading independent U.S. biomedical research center (another client which shall go unnamed here because the details of the case, which settled before trial, are not public).

The center was at a critical juncture, as it had just gotten a rare certiﬁcation for cancer research and was in the process of a major capital campaign to build a new cancer research site.

Camiña and her team were in somewhat new legal territory, but “we took what law there was and built our arguments,” which had to do with overlapping patents in different jurisdictions, around it.

As inﬂuential as these mentors were, Camiña has naturally developed methods and a style that is all her own. “I have one associate who told me he always knew when I was going in for the kill on cross examination because, he said, ‘I could always hear that mommy voice coming out.’”

Susman with instilling in her that preparation and organized efﬁciency are essential to “Hewinning.hada saying,” Camiña recalls: “‘One riot, one ranger,’ which boiled down to being lean, focused and efﬁcient.” She still organizes her trials the way he laid out, with a formal task list including dedicated assignments and deadlines, so everyone has their marching orders and is held accountable – and celebrated – for their part in the work.

Steady and methodical, turning over every stone, they were able to reach a favorable settlement before ﬁling suit. And the nonproﬁ t research center was able to continue its work — which included contributing research to the mRNA vaccines for Covid-19.

52 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Lawrence Brandman CADWALADERNEWYORK Jeniphr Breckenridge HAGENSSEATTLEBERMAN John Briody MCKOOL SMITH NEW YORK Daniel Brockett QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Davida Brook SUSMAN GODFREY LOS ANGELES Luke Brooks ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Allison Brouk KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS Alex Brown THE LANIER LAW FIRM HOUSTON Benjamin Brown COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Deborah K. Brown QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Ronald A. Brown Jr. PRICKETTWILMINGTONJONES John Browne BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Devon Bruce POWERCHICAGOROGERS Joshua Bruckerhoff REIDAUSTINCOLLINS Gustavo Bruckner POMERANTZNEWYORK David Buchanan SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Jacob Buchdahl SUSMAN GODFREY NEW YORK Michael Buchman MOTLEY RICE NEW YORK

She helped start a Diversity Fellowship for 1L students, which featured a paid summer internship for diverse students to learn the ropes of the ﬁeld – and stay in touch with the ﬁrm. Several have gone on to become associates. She is also a founding member of the Dallas Hispanic Bar Foundation that raises scholarship money to ensure that Hispanic students can attend law school.

Act III brings together senior women lawyers from different ﬁrms and practice areas. Rather than simply a way to get ahead in their careers, the group’s purpose was to help one another. “The reorientation taps into the inner soul of women,” she says. “It just unleashed a dynamic force.”

Camiña is also the chair of Susman Godfrey’s Training Committee – which holds its own set of challenges in the wake of two years of remote and hybrid working.

“I knew that mentoring women at this juncture, reframing it as a temporary valley that we can get through together, would lead to them staying in the game and advancing their careers.”

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As part of her longtime work championing women and people of color in the legal industry, Camiña has formed two impactful leadership programs for women, Act III and WE LEAD, and served many years as a chair of the ﬁrm’s Diversity Committee.

“For women, retention is the focus,” says Camiña. “But for other groups that I’m passionate about helping, such as Hispanics, it’s more of a pipeline issue: not enough of them are going to college and on to law school.”

Last year, they also started a program called War Story Nights, where senior partners impart hardfought wisdom from their time in courtrooms.

“Most importantly,” says Camiña, “we are listening to the associates about what we can do to better advance their learning and reconnect them to the personal interactions that are so integral to our firm.”

WE LEAD, which operates in partnership with the Dallas Bar Association, is dedicated to empowering women to lead in the legal profession through a series of leadership seminars. The focus is on retention. “I observed that around the eight- to 15-year mark of a woman’s career, there’s a critical crossroads,” says Camiña. “Work and family obligations start to collide, with young kids at home and partnership possibilities at work, and a lot of women end up dropping out of the race.

After all her success in and out of the courtroom, Camiña to this day gets butterﬂ ies on the eve of trial. “Steve [Susman] taught us that trial is really theater,” she says. “With everything we do, we have to think about the ultimate audience. You can never lose sight of who it is you’re trying to persuade.”

The fi rm is also launching a session called “Finding Your Style,” which features diverse partners from the fi rm discussing how they found their individual footing in the fi eld, and how that led to their success.

The program builds on the success of Camiña’s tenure on the Diversity Committee, where she launched important programs that addressed the need for a more diverse talent pool.

Passing on the Knowledge

The WE LEAD seminars include resiliency training, featuring lectures from scientists from the University of Texas Center for Brain Health discussing actionable ways to manage mental stress and overload. They’re giving working mothers the tools to “have it all.” “You can do it all,” says Camiña, “but you don’t have to do it all at the same time.”

Act III was created to help fill the gap between male and female rainmakers, which Camiña recognized came down to client attribution stemming from referrals. “Men do a really good job of referring cases to one another,” says Camiña, “and for whatever reason, women just often aren’t programmed in the same way. I decided I wanted to change that pattern.”

The partner track at Susman is six years, which means that some associates have had a third of their careers thus far without any in-person training or work experience. She’s spearheaded a number of training programs to help these associates get “dirt under their ﬁngernails,” as she puts it, while still remaining sensitive to the ongoing realities of the pandemic. They’ve implemented “Ofﬁ ce Hours,” where associates can get an hour of one-on-one time with partners (often on Zoom for now) to discuss anything from oral arguments to career goals.

54 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Cory Buland SUSMAN GODFREY NEW YORK S. Douglas Bunch COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Spencer Burkholz ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Warren Burns BURNSDALLASCHAREST Elaine Byszewski HAGENS PASADENA,BERMANCALIF. Elizabeth Cabraser* LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Diane Cafferata QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Peter Calamari* QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Regina Calcaterra CALCATERRA POLLACK NEW YORK Ophelia Camiña SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Jeffrey Campisi KAPLAN FOX NEW YORK Michael Canty LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Robert Carey HAGENSPHOENIXBERMAN Michael Carlinsky QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Bill Carmody SUSMAN GODFREY EW YORK George Carpinello BOIESALBANY,SCHILLERN.Y. Shanon Carson BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Johnny Carter SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY name name FIRM FIRM FIRM (CITY)

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 55 Laura Kissel Cassidy GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS Gregory Castaldo KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Ryan Caughey SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Lin Chan LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Daniel Charest BURNSDALLASCHAREST Peter Wilson Chatfield PHILLIPS & WASHINGTON,COHEND.C. Daniel Chiplock LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Michael Ciresi* CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Joy Clairmont BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Deborah Clark-Weintraub SCOTT + SCOTT NEW YORK Mary Louise Cohen PHILLIPS & WASHINGTON,COHEND.C. David Colapinto KOHN, KOHN & WASHINGTON,COLAPINTOD.C. Scott Cole QUINNAUSTINEMANUEL Todd S. Collins BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Erin Green Comite SCOTT + COLCHESTER,SCOTTCONN. Jan Conlin* CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Nathan Cook BLOCK & WILMINGTONLEVITON Melinda Coolidge WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C.

56 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Christopher Cormier BURNS WASHINGTON,CHARESTD.C. Joseph Cotchett* BURLINGAME,COTCHETTCALIF. Patrick Coughlin* ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Eric L. Cramer BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Gary Cruciani MCKOOLDALLASSMITH Sam Cruse III GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS Patrick Dahlstrom* POMERANTZCHICAGO Patrick Daniels ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Kenneth David NEWKASOWITZYORK Merrill Davidoff* BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Stuart Davidson ROBBINS GELLER BOCA RATON A.J. de Bartolomeo TADLER LAW SAN FRANCISCO Mark Dearman ROBBINS GELLER BOCA RATON Timothy DeLange WOLLMUTH MAHER CARLSBAD, CALIF. Michael Dell’Angelo BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Marisa DeMato SAXENA WHITE NEW YORK Nimish Desai LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Nicholas Diamand LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 57 Jeffrey Dickstein PHILLIPS & MIAMICOHEN Kirk Dillman MCKOOL SMITH LOS ANGELES Manuel J. Dominguez COHEN MILSTEIN PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLA. Kathleen Donovan-Maher BERMANBOSTONTABACCO Diane Doolittle QUINN EMANUEL REDWOOD SHORES, CALIF. Mike Dowd* ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Travis Downs III ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Michelle Drake BERGERMINNEAPOLISMONTAGUE Daniel Drosman ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Thomas Dubbs* LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Suzanne Dugan COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Andrew Dunlap SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Karen Dunn PAUL WASHINGTON,WEISSD.C. Rogge Dunn ROGGE DUNN GROUP DALLAS Karen Dyer CADWALADERNEWYORK Amy Easton PHILLIPS & WASHINGTON,COHEND.C. Jay Edelson EDELSONCHICAGO Jay Eisenhofer* GRANT & NEWEISENHOFERYORK

Jeremy Lieberman POMERANTZ (NEW YORK)

LD: I know you’re also seeing a lot of securities work in the ESG space. Can you talk about what areas clients are most focused on?

INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS ARE OFTEN IN THE best position to drive change in a company, and they want to hire the best and the brightest legal team to navigate the sophisticated tangle of the markets, regulators, and corporate structures to bring about lasting reform.

PHOTO BY LAURA BARISONZI

Lawdragon: What trends are you seeing these days in securities class actions? Jeremy Lieberman: The main trend we’re seeing is with SPACs. SPACs were dominating the market in 2020 and 2021, and they’re imploding in 2022. What we’re seeing is most of these SPACs are fraudulent. We are lead counsel in the Nikola case, we’re lead counsel in the Clover case, both large SPAC companies.

LD: Wow. JL: What’s amazing is just how corporate America got so caught up in the frenzy without doing due diligence. Amazon just took a $4B impairment on their Rivian investments, and Rivian is also ripe with fraud. Everyone’s desperate to keep up with the trends and whatever’s exciting and new, leading to major investments in fraudulent companies.

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JEREMY LIEBERMAN BY ALISON PREECE

These days, Lieberman continues to fight for the rights of institutional investors from every angle. Current trends in his practice include litigation over the implosion of SPACs, or Special Purpose Acquisition Companies, which have soared in popularity in recent years due to their limited regulatory requirements – a fraud bomb waiting to happen. The firm is also laser focused on ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance), as these issues are proving increasingly important to the investor community.MuchofLieberman’s work focuses on the control a majority shareholder has, and whether that control is leading to fraud, insider dealing or profiteering. Lieberman started his career defending opioid lawsuits, but “I found myself rooting for the plaintiffs,” he says. He knew he needed a change and landed on a plaintiffs securities practice because he was attracted to the sophistication of the work, and the excitement and interest of dealing with the market. Plus, he’s now “on the right side of the law and justice.”

Enter: Jeremy Lieberman. We sat down for a fascinating conversation with this titan of the plaintiffs bar and Managing Partner of securities litigation powerhouse, Pomerantz. Lieberman was one of the architects for the groundbreaking case against BP on behalf of institutional investors following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The case took to task the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Morrison v. Nat’l Australia Bank Ltd., which shook the global investment community by prohibiting the use of U.S. federal securities laws to recover losses from investments in foreign-traded securities.

JL: Nikola got a multibillion-dollar investment from GM. It was an electrical whole truck company and GM was desperate to show some market value and so they put in over a billion dollars in investments. The investment’s worth nearly nothing now. Nikola never had a product to sell. It was complete fraud. The founder had a video of the truck working, driving down the hill, but the engine wasn’t on, it was just going in neutral and driving. The car didn’t work. He’s now being indicted by the U.S. government.

Now, Goldman Sachs has announced that they won’t underwrite a SPAC. If someone would’ve heard that a year ago, they would’ve fallen off their chair. It shows you how quickly many SPACs have been shown to be fraudulent.

LD: That’s fascinating. As a layperson it always seemed to me that companies were so eager to use SPACs simply because they were less regulated, which of course seems ripe for fraud.

LD: Can you tell us about Nikola?

JL: Exactly. So the current SEC chair, Gary Gensler, is one of the most proactive chairs that we’ve had on either side of the aisle since I’ve been practicing. Even the Democratic-appointed chairmen, who gave lip service to protecting investors and saving them from harm, ultimately bowed to the corporations and let them get away with too much. But Gensler’s really been tough on SPACs, he’s been tough on crypto, he’s been tough on environmental disclosures. We really do have a new sheriff in town with the SEC chair, and investors are more protected than they used to be. He’s been good for the market.

60 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Michael B. Eisenkraft COHEN MILSTEIN NEW YORK Robert Eisler GRANT & WILMINGTONEISENHOFER Dennis Ellis BROWNE GEORGE LOS ANGELES Deborah Elman GRANT & NEWEISENHOFERYORK David Elsberg SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Michael Elsner MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Candice Enders BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Donald Enright LEVI & WASHINGTON,KORSINSKYD.C. John Eubanks MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Donna Evans COHEN MILSTEIN NEW YORK Eric Fastiff LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Julie Feiber BURLINGAME,COTCHETTCALIF. Leonid Feller QUINNCHICAGOEMANUEL Kenneth Fetterman KELLOGG WASHINGTON,HANSEND.C. Edward Filusch NEWKASOWITZYORK Steven Fineman LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Rachel Fleishman REIDNEWCOLLINSYORK Jodi Westbrook Flowers MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C.

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LD: You had such a stunning result in the BP case, which set a precedent that has been used by others many times over. Can you talk about the results that build on that win?

There are a lot of problems in that space, with corporations waiting until the next quarter to say, “Oh, by the way, we had a data breach.” It’s clearly important, and you should disclose it as soon as you’re alerted to it. Now the SEC is working on that as well. The proposed rule is a required disclosure within 48 hours of the breach.

JL: Environmental issues and sexual harassment are very important. But really, it comes down to how a company is structured and what the rights of the shareholders are in a company. Is there too much power to a controlling shareholder? We’ve been involved in a lot of cases lately with Chinese companies where the founding members go on the U.S. markets, they list, make a lot of money. Then at some point they start to depress the valuation of the company in an effort to take it private back on the Shanghai Exchange. Besides fraud, it’s a governance issue because these founders or controlling shareholders have so much power, they can force a favorable vote. So they’re going to win the vote on these take-private transactions. They’re manipulating shareholders. There are a lot of bad actors there, and there’s a lot of sensitivity in the investor community to those issues. We’re involved in a number of cases that are creating new law on those issues. We’re setting standards as to, if a company plans on going private in China, at what point they need to disclose that to investors in the U.S., when they try to buy all the shares and take it private. And to what extent they have to inform investors what their future plans are, and what rights the investors have to challenge those plans and block those transactions.

JL: We have a number of cases surrounding data breaches, focused on when the breach is disclosed to investors, whether it’s in a timely fashion. We were involved in the Yahoo! litigation a few years ago where there was a data breach of essentially all of the Yahoo! email users’ personal information. They were working with the FBI on it for three years, but they never disclosed that to investors, nor to their customers for that matter.

JL: It’s a good question. There will always be bad actors, but what you can do is challenge behavior, and stick up for yourselves and for your other class members. When an institutional investor leads a lawsuit, it’s done responsibly, and with sophistication. You have the resources of the institution. We can ask them, “What does your analyst think about our allegations of fraud? Do they have the ability to pay more money in the settlement or do they not?” You have a much savvier steward of the case when it’s an institutional investor. Many institutional investors and their ﬁduciaries are concerned about ESG issues, and the courts are a great place to bring these up. Whether you’re challenging sexual harassment conduct, an unfair bylaw, or control of a shareholder, and whether it’s done under a securities fraud context or if you want governance reform – either way, there’s a lot of power in the institutional investor. They can bring these issues to the fore, shine light on them, expose them. That is clearly to the beneﬁt of the investment community and to the market generally.

MANY INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS AND THEIR FIDUCIARIES ARE CONCERNED ABOUT ESG ISSUES, AND THE COURTS ARE A GREAT PLACE TO BRING THESE UP…THEY CAN BRING THESE ISSUES TO THE FORE, SHINE LIGHT ON THEM, EXPOSE THEM.

LD: You work primarily with institutional investors. Would you say that group is in a uniquely powerful position to change corporate behavior?

In the Petrobras case, for example, had the institutional investors been able to effectively get good oversight over the company, a lot of the fraud and damage to investors would not have happened, or would’ve been discovered much earlier.

LD: What other types of cases are on your plate these days?

62 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Scott Foglietta BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Parker Folse* SUSMANSEATTLEGODFREY Jason Forge ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Christine Fox LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Frederic Fox KAPLAN FOX NEW YORK David Frederick KELLOGG WASHINGTON,HANSEND.C. William Fredericks SCOTT + SCOTT NEW YORK Andrew N. Friedman COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Michael Fritz MCKOOLDALLASSMITH Qianwei Fu ZELLE SAN FRANCISCO Reena Gambhir WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Jonathan Gardner LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Karin Garvey LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Faith Gay SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Paul Geller ROBBINS GELLER BOCA RATON Rachel Geman LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Eric George BROWNE GEORGE LOS ANGELES Eric Gibbs GIBBS LAW GROUP OAKLAND, CALIF.

My U.S. counterpart gets a recovery and I don’t, and it’s the same company? We need to do something.”

From our perspective, that’s important. It’s important to give that voice where corporations understand, “Hey, there’s going to be accountability. You’re going to have to answer for these issues.” Does it stop bad behavior? Perhaps to some degree, because the boards are learning to be more cautious and proactive in ousting bad conduct. Our work is about addressing these issues and allowing a spotlight to be put on this behavior. On that score, we’re proud of these cases and the results.

JL: It was a very successful result and we added to that success in the Perrigo case and in the Teva case. In Perrigo, we convinced the court to take supplemental jurisdiction over the shares purchased on an Israeli exchange, and the court certified the class there. It went through the entire market analysis of whether or not the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange is an efficient market. It found it was, and the court took jurisdiction. Now there are two certified classes in the Perrigo case: There’s a U.S. certified class and a Tel Aviv Stock Exchange certified class. The same thing in the Teva actions, the court took supplemental jurisdiction over the Israeli shares under Israeli law and is now applying Israeli law to the Israeli shares.

JL: It’s part of our work and duties to the investor community that when bad laws are passed or precedent adjudicated, like Morrison, there needs to be a response. Morrison really was such an antiquated ruling. It’s asking, in the 21st century, “Where does a stock transaction occur?” It’s just a ridiculous question.Imean,where does the transaction occur? It occurs in the ether, it occurs in space. I don’t know where the satellite’s located that pings the data. With a transaction there are obviously at least two parties involved. So we’re trying to come up with a response, a solution for investors. If there’s no remedy in the United States and for some reason there’s not a factual nexus in the U.S. to bring these claims, then we look elsewhere. We’ve been involved in bringing cases in Brazil, as with Brazilian arbitrations in the BRF case. We’ve been involved in bringing cases against Tesco in England, Wirecard in Germany, Airbus in the Netherlands. We’ve been involved in organizing these cases outside of the U.S. The U.S. is still the most developed system, and the most efﬁcient system to bring a claim. You can bring a case on a contingency fee basis, there is no, “Loser pays.” So if we can ﬁnd any hook in the U.S., we go for it. But if not, then the claims will proceed outside the U.S. Morrison really boomeranged because the Chamber of Commerce created more activity by foreign institutional investors in these cases. Because they all woke up and said, “Hey, I’m not being treated fairly.

LD: It seems like you’re still correcting the Supreme Court ruling from 12 years ago in Morrison v. Nat’l Australia Bank Ltd.

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JL: I don’t know if ever or to what extent these securities cases throughout the decades have a deterrent effect. I think it’s a debate because there have been securities class actions for about 50 years and there’s still a need, so obviously it hasn’t cleaned up the corporate space. What it does do, though, is provide an effective challenge to these corporations. It says to them, “Listen, it’s not OK what you’re doing, it’s not right. You can’t just get away with this. You’re going to have a day in court.”

Foreign investors became much more active, in the U.S. and also outside the U.S. The Chamber of Commerce triggered all these cases that are now taking place outside the U.S., because they convinced the Supreme Court that they should be taking jurisdiction. In the end, securities fraud creates a problem which requires a solution, and trying to snuff it out isn’t going to work.

LD: You have such stunning success with this work, with such large recoveries. At what point do the corporations straighten up proactively and say, “Hey we better get in line here before we get these big suits?”

LD: We’re also talking to your parter Jennifer Paﬁti. Can you tell me what you admire about her?

JL: Jennifer’s done tremendous work in increasing the ﬁrm’s international exposure. She has onboarded a lot of important clients. She’s heightened the level of professionalism of the ﬁrm, and expanded our global institutional investor reach. She’s still a young mother with three children and doing fantastic work, taking care of her family at the same time, juggling those two important tasks, and she does it all phenomenally. She’s an advocate for women’s rights and an impressive role model.

64 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Robin Gibbs* GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS Carol Gilden COHENCHICAGOMILSTEIN Derek Gilliland SOREY & LONGVIEW,GILLILANDTEXAS Danielle Gilmore QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Emma Gilmore POMERANTZNEWYORK Maria Ginzburg SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Adam Gitlin LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Brendan Glackin LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Jacob Goldberg THE ROSEN LAW FIRM JENKINTOWN, PA. Jordan Goldstein SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Larry Golston BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Melissa Goodman CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Benny Goodman III ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Sathya Gosselin WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. David Grable QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Elise Grace ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Nicholas Gravante CADWALADERNEWYORK Salvatore Graziano BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 65 Eli Greenstein KESSLER TOPAZ SAN FRANCISCO Justin Griffin QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Joseph Grinstein SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Tor Gronborg ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Marc Gross* POMERANTZNEWYORK Stanley Grossman* POMERANTZNEWYORK Michael Grunfeld POMERANTZNEWYORK Joseph Guglielmo SCOTT + SCOTT NEW YORK Aundrea Gulley GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS Greg Gutzler DICELLO LEVITT NEW YORK Michael Guzman KELLOGG WASHINGTON,HANSEND.C. Olav Haazen GRANT & NEWEISENHOFERYORK Jennifer Duncan Hackett WASHINGTON,ZELLE D.C. Serena Hallowell MOTLEY RICE NEW YORK Sean Handler KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Michael Hanin NEWKASOWITZYORK Drew Hansen SUSMANSEATTLEGODFREY Mark Hansen KELLOGG WASHINGTON,HANSEND.C.

66 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Rusty Hardin RUSTY HARDIN & HOUSTONASSOCIATES Erica Harris SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Geoffrey Harrison SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY James Harrod BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Anne Hayes Hartman CONSTANTINE CANNON SAN FRANCISCO Dean Harvey LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Stephen Hasegawa PHILLIPS & COHEN SAN FRANCISCO Michael Hausfeld* WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Eric Havian CONSTANTINE CANNON SAN FRANCISCO Lexi Hazam LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Christopher Heffelfinger BERMAN TABACCO SAN FRANCISCO Richard Heimann* LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Claire Abernathy Henry WARD, SMITH & HILL LONGVIEW, TEXAS Robert Henssler Jr. ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Rick Hess SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Ryan Higgins RUSTY HARDIN & HOUSTONASSOCIATES Derek T. Ho KELLOGG WASHINGTON,HANSEND.C. Kathryn Hoek SUSMAN GODFREY LOS ANGELES

Deborah Wyman ROBBINS GELLER (SAN DIEGO)

Debra Wyman: In my third year of law school, I discovered securities practice. The PSLRA had been passed only two years before I started practicing, and there were no appellate decisions interpreting it. I love the challenge and importance of setting precedents. Being part of the shaping and application of the law in the ﬁeld was and remains exciting.

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DEBRA WYMAN IS A TOP-TIER SECURITIES litigator who has dedicated her career to seeking justice for defrauded investors. She has achieved client wins totaling over $2B, including a historic $1B settlement in a securities fraud class action against the real estate investment trust company VEREIT (formerly known as ARCP). Investors have long turned to Wyman for their most high-stakes trials, such as the securities and accounting fraud case against HealthSouth, which at the time was one of the largest healthcare services providers in the U.S. – and one of the largest corporate fraud cases. The team recovered $671M for investors. In another highlight, Wyman and her team recovered $215M in a securities class action against healthcare provider HCA Holdings, which broke records in Tennessee.Headof recruiting in Robbins Geller’s San Diego ofﬁce, Wyman counsels young attorneys to be authentic, practice integrity and always know the facts inside out. She is a member of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America as well as the Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America.

Lawdragon: How did you ﬁrst decide to focus your practice on representing defrauded investors? What do you like about this practice?

DEBORAH WYMAN BY ALISON PREECE

DW: The case against American Realty Capital Properties, now renamed VEREIT, is a stand out. That case was exceptionally complex, and it was truly a team effort. We prevailed at every step and were preparing for trial with the class’s claims substantially intact when the case settled for over $1B. The case also involved the largest-ever payout from individual executives, who had to repay over $237M of ill-gotten gains – which was a measure of individual accountability that we need to see more often.

I ﬁrmly believe that we achieved this result by marshaling Robbins Geller’s resources – including the

We take our practice very seriously because people, especially retirees, count on pension payments to make ends meet. It’s very gratifying to work to recoup our clients’ hard-earned money when it has been stolen through fraud and deceit.

LD: You have had some incredible wins in your career. Is there one case that stands out as a “favorite” or particularly memorable for some reason?

PHOTO PROVIED BY THE FIRM

LD: Are you a mentor to young lawyers now?

I HOPE OTHERS SEE ME AS SOMEONE WHO PRACTICES LAW WITH INTEGRITY AND WHOSE WORD YOU CAN TRUST, AND SOMEONE WHO KNOWS HER STUFF AND SHOULD BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.

LD: How would you describe your style as a lawyer? Or, how do you think others see you?

68 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 best in-house forensic accountants in the business – and preparing this case for trial, not settlement. The opt-out plaintiffs settled far sooner than the class did and received 300-400 percent less than the class as a result.

DW: I am in charge of Robbins Geller’s San Diego ofﬁce recruiting. I speak to law students around the country in on campus interviews. I also guide and mentor our Summer Associates every year.

DW: I have always loved the movie “My Cousin Vinny.”

LD: Do you have a favorite book, movie or TV show about the law?

LD: What trends are you seeing in securities litigation these days? DW: Regulators are increasingly focused on blank check ﬁnancing through SPACs. The number of companies using SPACs rather than traditional IPOs to go public increased very rapidly after the pandemic. Although the disclosure requirements in a SPAC can be less stringent, it is no less important that companies be accurate and truthful with shareholders. Transparency is equally important when it comes to ESG disclosures. The SEC is also considering new regulation in that area as well. We are closely monitoring proposed new regulations in both SPACs and ESG areas and will continue our work of holding companies and individuals accountable.

LD: What did that result mean for your clients and the larger industry?

DW: Our client was committed to holding individual defendants, not just the company, to account. The individual contributions of over $237M are, by far, the largest individual payments made in a securities class action settlement. The next largest individual contributions were $30M. This result shows that executives need to take their duty to shareholders seriously and will be held accountable when they don’t do so.

DW: We faced every challenge possible. The case involved 44 defendants, nine claims involving seven different securities, 17 defense side expert witnesses and 70 depositions taken or defended. There were millions of pages of documents produced. We also had to coordinate with 11 opt-out cases and a derivative case that were being litigated at the same time. The defendants were represented by the best of the corporate bar. We litigated multiple motions to dismiss, a motion for class certiﬁcation, a 23(f) appeal and a motion to decertify the class. The evidentiary hearing on defendants’ 12 motions for summary judgment lasted a full day.

LD: Did you have mentors when you were a young associate? DW: My ﬁrst mentor was Katy Blank. She was a senior associate when I was a junior associate. She told me that as a young woman lawyer, people may not take me seriously. As a result, she told me that I should not be hesitant to offer my opinion in meetings with colleagues and stand my ground with opposing counsel. She also told me to always know the facts of my case and the applicable law better than anyone else in the room. It was sage advice that I have passed on to others.

LD: What challenges did you face in this case?

DW: As I try to do in my life, I try very hard to treat everyone I work with as I would like to be treated. I think you can treat people with fairness and respect while still advocating for your client and defending your positions with integrity. I hope others see me as someone who practices law with integrity and whose word you can trust, and someone who knows her stuff and should be taken seriously.

Joe Pesci’s character wasn’t the best litigator in the courtroom, but he always stayed true to who he was. It was his authenticity that made him so effective – a good lesson for young lawyers.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 69 Adam Hollander BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Lester Hooker SAXENA WHITE BOCA RATON Lisa Houssiere MCKOOLHOUSTONSMITH Mary Inman CONSTANTINE CANNON SAN FRANCISCO Phil Iovieno CADWALADERNEWYORK William Isaacson PAUL WASHINGTON,WEISSD.C. Uri Itkin NEWKASOWITZYORK Shauna Itri SEEGER PHILADELPHIAWEISS James Jaconette ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Mathew Jasinski MOTLEY RICE HARTFORD, CONN. Rachel Jensen ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Brent Johnson COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Chad Johnson ROBBINS GELLER NEW YORK Christopher P. Johnson MCKOOL SMITH NEW YORK James Johnson LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Kristen Johnson HAGENS CAMBRIDGE,BERMANMASS. Randy Johnston JOHNSTONDALLASTOBEY Gladstone Jones JONES SWANSON NEW ORLEANS

Gustavo Bruckner POMERANTZ (NEW YORK)

WHEN HARASSMENT OR DISCRIMINATION in a company is proven to be systemic and lacking proper oversight, stockholder litigation can be a powerful tool for change. Gustavo Bruckner, head of the Corporate Governance group at Pomerantz, handles derivative actions, bringing cases on behalf of the company against primary directors and ofﬁcers for harm caused to the company.

Lawdragon: What trends are you seeing in your practice? Gustavo Bruckner: We’re seeing an increase in multijurisdictional litigation. There are similar suits brought in multiple forums. There’s also a tremendous backlog in Delaware, even though they’ve expanded the Chancery court from ﬁve to seven members. The number of cases and ﬁlings has increased exponentially. We’re seeing many more delays in Delaware where we’ve always been accustomed to very quick attention from the Court. There’s also been a proliferation of 220 litigation, which is the books and records statute in the Delaware code. It used to be that a company would grant a books and records request without fanfare, but now companies realize that if they can stop you before you’ve gotten any books and records and make it expensive and costly, they may prevail before any litigation is brought. So books and records inquiries have become contentious. We’ve had some success

“We use the tools of stockholder litigation to bring about corporate reform,” says Bruckner. Much of the work at Pomerantz involves securities class actions, where, following a stock drop caused by fraud, they bring litigation to secure a recovery for investors. Gustavo’s work is differentiated in a key way. “In my world,” he says, “it doesn’t matter if there’s a stock drop. It only matters if there’s misconduct that caused harm to the company. We try and hold the directors accountable for that harm.”

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GUSTAVO BRUCKNER BY ALISON PREECE

Bruckner has a natural talent for this work. A firstgeneration immigrant from Argentina, he was the first lawyer in his family, and in fact, the first college graduate. He’s long been dually interested in the power of the law to effect change, as well as the complexity of finance. He received an MBA in Finance and International Business from NYU before heading to Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. As a young associate, Bruckner was closely involved in the sweeping securities class action against tech firms, issuers and underwriters accused of rigging IPOs during the 90’s “dot-com” tech bubble. He served as secretary to the executive committee on the plaintiffs’ side, and the experience gave him a crash-course in the nuts and bolts of complex litigation.

PHOTO BY LAURA BARISONZI

GB: Over the last few years, there’s been a lot of focus on harassment. Cases related to the #MeToo movement, and we were involved in some of those. There’s going to be more attention on climate issues. One problem with bringing litigation in that area right now is that there are still no uniform rules on climate disclosures. The SEC has proposed rules, but there’s a lot of pushback. One thing we’re seeing, which mirrors what the country is dealing with, is that there’s a lot of politicization of ESG issues. You’re seeing elected ofﬁcials frame ESG issues in terms of left versus right. That’s new.

LD: Can you tell me about your workplace discrimination case against Nike?

In total, we got 38 new policies and procedures involving billing contracts, marketing, client invoicing and ethics. We got the company to implement them for at least three years. The hope is that this will in fact signiﬁcantly reduce if not outright eliminate the risk of recurrence of any of these underlying issues of misconduct.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 71 there. We were involved in the Gilead case where the Court actually forced defendants to pay our fees because of the overly aggressive tactics they took. There’s also clearly more interest in ESG litigation.

LD: That’s depressing. Less will get done the more politicized it gets. GB: Correct. It’s just also a sad commentary on how that permeates everything.

LD: Are you seeing any particular focus in ESG?

LD: Do you often employ the power of the fourth estate in pressing for change? GB: Sometimes. But many of our cases, maybe even half of them, get resolved without any publicity whatsoever. One of the biggest cases we had, we never even filed a lawsuit. The threat of the litigation was enough to get the company to implement significant corporate-wide reform – retraining on harassment issues, implementing hotlines, whistleblower opportunities, installing a structure where people can make their complaints, regular reviews by the general counsel’s office, regular review by the board of directors on these complaints. And nobody will ever know except the company and our client.

LD: Is there a gold-standard case you can talk about where you were able to enact strong corporate governance reforms that cleaned up the culture of a company?

GB: Our case wasn’t exactly a discrimination case, it was about the board not taking action in the face of known complaints about the toxic workplace environment. There was a strong boys’ club atmosphere and there was a flight of female talent. And there were executives who were continuously rewarded, even though they behaved very, very badly. Harassment lawsuits were filed. We were approached by a client who read an article in the New York Times. We availed ourselves of Oregon’s books and records statute to get internal confidential company documents. We then brought a lawsuit which was heavily redacted because of the confidentiality agreement we had entered into with the company. Still, it garnered a lot of attention in the local press. We had also relied heavily on information we had obtained independently from the Oregon Bureau of Labor. These local reporters used our lawsuit to conduct their own investigation with similar inquiries. They were able to write about what they found. Even though we lost our lawsuit, we were able to shine a light on what was going on. As a result, the company instituted a top to bottom diversity and sustainability review and set quantitative diversity goals to achieve by 2025. They now periodically formally report on how much success they’re having in reaching these goals.

GB: The State Street case, which we settled a few months ago, is a good example. State Street got into trouble for a number of different issues. They were over-billing clients. They were involved in a pay-to-play scheme with certain pension funds, they had undisclosed commissions on billions of dollars of securities trades and there was a foreign exchange fraud issue. Overall the company expended over a billion dollars in fees, penalties, ﬁnes and reimbursements. This was wrongdoing that in various forms had gone on for more than a decade. So it was cultural. It was systemic. We got State Street to institute a slew of reforms to prevent this kind of behavior in the future. Now the company had already made good on the overcharges; they had paid their ﬁnes and made their customers whole. We were no longer looking for money, there was no point. What we were trying to do was to completely overhaul the culture at the company, so you wouldn’t have the same situation ever again. The pattern of bad behavior had to stop. Among the things that we obtained was formal board-level oversight on compliance issues. Surprisingly, there hadn’t been any. We got a cultural training program for all new hires designed to promote high ethical standards and conduct.

72 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Megan Jones SANHAUSFELDFRANCISCO Avi Josefson BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Allan Kanner KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS David Kaplan SAXENA WHITE SAN DIEGO Stacey Kaplan KESSLER TOPAZ SAN FRANCISCO Robert Kaplan* KAPLAN FOX NEW YORK Marc Kasowitz NEWKASOWITZYORK Jonathan Kass REID WILMINGTONCOLLINS Beth Kaswan SCOTT + SCOTT NEW YORK Elana Katcher KAPLAN FOX NEW YORK Ashley Keller KELLERCHICAGOLENKNER Christopher Keller LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Michael Kellogg KELLOGG WASHINGTON,HANSEND.C. Cindy Caranella Kelly NEWKASOWITZYORK Erika Kelton PHILLIPS & COHEN SAN FRANCISCO Jeannine Kenney PHILADELPHIAHAUSFELD David Kessler KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Jean Kim CONSTANTINE CANNON NEW YORK

I’ll give you a good example. My firm was involved in the Petrobras case, which was essentially a bribery case. There was no financial restatement. The company ended up paying $3B to settle the litigation. If a clawback policy does not allow for recoupment for misconduct that harms the company’s reputation and not just causes a restatement, there’d be no tool to hold the directors and officers accountable. So we, almost universally, seek reform of a company’s existing clawback policy. It should be applicable in every circumstance and frankly it should not even be discretional. But that’s my view.

GB: We do go back and follow up. There’s one instance where we had entered into a settlement with a company which required them to disclose certain pay numbers. We did not see that they were continuing to do this, about three years thereafter, and we alerted them to it. So we do try and keep tabs on the implementation of the reforms.

At some point though, once you’ve implemented the reforms and there is a new board, then it becomes the responsibility and the business judgment of the new board to follow through. But for the most part, we believe that they are in fact implemented and maintained.

LD: You’re a strong advocate for corporate clawback policies. Why is that so important?

LD: Oy vey. GB: Exactly. My response to that is – where are you hiring from? The white-collar section of the prison? If you want the best, most ethical talent, no one should be worried about strong clawback policies.

LD: How did you ﬁrst decide to become a lawyer?

LD: How would you describe your style as a lawyer?

GB: I want the people who work for me, to work with me. I want them to learn. I don’t like when everyone agrees with me. That means we are all doing something wrong. I value diversity of thought, and I like to be challenged. When my colleagues are working on a case and they’re very close to it, they will have insights that I won’t. At the end of the day, it’s better for the prosecution of the matter when we can have an honest and robust discussion on litigation strategy.

Folks who work in my practice group are the ﬁrst ones to have the opportunity to take depositions, go to court, deal with defense counsel, talk to the clients. If they’re capable of doing any of that, we let them do it because it enables us to take on more cases.

GB: Yes. An enormous amount of pushback. There was one case we had with United Continental where they said to us that if they had implemented a robust clawback policy, they wouldn’t be able to attract top talent.

GB: There has to be a mechanism whereby the company can clawback compensation given to those who behave badly. Many clawback policies only kick in when there is a ﬁnancial restatement. The vast majority of misconduct does not result in ﬁnancial restatements.

GB: From a very young age, I wanted to be a lawyer. I wanted to help people. I had a very strong sense of right and wrong as a child. I’m an immigrant and child of immigrants. I wanted to help people who I thought needed that kind of assistance, who didn’t have the power. I want wrongdoers in corporate America to be held accountable for misconduct.

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LD: You probably get a lot of pushback on this.

GB: The truth is, private right of action is incredibly important because the government just can’t have eyes on everything.

LD: What’s your management style?

LD: Do you have a favorite book about the law?

LD: Then how much do you stay in touch or keep an eye over the years to make sure they’re staying compliant?

GB: A lot goes into management. I joined Pomerantz over a decade ago. What I thought would be a handful of cases quickly became an entire department. We are a very busy group and sometimes I feel like an air trafﬁc controller.

GB: I’m not sure about a favorite, but I read a really good book recently about the law called “Mine!” It’s about property rights and how they were developed and how changing technology changes the deﬁnition of ownership. It was fascinating.

LD: Someone’s got to be doing this work.

GB: Civil. I don’t think you need to be nasty. I think my adversaries realize that I am someone you can have a conversation with, without entering into a screaming match. I don’t believe in that. I like to think outside the box, I like to try and get to a resolution, even if it’s not necessarily a conventional one. And I will be aggressive if I need to be aggressive, but not aggressive just for the sake of trying to fulﬁll some stereotype. At the end of the day, it’s a business.

LD: You are head of the Corporate Governance group at your ﬁrm. How much of your time is spent on management versus your practice?

74 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Phillip Kim THE ROSEN LAW FIRM NEW YORK Marlon Kimpson MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. J. Benjamin King REIDDALLASCOLLINS Gayle Klein SCHULTE ROTH & ZABEL NEW YORK Amanda Klevorn BURNS CHAREST NEW ORLEANS Richard Koffman COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Michael Kohn KOHN, KOHN & WASHINGTON,COLAPINTOD.C. Stephen Kohn KOHN, KOHN & WASHINGTON,COLAPINTOD.C. Lena Konanova SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Sheron Korpus NEWKASOWITZYORK Eduard Korsinsky LEVI & NEWKORSINSKYYORK Mathew Korte CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Marlene Koury CONSTANTINE CANNON NEW YORK Robert Kry WASHINGTON,MOLOLAMKEND.C. Nancy Kulesa BLEICHMAR FONTI NEW YORK Edward Labaton* LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Brent Landau PHILADELPHIAHAUSFELD Chanler Langham SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 75 Mark Lanier THE LANIER LAW FIRM HOUSTON Laurie Largent ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Nicole Lavallee BERMAN TABACCO SAN FRANCISCO Arthur Leahy ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Mark Lebovitch BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Christopher Lebsock SANHAUSFELDFRANCISCO Lewis LeClair MCKOOLDALLASSMITH Lawrence Lederer BAILEY & PHILADELPHIAGLASSER Sharon Lee LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Katie Crosby Lehmann CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Michael Lehmann SANHAUSFELDFRANCISCO Sarah Gibbs Leivick NEWKASOWITZYORK Travis Lenkner ATTORNEY AT LAW CHICAGO Bruce Leppla LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Emmy Levens COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Richard Levine* LABATON WASHINGTON,SUCHAROWD.C. Jason Leviton BLOCK & BOSTONLEVITON Adam Levitt DICELLOCHICAGOLEVITT

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Barney Balonick BALONICK LAW OFFICE (LOS ANGELES)

BARNEY BALONICK BY EMILY JACKOWY WHEN LAWYERS NEED A LAWYER, THEY CALL Barney Balonick. Southern California’s top law ﬁrms trust Barney to do one thing: use his “street-ﬁghting tactics” to protect and recover their own assets as well as their clients. Immediately after law school, Barney’s next classroom was the court room. Embracing what he believes to this day to be a true honor, he served as a Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney in the criminal prosecutions bureau, quickly moving through the ranks and gaining bare knuckle trial experience in Chicago where he gained his prosecutorial mentality – an attitude carried over to his new life in California.

BB: Never giving up for these prominent law ﬁrms and their clients by providing asset protection and asset recovery. Knowing that my client’s assets are secure and the gratitude they express is worth everything. When it comes to forcing the defendants to pay their bills, it’s ﬁghting them until they cave. That’s the juice for me.

LD: Do you have an example of a case you fought that was most fulﬁlling in that way?

BB: I just won another trial, marking it my 460th. Fastest knockout I’ve had – I took the defendant down in 80 minutes. LD: That’s incredible. Can you describe a recent matter that you’ve handled?

BB: There was a dispute over a vintage Porsche, and this is when my interest really piqued about asset protection. The issue boiled down to: “What makes a Porsche a Porsche?” Is it the engine, the body, etc. Our client wound up with an incredible result – he got the vintage Porsche back as part of the settlement. There was so much conﬂict over this one asset, and that’s when another shift of my practice occurred. I learned from this case that had my client shifted his assets into a trust, it would have saved him from the anxiety from the litigation and I am now encouraging all my clients to learn their lessons before it’s too late – ethical protection of their assets is the best way to win the ﬁght before it even begins.

LD: How many cases have you tried now?

Barney Balonick: I didn’t choose it; it chose me. A major, high profile law firm in L.A. needed their bills paid from former clients – the law firm asked me to help because their own attorneys wouldn’t or couldn’t get the money into the firm’s accounts. It started there and took off and hasn’t stopped. I think being a former Chicago prosecutor, having that mentality of chasing after defendants helps.

LD: What do you ﬁnd professionally satisfying about your work?

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM

The Lawdragon 500 member’s successful and proliﬁc trial practice has consistently earned impressive results in creditor’s rights, as well as asset protection and recovery. Barney, who has run his own litigation boutique since 2013, has tried more than 460 cases from New York to California.

Lawdragon: How did you ﬁrst become interested in developing this type of practice?

BB: My ﬁrm represents a lawyer, and we had to engage in hostile litigation to protect him. We beat the other side so badly that we drove them into bankruptcy and took their assets away. It was vengeance in its purest sense for wrongfully suing one of our clients.

LD: Were there any major challenges or takeaways from that case? BB: It is critical for lawyers to listen, truly listen to their clients. Most clients, corporate and individual, really prefer to not deal with the stress of litigation. Some clients really grapple and struggle with pleadings, motions, fees, etc. If lawyers forget to provide “counsel”

BB: No. I knew I’d be a lawyer when I was a kid and then I used my will to get here.

LD: Did you have any jobs between undergrad and law school? BB: I clerked (in the mail room) for different law ﬁrms during the summers. I was always exposed to the practice. But it was my job as a laborer for a construction company that really impacted me. I’ll never forget Howard, a 56-year-old man with no education, still having to break his back every day because he never went to school. On my last day on the job, just before I was going to law school, he said to me: “You remember old Howard now, when you’re up in your ivory tower counting all that lawyer money...if it ain’t one mother f----n’ thing it’s another.” I’ve read Plato, Aristotle, Nietzsche, even Marx. I’d put old Howard’s truth up against any of them.

BB: My client on the Porsche case is not only ecstatic, but he refuses to retain any lawyer other than my ﬁrm. He calls me all the time and just yesterday he said, “In just three months, you halved all of my problems from the last two years.” That was a good one.

LD: Is this the type of practice you imagined yourself practicing while in law school?

LD: What made you ﬁrst pursue a career in law?

LD: Absolutely. How did the client feel about the result?

LD: Ha! Well, did you have any professors who were particularly inﬂuential?

LD: It’s great to have so many teachers in life. Was there an early experience or mentor who really helped shape the course of your professional life?

BB: I’m a city kid who knows the streets, and ChicagoKent is a great teaching school for kids that really want to be lawyers.

The other lawyers that I admire in my cases are the ones my ﬁrm represents. I found that these lawyers handle themselves very professionally, do an A-rated job (I have to look at their bills very carefully and sometimes have to review their work because it is evidence) and usually conclude that top-to-bottom, they’re smarter than I am which makes it a true honor to protect their assets and get their money back into their ﬁrm’s bank accounts.

LD: Is there a speciﬁc reason why you chose Illinois Tech’s Chicago-Kent College of Law over another law school?

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 77 then it could lead to the clients not communicating about facts, evidence, etc. Lawyers – and I am included in this – must stop and just listen to the clients. I also learned that it is OK to not always focus on hitting the start button on the timer for legal billing. Giving the client the victory is still the most important thing.

LD: I’m sure. Looking back a bit, did any experience from your undergraduate work push you towards a career in the law?

BB: One of the best trial lawyers I ever saw was in Chicago – Barry Goldberg. A dyed-in-the-wool trial lawyer. He had a method of preparing for trial that made the case bullet-proof. I was an associate at his ﬁrm, and he said to me: “You give me a year, Barney, and I’ll teach you how to be a lawyer and not just someone who graduated from law school and goes to court.” It was one of the toughest environments I’d ever been in, but he was right. I use his methods even today. LD: That sounds like intense and rewarding early work. On the other side of the aisle, tell me about a lawyer you have come up against in a negotiation or case that you admire, and why.

BB: I never looked at it that way. Law was never a “career” for me – as a prosecutor, I was on trial my first day, barely out of law school and the electricity from the courtroom was pure adrenaline and I was hooked on it. In my first jury trial, the jury came back and found the defendant guilty of some violent crime in less than 3 hours. The sheriff came from behind him, hooked him up and swept him right off the floor. I looked at the victim who was still staring at the defendant’s empty chair, and she started to well up with tears. That’s why I went to law school. To make defendants pay for what they’ve done.

BB: Dennis Berkson in Chicago. Now that’s a lawyer. Probably the best cross-examiner in that city. One other legend that must be mentioned: Pat Tuite. Both are the lawyer’s lawyer and of the highest caliber.

BB: Professor Dr. Bernie Zant at Bradley University has to get special mention. After Dr. Zant, my best teachers are the ones that are in my life now. Stuart Liner, Fred Fenster, Henry David and of course Barry Hirsch. These are true lawyers and I have no idea what I did right to be able to have them in my life, but they teach me more in 10 minutes than I can ever learn in a semester. Stuart Liner gave me a chance (only one with Mr. Liner, so don’t mess it up!), and then Fred Fenster, Henry David and Barry Hirsch all make sure that I read the new cases and discuss with them to watch my interpretation.

LD: That’s adorable. Do you have a favorite book or movie about the justice system?

BB: Yes, I help with dog rescues and I’m a huge animal rights advocate.

BB: “Night Falls on Manhattan.”

LD: What do you try to “sell” about your ﬁrm to potential recruits – how is it unique?

BB: Never. I had no idea I’d wind up in Los Angeles with my own ﬁrm. Going from a prosecutor to a business litigator and then changing the focus on assets, how to protect them and recover them – what a ride!

LD: How has ﬁrm or practice management changed since the start of your career?

BB: This is a firm that devotes itself to protecting other law firms, corporations and even some individuals –we use boxing strategies whether we are in court or in the office. Watching Muhammad Ali – we use his brilliant techniques to move the assets, or lure in our opponents and hit them with very damaging questions.

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LD: How would you describe your style as a lawyer? Or how do you think others see you?

LD: How has your practice changed since the early part of your career?

BB: Keep in touch with your classmates after you graduate. You can be the best cross-examiner in the city, but if you don’t have a case, then what difference does it make? Tell your classmates what you’re doing, boast a bit about your deposition, motion or trial. They’ll remember you as time goes on to send cases your way. Also, don’t close yourself off to other business opportunities. There’s more to life than just going to a law practice. Stay open. Who knows? Lightning could strike!

BB: I put everything on front street. I let the judge know what the case is about from minute one, I let the client know the objective, and then we go prove it. We follow the case wherever the evidence takes us, and I know that the judges appreciate this level of honesty. That means everything to me.

LD: Tell me about the management of the firm – as the sole attorney, I imagine you bear a significant amount of responsibility for keeping the firm running. What are some of the challenges you face in that role?

BB: Having new associates do what the ﬁrm does. Most law students underestimate the importance of protecting wealth, making sure debts are paid, or even creditor’s rights. Fighting tactics are not taught in law school so most law students must learn strategic thinking. Asset protection and enforcement work is technical. The test is to see if the new lawyer has grit and then the rest usually falls into place.

BB: Watching to see what happens to court cases is going to be interesting. We’re going to watch to see if court and trials continue to be virtual, because it will impact everything and everyone. What did not change is that the judge is still the judge. It’s the judge’s room and that commands respect.

BB: Moving from asset recovery to asset protection is seamless because the mentality is the same. Protecting my clients and what they value most is one of the greatest things I can do.

LD: What do you do for fun when you’re outside the ofﬁce?

LD: What advice do you have now for current law school students?

LD: Are you involved in any pro bono or public interest activities? Please tell us what you ﬁnd meaningful about your time serving them.

LD: Right. Is there a firm that’s stood out to you as your most memorable client? BB: Yes, but I don’t want to mention the firm. During one of that firm’s collection cases against their former client, the defense attorney tried to push me around and said “...his client will never pay — no, no, no...” That only made me fight harder, and the defendant paid $150,000 in short order. Making the defense lawyer choke on his “no, no, no” gave the managing partner of the firm a huge smile. Vengeance always feels good.

BB: My German Shepherd is the light of my life. I take him with me everywhere and now he goes to court with me (virtually) and the judges actually say hi to him.

LD: How do you see the ﬁrm and legal practice in general developing in the future?

BB: In one major way, it hasn’t. I still go after bad guys. If the defendants were ethical, then they’d pay their lawyers and corporate debt. On the other hand, I’ve had to learn about assets and how to protect them which really opens an entire new vein of law that is fascinating.

LD: If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be doing now? BB: I have the greatest respect for law enforcement and the ﬁre department. If that didn’t ﬁt – and those jobs are so tough – I’d own my own business right here in Los Angeles because I’m convinced: L.A. is phenomenal.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 79 Daniel Levy MCKOOL SMITH NEW YORK Roberta Liebenberg* FINE PHILADELPHIAKAPLAN Jeremy Lieberman POMERANTZNEWYORK Michael Lifrak QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Mimi Liu MOTLEY WASHINGTON,RICED.C. Thomas Loeser HAGENSSEATTLEBERMAN Kyle Lonergan MCKOOL SMITH NEW YORK Michael Lyons LYONS & DALLASSIMMONS Christine Mackintosh GRANT & WILMINGTONEISENHOFER Eric Madden REIDDALLASCOLLINS Ashish Mahendru MAHENDRUHOUSTONP.C. Helen Maher BOIESARMONK,SCHILLERN.Y. Robert Manley MCKOOLDALLASSMITH Neal Manne SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Jeanne Markey COHENPHILADELPHIAMILSTEIN James Robertson Martin WASHINGTON,ZELLE D.C. Scott Martin NEWHAUSFELDYORK Sean Matt HAGENSSEATTLEBERMAN

80 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Colette Matzzie PHILLIPS & WASHINGTON,COHEND.C. Eric Mayer SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Zachary Mazin MCKOOL SMITH NEW YORK Sean McCaffity SOMMERMANDALLASMCCAFFITY Niall McCarthy BURLINGAME,COTCHETTCALIF. Daniel McCuaig COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Heather McElroy CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Kyle McGee GRANT & WILMINGTONEISENHOFER Elizabeth McGeever PRICKETTWILMINGTONJONES Sean X. McKessy PHILLIPS & WASHINGTON,COHEND.C. Mike McKool* MCKOOLDALLASSMITH Ashley McMillian SUSMANHOUSTONGODFRE Thomas Melsheimer WINSTON & DALLASSTRAWN Brian Melton SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Joseph Meltzer KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Tom Methvin BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Seth Meyer KELLERCHICAGOPOSTMAN Michael Miarmi LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 81 Christopher Micheletti ZELLE SAN FRANCISCO Donald Migliori MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Dee Miles BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. David Mitchell ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Steven Molo MOLOLAMKENNEWYORK Mark A. Molumphy BURLINGAME,COTCHETTCALIF. Laddie Montague Jr.* BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Kristin Moody BERMAN TABACCO SAN FRANCISCO Stephen Morrissey SUSMANSEATTLEGODFREY Anne Marie Murphy BURLINGAME,COTCHETTCALIF. Matthew Mustokoff KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Ayesha Najam GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS Hae Sung Nam KAPLAN FOX NEW YORK William Narwold MOTLEY RICE HARTFORD, CONN. Robert Nelson LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Isaac Nesser QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Stephen Neuwirth QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Joshua Newcomer MCKOOLHOUSTONSMITH

DANIEL DROSMAN

BY ALISON

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Daniel Drosman: I’m a trial lawyer, so my focus in every case is preparing the case to be tried to a jury. It’s rare in securities cases to have jury trial experience, but I’ve been fortunate to have had that experience here, which makes a big difference. Prepping a case for trial is a team effort – it’s a symphony. There are lots of different disciplines and team members involved – the investigation, forensic accountants, experts, electronic and digital evidence specialists, digital media and presentation designers – so I enjoy working on all the different aspects of trial preparation.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM Drosman, who sits on his ﬁrm’s Management Committee, is a member of the Lawdragon 500 Leading Lawyers in America as well as Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Financial Lawyers in America.

Lawdragon: Will you describe your practice for our readers?

LD: You achieved an outstanding settlement for investors in J.P. Morgan mortgage-backed securities, a notoriously complex and intensive type of case. What were you up against in that case, and how were you able to achieve that result?

LD: Can you tell us about your landmark wins for investors against the credit rating agencies? What were you up against, and what impact has this had on investors’ rights?

DD: As plaintiffs’ counsel, we are always up against the most well-resourced entities on the planet. They have almost unlimited resources to litigate, and every incentive to fight as hard as they can if they’re facing very serious allegations of financial misconduct. These cases were no exception. We were one of the first plaintiffs’ counsel to defeat the rating agencies’ traditional First Amendment defense and their mischaracterization of ratings as mere opinions not actionable in fraud. In all these cases, the key is patience – the calm determination to build a solid case step by step. Some cases take years to build and litigate to an impactful result, which really reflects the determination and principled

DD: There were more than a few novel legal challenges in that case. The court initially granted in part defendants’ motion to dismiss. An appeal in a different case the following year, NECA-IBEW Health & Welfare Fund v. Goldman Sachs & Co., resulted in an opinion that allowed us to successfully move for reconsideration in the J.P. Morgan case. We also obtained a class certification that certified the most broadly defined plaintiff class in any RMBS class action to date. The $388M recovery is more than two and a half times greater than the average percentage recovery in previous RMBS class action settlements, so it’s something we’re very proud of as a firm.

In a headline-grabbing case last year, Drosman and his team at Robbins Geller, along with co-counsel Motley Rice, brought a securities fraud class action claim against Twitter. The class of institutional investors alleged that the social media giant had hid poor user growth and engagement, which came to light alongside a 20 percent stock drop. Both sides were preparing for trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. At the eleventh hour, a settlement was reached – for a recordbreaking $800M for plaintiffs.

SECURITIESPREECE CASES DON’T OFTEN MAKE IT TO trial, but the best attorneys are always ready to take them there. Daniel Drosman has had extensive trial experience from all vantage points: as a prosecutor, a defense lawyer, and for the past two decades as a plaintiffs’ securities fraud lawyer at Robbins Geller.

Daniel Drosman ROBBINS GELLER (SAN DIEGO)

Drosman’s extensive trial experience includes serving as Assistant District Attorney for the Manhattan District Attorney’s ofﬁce, and a few years practicing white-collar criminal defense at Weil Gotshal. He later worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of California, where he was honored with a Department of Justice Special Achievement Award.

LD: As a member of your ﬁrm’s Management Committee, can you share some strategic plans for Robbins Geller in the coming months or years?

LD: How was your experience as an ADA? Are there lessons or tactics you learned during that time that you still employ in your practice today?

DD: While the people running the firm have changed since the start of my career as a securities fraud litigator 21 years ago, the firms’ management consistently has made excellence a top priority. There has always been a culture of bringing in the most talented lawyers and maintaining the capitalization necessary to maximize the recovery for our clients. The firm’s management has also given its lawyers the autonomy to run cases so that the whole team feels like they have a real stake in the litigation.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 83 approach of our clients. And that was especially true in the case involving the ratings agencies.

DD: I learned to listen, and I learned that trials are won or lost almost entirely in preparation, not just the courtroom. Juries teach you a lot, but only if you listen. It was Manhattan in the 1990s, and I had a docket of very serious cases – domestic violence, shootings, homicide. And they will hold the prosecutor’s feet to the ﬁre. They will listen intently, ask great questions and really test your case. Juries are a dynamic collective intelligence that you need to learn to deeply respect and learn how to listen. The best trial lawyers had that humility, and I tried to emulate that. Second, that also meant being prepared. The moment of a criminal trial involves multiple tragedies – the victim and their family, but also the defendant and their family. You need to be prepared and thoughtful in every single case because there are important rights at stake on all sides, and as the prosecutor, you have to advocate for accountability and ensure fairness and that the defendant’s rights are upheld. That means you need to do your homework, rigorously work up every case. That stays with you, long after you are no longer a prosecutor.

LD: How has ﬁrm management changed since the start of your career?

LD: How do you talk about your ﬁrm to potential recruits – what makes it unique?

LD: How would you describe your style as a lawyer? Or how do you think others see you?

DD: My favorite legal book, which I ﬁrst read in college, is Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood.” It tells the true story of the murder of a Kansas family in 1959. Capote actually traveled to the small Kansas town with his good friend Harper Lee to investigate the murders that mystiﬁed investigators and riveted the nation. His pioneering novel describes the crime from the beginning through trial, conviction and ultimately execution. The deep dive is fascinating because it allows the realization that decent people can commit horrible crimes, a truth I never forgot when I worked as a prosecutor.

LD: Do you have a favorite book, movie or TV show about the law?

DD: As a lawyer, I am tenacious. I also look for creative solutions and always retain a singular focus on the end result. I really value collaborating with other lawyers on the team. I’m a ﬁrm believer that I make better decisions when I obtain input from others. Ever since I was a prosecutor, I’ve enjoyed the feeling of operating as part of a team. It promotes a sense of camaraderie that is essential to maintaining motivation through the years of hard-fought litigation that characterize our cases.

The Twitter litigation is a perfect example of the importance of teamwork. There was a distinct lack of hierarchy on the team where everyone on the team, including the most junior attorneys, played a vital role in reaching a settlement that will be the largest securities fraud class action recovery in the last 20 years in the 9th Circuit and the second-largest ever in that Circuit.

DD: We’ve had some incredible success and have a terriﬁc, deep team. We want to contribute to building the next generation of leaders in the plaintiffs’ bar. One of our most recent initiatives is our Diversity Fellowship. Having lived and professional experience reﬂecting the broadest possible range of backgrounds is a key part of our success. We’re offering 2L Diversity Fellowships to law students with a commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion and students from groups historically underrepresented in the legal profession.

DD: We have amazing clients and get to practice at a very high level. Our clients – funds that protect the life savings of ﬁreﬁghters, teachers, ironworkers, laborers, police, public servants – trust us to recover funds they’ve lost to fraud and abuse, something we’re proud to do. And in those cases, we give young lawyers real responsibility. They’re standing up in court, taking depositions, arguing motions early in their careers. So if you want to do meaningful work for amazing clients, this could be a place for you.

The Fellows selected will receive a paid summer associate position in our main ofﬁce in San Diego, Calif., and a $30,000 scholarship to help with law school tuition. It’s something we’re excited about.

84 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Luke Nikas QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Sharan Nirmul TOPAZKESSLERRADNOR, PA. Nanci Nishimura BURLINGAME,COTCHETTCALIF. Crystal Nix-Hines QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Ellen Noteware BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Brian O. O’Mara ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Harry Olivar Jr. QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Lance Oliver MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Meghan S.B. Oliver MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Johanna Ong QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Laureen Ormsbee BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Christopher Orrico BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK David Orta QUINN WASHINGTON,EMANUELD.C. Krysta Kauble Pachman SUSMAN GODFREY LOS ANGELES Jennifer Pafiti LOSPOMERANTZANGELES Nathaniel Palmer REIDAUSTINCOLLINS Aaron Panner KELLOGG WASHINGTON,HANSEND.C. Phyllis Maza Parker BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 85 Kathy Patrick GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS C. Cary Patterson* NIX TEXARKANA,PATTERSONTEXAS Russell D. Paul BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Trey Peacock SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Michael Pendell MOTLEY RICE HARTFORD, CONN. Elizabeth Petersen KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS John Phillips* PHILLIPS & WASHINGTON,COHEND.C. Jonathan Pickhardt QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Kit Pierson COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Frank Pitre* BURLINGAME,COTCHETTCALIF. Janine Pollack CALCATERRA POLLACK NEW YORK Nicholas Porritt LEVI & WASHINGTON,KORSINSKYD.C. Christopher D. Porter QUINNHOUSTONEMANUEL Laura H. Posner COHEN MILSTEIN NEW YORK Warren Postman KELLER WASHINGTON,POSTMAND.C. Hannah Quinn BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK John Quinn* QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Shawn Rabin SUSMAN GODFREY NEW YORK

Jennifer Pafiti POMERANTZ (NEW YORK)

Originally from the UK and now based in Los Angeles, Pafiti has been a part of several groundbreaking and complex securities fraud litigations in her career, including the case against the scandal-ridden Brazilian oil giant, Petrobras, in which the firm achieved a record-breaking $3B recovery for defrauded investors. When Pafiti joined Pomerantz eight years ago, she set the firm on a new course for marketing and business development. She spearheaded the development of PomTrack, the firm’s proprietary portfolio monitoring program, which uses the latest technology and a team of experts to cross-reference clients’ trading data against current and potential securities class action claims. The program now monitors investment funds with over $8T in assets under management. Pafiti also undertakes educational initiatives for investors, including organizing an annual Corporate Governance and Securities Litigation conference.

AS HEAD OF CLIENT SERVICES AT PLAINTIFF

LD: You’re also the Head of Client Services at Pomerantz. I ﬁnd that impressive, because it’s been noted that it’s often more difﬁcult for women in the legal profession to network and build a book of business.

LD: I understand you helped develop a portfolio and monitoring service, PomTrack. Can you tell me about that? JP: We use PomTrack to monitor our clients’ assets and let them know when a company they’ve invested in has suffered some kind of stock price decline due to financial misconduct. It’s a combination of state-ofthe-art technology and an incredible team of attorneys, forensic economists, damages analysts, paralegals and professional staff. We alert our clients at the forefront of the cases that they might want to get involved in. Sometimes it’s a simple restatement of financials, or it could be in the realm of ESG like an environmental event, which clients are increasingly interested in. Either way, we let our clients know about significant loss to their investment due to some kind of financial misconduct so that they can make an informed decision about how to recover. We then analyze the case and present our findings to them with a recommendation of whether to move for lead, remain a passive class member or consider an individual action. In the last few years, we’ve grown that portfolio monitoring service from about $2.4T to nearly $8T in assets under management.

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This year’s theme was The Collective Power to Make Change, specifically in ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance), with President Bill Clinton as a special guest speaker. A longtime champion for women and diversity in the legal field, Pafiti is an active mentor, speaker and advocate for increasing representation. She speaks globally and acts locally: Her PomTrack team is 64 percent female and 45 percent diverse. Her motives are practical: “If you want something done,” she says, “give it to a busy woman with no spare time.”

Lawdragon: Would you say institutional investors are in a uniquely powerful position to challenge bad corporate behavior? Jennifer Pafiti: While any investor should be able to challenge bad corporate behavior, the reality is that institutional investors carry more weight in this field. Beyond compensation, large investors want to see that the wrongdoings will not be repeated. And the company should absolutely pay attention, to ensure investors remain confident to continue investing in these companies.

Institutional investors are in a unique position where they can encourage corporate boards not only to settle claims ﬁnancially, but to adopt governance reform. They must use their engagement with a corporation and say, “OK, we’ve got the payment now, but how are you going to convince us that this board isn’t going to repeat the fraud? What are you going to do to make changes to ensure better checks and balances? What additional promises can you give us to say that this won’t happen again? Otherwise we might want to invest elsewhere.”

securities heavyweight Pomerantz, Jennifer Pafiti has her finger on the pulse of what matters to investors. She liaises regularly with influential pension funds and asset managers with investments in all the major publicly traded companies around the globe.

JENNIFER PAFITI BY ALISON PREECE

JP: You have to work twice as hard to prove half as much. I have sat in many scenarios with many bodies but where I am the only female attorney there. It’s still a male-dominated environment, but hopefully that’s changing so that there is more representation generally.

PHOTO BY LAURA BARISONZI

88 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Willow Radcliffe ROBBINS GELLER SAN FRANCISCO Sascha Rand QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Sami Rashid QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Brian A. Ratner WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Shawn Raymond SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Barrett Reasoner GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS William T. Reid IV REIDAUSTINCOLLINS Jack Reise ROBBINS GELLER BOCA RATON Julie Goldsmith Reiser COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Justin O. Reliford KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Joseph Rice* MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. J. Douglas Richards COHEN MILSTEIN NEW YORK Robert Rivera Jr. SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY John Rizio-Hamilton BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Darren Robbins ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Robert Robbins ROBBINS GELLER BOCA RATON Sharon K. Robertson COHEN MILSTEIN NEW YORK Jeremy Robinson BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK

It’s also a very diverse team, again, mainly because we found the best people and ﬁgured out how to create an environment that would encourage their best work and keep them around. It’s an important focus as well these days for funds – they want to know how diverse your team is. We do well on our diversity checkpoints on RFPs, but we were also a diverse team before diversity was being measured.

LD: What advice do you have for younger women starting out in the law on how to build their book of business?

JP: It’s a great firm for women. I had two children very quickly after I joined the firm, and I’m a single mom. [Managing Partner] Jeremy [Lieberman] was really great about flexibility. My job involves a lot of travel, and the firm is really supportive about me having control over when those meetings are organized. Flexibility makes such a difference. It really helps me function at my best. I manage my own teams now with the same flexibility.

LD: That’s so empowering. How do you think law ﬁrms can encourage more women into leadership positions? Because that’s another bit of a hole that we have.

LD: That would go a long way in attracting female talent. How else does Pomerantz support their female attorneys and staff?

LD: Ha!

JP: I would say, ﬁrst of all, nobody is going to look out for your career except you. Find yourself a really good mentor. I have been incredibly lucky – I have had two strong mentors who happen to be male, and who are very encouraging about me being a full-time mother and a full-time, successful attorney. Find someone you admire, get in touch with them and ask them to mentor you. When I’ve had people reach out to me about being their mentor or for career advice, there is no greater compliment.

LD: This would also apply to having more people of color in the legal ﬁeld.

JP: Absolutely. You have to reﬂect what you’re trying to attract. If you want more women of color, how can you outreach in that respect? You should have women

Also, always give yourself options, whatever options look like to you. Negotiate your terms from the outset. Perhaps you want to have a couple of days a week when you come in late to work, after dropping your kids off at school. Say that when you ﬁrst come in because it’s harder to start and then renegotiate. And realize that these days, you don’t have to choose. So don’t feel that you do, because you can ﬁnd good workplaces that want you for your skill and in exchange, they’ll make some adjustments for you.

JP: As they say, if you want something done, give it to a busy woman with no time.

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JP: It’s the same problem across the board, not just law firms. If you look at the way companies are structured, they lack female leadership at the top. Yes, there are a few female CEOs to speak of, but overall, the percentage of women in leadership roles isn’t high enough. So how can we fix that? There should be a better ladder of progression that utilizes, builds and identifies rising pools of talent. When considering how you can progress at a place of work, ask about the leadership structure of the company. Ask about career progression. Not just the time spent at a firm, but what indicators does this firm use to promote an associate to a partner, for example. And of course, asking how diverse the partners are is also a good indication of how that’s put into practice.

I think it’s empowering for our newer attorneys to come in to see that one of the more senior partners who runs the client services team, is female. There is this pervasive feeling in the industry that you have to choose between being a successful female attorney and being a full and present mother. I don’t know I always get the balance completely right but I hope I am still an example of not having to choose one path over another.

LD: Was it a deliberate move to have a majority female team for PomTrack?

The PomTrack team is incredible, and they are majority female. I understand that I have to be flexible with them in order to keep them. Covid really showed us that we can work fine remotely. Many of us still like going into the office, so we have that balance now as well.

JP: The team happens to be a majority female because the ﬁrm is very good about understanding how people work and adapting to what works well for them. Sometimes the best people for the job are women and sometimes those women have kids. Pomerantz is great about supporting the lifestyles of parents, so we can keep those good people on board.

The future of companies and law ﬁrms is going to hinge on really good, structured management. The structured management should represent the clients, the customers, just like the leadership of this country should look like the people that it represents.

90 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Valerie Roddy QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Joe Roden RUSTY HARDIN & HOUSTONASSOCIATES Laurence Rosen THE ROSEN LAW FIRM NEW YORK Peter Ross BROWNE GEORGE LOS ANGELES Samuel Rudman ROBBINSMELVILLE,GELLERN.Y. David Rudolph LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Lee Rudy KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Joseph Russello ROBBINSMELVILLE,GELLERN.Y. Michael Sacchet CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Taline Sahakian CONSTANTINE CANNON NEW YORK Scott Saham ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Christina D. Saler COHENPHILADELPHIAMILSTEIN Daniel Salinas-Serrano QUINN WASHINGTON,EMANUELD.C. Katie Sammons SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Ex Kano Sams II GLANCY PRONGAY LOS ANGELES Joseph Saveri SAVERI LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Sherrie R. Savett* BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Maya Saxena SAXENA WHITE BOCA RATON

LD: Your ﬁrm must do well in that regard. You do so much ESG work these days, especially.

LD: How did you decide on this practice of protecting investors’ rights? Or did that sort of come about as well? JP: I did not know what securities fraud was probably 14 years ago. It’s a completely different system in the UK; there are some financial marketing acts, but it’s not the same protections afforded by the U.S. class action system. So I had no real knowledge of securities fraud class actions before I joined my first firm here in the U.S. I started out in general litigation and moved into securities. I love the complexity of it, and the power it has to make change. At some point, I was asked to cover for someone at an event with clients and we quickly realized I had a knack for it and enjoyed it. So now I have a nice balance between client-facing work and my litigation practice.

LD: I can certainly understand that. Some lawyers really want to change the world and make a difference, and this is the kind of work that really does that.

LD: You mentioned the ﬁrm’s Managing Partner, Jeremy Lieberman, earlier. Can you tell us what you admire about him?

AS THEY SAY, IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE, GIVE IT TO A BUSY WOMAN WITH NO TIME.

LD: How did you first decide you wanted to be a lawyer? JP: I sort of fell into the law. At first I wanted to be a doctor, an anesthesiologist, but I didn’t get into my medical school of choice in London, so I changed course and went to law school. I worked for some really good firms in the UK and then was ready for a new challenge, something completely different. So I quit my job and came to Los Angeles with my then six-year-old daughter, the two of us. I said, if I pass the bar, I’ll stay for a year. Then I said, if I get a good job, I’ll stay for another year. It’s been 12 years.

JP: Yes, and our current case against Deutsche Bank is a good example. We’ve brought an action against the bank for their failure to keep proper tabs on their customers, which enabled the actions of people like Jeffrey Epstein and damaged the status of the bank. The case is really striking a chord with a lot of us. I’m female, and I’ve got an 18-year-old daughter. The bank knew what Epstein was doing. They didn’t question his payments to these young women, all these red-ﬂag payments. They didn’t do their due diligence. It really becomes personal. Those are the cases that keep us on our toes and keep us interested as attorneys. You need that passion and that ﬁre to go after them.

JP: Jeremy is a fairly young leader, comparing him to some other successful ﬁrm managing partners. With youth, he has brought a very positive leadership attitude. As I mentioned, he’s allowed me to work on the terms that have made me able to be a mom and an attorney. And I’m very grateful for that. He is also very good at listening to ideas. He’s not set in his ways, he wants to hear other people’s opinions. That’s very important, because if a leader of a ﬁrm is only interested in his own opinion, then what’s the point in having other attorneys? Jeremy really appreciates diversity of thought. That is really, really important when you’re strategizing about a case. You never want to exclude an important perspective. Jeremy’s truly skilled at listening to the views of the associates, of the partners and taking them on. He hasn’t got that ego that you see with a lot of lawyers. He’s a genius in terms of how he prosecutes cases, he knows every detail about every case, which is amazing. But he still doesn’t have an ego about it. He wants to hear what others have to say, he wants your opinion. It makes for the best kind of leader.

JP: Exactly. And sometimes you can make such a small difference, but the impact is really large.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 91 of color high up in your ﬁrm. Outreach amongst peers, word of mouth, that’s crucial too. So you want to make sure you have a supportive environment. Diversity of color, sex, gender, educational background – what these really bring is diversity of thought to the table and that is what I want to see far more of. Doing the right cases is also important. Attorneys look at that. If a ﬁrm says they don’t tolerate sexual harassment or sexual discrimination, then attorneys are asking, “Can you demonstrate that in some of the cases that you invest time and money in to prosecute?”

92 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Shana Scarlett HAGENS BERKELEY,BERMANCALIF. Robert Scheef MCKOOL SMITH NEW YORK Irving Scher* NEWHAUSFELDYORK Hilary Scherrer WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Michael Schrag GIBBS LAW GROUP OAKLAND, CALIF. Gregory Schwegmann REIDAUSTINCOLLINS Jennifer Scullion SEEGER WEISS RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. Todd Seaver BERMAN TABACCO SAN FRANCISCO Christopher Seeger SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Jonathan Selbin LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Jennifer Selendy SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Philippe Selendy SELENDY GAY NEW YORK Daniel Seltz LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Marc Seltzer* SUSMAN GODFREY LOS ANGELES Maaren Shah QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Allison Sheedy CONSTANTINEWASHINGTON,CANNOND.C. David Sheeren GIBBS & HOUSTONBRUNS Steven Shepard SUSMAN GODFREY NEW YORK

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 93 Manisha Sheth QUINN EMANUEL NEW YORK Jessica Shinnefield ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Roman Silberfeld* ROBINS KAPLAN LOS ANGELES Gerald Silk BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Joshua Silverman POMERANTZCHICAGO Katherine Sinderson BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Linda Singer MOTLEY WASHINGTON,RICED.C. Steven Singer SAXENA WHITE NEW YORK Steven Sklaver SUSMAN GODFREY LOS ANGELES Daniel Small COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Elizabeth Smith MOTLEY WASHINGTON,RICED.C. Michael Sobol LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Thomas Sobol HAGENS CAMBRIDGE,BERMANMASS. Aliki Sofis QUINNBOSTONEMANUEL Sylvia Sokol SCOTT + SCOTT NEW YORK Mark Solomon ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Daniel S. Sommers COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. David Sorensen BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE

Adam Levitt DICELLO LEVITT (CHICAGO)

Levitt currently represents two large states in multibillion-dollar remediation and natural resource damages litigations against chemical manufacturers, distributors and users for PFAS “forever chemical” contamination. He is also building a compelling case as co-lead counsel against Commonwealth Edison and Exelon on behalf of four million Illinois consumers seeking recovery of profits the companies obtained by bribing the Illinois Speaker of the House for formula rate legislation that caused billions of dollars in damages to ComEd’s customers. His firm is additionally seizing opportunities in the pandemic, working on cases holding insurance companies accountable for Covid-19 business interruption coverage and fighting to win back students’ lost fees from colleges and universities. But the courtroom isn’t Levitt’s only forum for change. During the 2020 holiday season, he was thinking about how the firm could use its success to give back to the community in a meaningful way. “Talk is cheap. It’s what you actually do that matters,” he claims. Consistent with that thought, in December 2020, DiCello Levitt established DLG Cares, a charitable foundation dedicated to promoting access to justice. DLG Cares made a substantial investment in Justice Defenders, which educates Kenyan and Gambian prisoners to serve as paralegals and lawyers, providing them with a pathway out of the prison system and potentially into the legal profession. DiCello Levitt lawyers will be visiting one of these prisons virtually in early 2022 to coach inmates on the art of storytelling when making your case.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 95 ADAM LEVITT BY EMILY JACKOWAY

co-founded DiCello Levitt Gutzler in 2017, he wanted to create the sort of firm that he would have wanted to join as a younger lawyer: a firm that respects each of its lawyers, regardless of seniority, makes them valued members of case teams and puts them in positions to succeed. “One of the problems in so many law firms, on both sides of the aisle, is that senior people feel the need to marginalize or otherwise restrict junior lawyers. We take the exact opposite approach,” Levitt explains. “We want each lawyer at the firm to succeed as their authentic self. We aren’t asking them to conform to a set of norms. If someone thinks they have to be someone else or code switch in the office, they’re not going to achieve their highest potential in this business or in any business. We’re dedicated to making our firm a mirror of society in terms of embracing diversity and honoring each of our lawyers and staff members as individuals.”

That spirit of trust and respect defines DiCello Levitt’s mission – defending those who have been wronged by powerful defendants and obtaining justice. Formed by close colleagues Adam Levitt and Mark DiCello, the prolific and rapidly expanding trial firm specializes in diverse practice areas, including financial services, product liability, environmental litigation, catastrophic injury, and technology and cybersecurity.

PHOTO BY JOVANKA NOVAKOVIC

WHEN PLAINTIFFS’ ATTORNEY ADAM LEVITT

DiCello Levitt has locations across the United States, each of which was formed with one goal in mind: to hire the best people and to put them in positions to succeed. “If the talent we want happens to be in Alabama, or California, or Texas, then that’s where we’re going. It really doesn’t matter where you are. If you’re the best at what you do and you want to be part of a firm that strives for excellence every day, then we want you on our team,” Levitt says. That focus on people is what brought Levitt to the legal field. He sees the law as a tool to help real people with real problems and aims to defeat anyone using the law as a means of obstruction. “My goal is to help people and companies use our legal system to have their voice heard and get the justice to which they’re entitled,” he explains. Levitt has done exactly that. He has led many noteworthy cases, including three of the largest agricultural biotechnology class actions in history. In the Genetically Modified Rice litigation alone, he secured a $1.1B settlement for U.S. rice farmers whose exports were rejected for contamination with genetically modified rice. His experience in automotive defect cases is also extensive. As co-lead counsel, he secured a $135M settlement against Navistar for defective diesel engines and a $17B settlement in the Volkswagen “clean diesel” case, as part of what one commentator characterized as the “class action dream team.”

The ﬁrm has recovered billions of dollars for its clients in high-proﬁle class actions, mass torts, public client and single event cases.

Lawdragon: So, you’re in Chicago, where you ﬁrst started the ﬁrm, right?

Adam Levitt: I am in Chicago. I was born and raised in New York, attended Columbia as an undergraduate and then moved to Chicago to attend Northwestern Law School 31 years ago. While I’ve been here a long time, I still haven’t been able to lose my accent.

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LD: Oh, that’s great. And you just opened a New York ofﬁce in 2019 as well, right?

AL: Well, I think it speaks to the way that we’ve grown our firm. Our goal is to expand with the most talented legal professionals available. Diandra Debrosse Zimmerman – everyone calls her Fu – is someone who I wanted as part of our team for a very long time. It was the right fit for her and the right fit for us. She’s in Birmingham, so it made sense for us to open an office there. Since she joined us, we’ve more than doubled the size of our Birmingham office, with no signs of slowing down. Between new case opportunities and trial settings, Birmingham, and Fu, have quickly become a vital part of our firm.

AL: Exactly. But in a collaborative environment, we’re able to work through disagreements and ultimately develop the most effective strategies to accomplish our goal of achieving justice.

LD: We all have bad ideas sometimes.

LD: I’m sure, and such a widespread team too. What led you to Birmingham?

LD: Oh, incredible.

LD: That’s so important. So, tell me about how you started the ﬁrm.

AL: It’s been very gratifying to build such a robust team.

IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO US TO MAKE SURE OUR YOUNGER

AL: Yes. We established our firm in April 2017, with eleven lawyers in Chicago and Cleveland. Then, we opened our New York office in February 2019, when Greg Gutzler joined us to launch our commercial litigation and whistleblower practice and which we’ve since expanded, most recently with the addition of David Straite, who, along with our partner, Amy Keller, gives us the strongest, plaintiffs’-side technology and cybersecurity practice in the United States. Since then, we’ve become a 50-lawyer firm with additional offices in Washington, D.C., Detroit, St. Louis and, most recently, Birmingham, Ala.

AL: Well, I think that when you bring people on board, you want to hire very talented and creative people. You want them to thrive, to know that their contributions are valued, and to become the best lawyers and people they can be. You only get there through positive reinforcement and giving team members maximum responsibility as quickly as possible. I’ve worked at ﬁrms where the senior partners had this view that their answer was the only right answer and there wasn’t a conversation. That’s a very limiting and short-sighted approach, and one that we wanted to avoid at all costs. The fact is that that’s not the way to create a successful ﬁrm.

LD: Fantastic. Do you have plans to expand to any more ofﬁces, or are you keeping it here for now?

LAWYERS GET OUT THERE EARLY AND EXPLORE THEIR OPTIONS.

When Mark and I started DiCello Levitt, one of our goals was to build an environment where people can disagree without fear of judgment. Making mistakes is key to learning, and sharing your ideas is essential to ﬁnding the best solutions. As I tell my colleagues, I’m wrong all the time and I’ve been known to have some terrible ideas, mixed in with the good ones. I want friends and colleagues who are ready and willing to tell me when they think I’m wrong or proposing a strategy that may go off the rails.

LD: That’s fantastic. One thing that struck me about your ﬁrm is that it seems you strive to be very nonhierarchical. Why is that important to you?

AL: We’ll go where the work and talent dictate. We’ve expanded for two reasons. First, because of the volume and quality of professional opportunities available. And second, because it’s been very important to us to put together the strongest possible team that reflects our firm culture. DiCello Levitt is building a nationwide firm founded on excellence, trust and respect.

AL: Mark DiCello and I met working on the Imprelis Herbicide multidistrict litigation, where I was co-lead counsel, back in 2012. We began speaking at conferences and doing more work together. We had a shared outlook and a shared vision, and we became really close friends. And it got to the point several years later that it made sense for us to open a ﬁrm

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 97 John Sparacino MCKOOLHOUSTONSMITH Ronnie Seidel SPIEGEL SAVERI LAW FIRM SEATTLE Kalpana Srinivasan SUSMAN GODFREY LOS ANGELES Cynthia St. Amant KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS Courtney Statfeld MCKOOL SMITH NEW YORK David Stellings LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Karl Stern QUINNHOUSTONEMANUEL Leslie R. Stern BERMANBOSTONTABACCO Michael Stevenson LABATON WASHINGTON,SUCHAROWD.C. David A. Straite DICELLO LEVITT NEW YORK Joel Strauss KAPLAN FOX NEW YORK Silvija Strikis KELLOGG WASHINGTON,HANSEND.C. Arun Subramanian SUSMAN GODFREY NEW YORK Lawrence Sucharow* LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Jason Sultzer THE SULTZER LAW GROUP POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. Harry Susman SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Lynn Swanson JONES SWANSON NEW ORLEANS Stephen Swedlow QUINNCHICAGOEMANUEL

98 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Bonny Sweeney SANHAUSFELDFRANCISCO Claire Sylvia PHILLIPS & COHEN SAN FRANCISCO Joseph Tabacco Jr.* BERMAN TABACCO SAN FRANCISCO Ariana Tadler TADLER LAW NEW YORK Kevin Teruya QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Jordan A. Thomas LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Ed Timlin BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Robert Tobey JOHNSTONDALLASTOBEY Steven Toll* COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Marc A. Topaz KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Catherine Torell COHEN MILSTEIN NEW YORK Hector Torres NEWKASOWITZYORK Max Tribble SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Melissa Troutner KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. Lisa Tsai REIDAUSTINCOLLINS Matthew Tuccillo POMERANTZNEWYORK Jonathan Uslaner BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ LOS ANGELES Austin Van POMERANTZNEWYORK

LD: That makes sense. AL: I don’t sleep very much. Mark doesn’t either. But in terms of the cases I’m working on these days, we represent two of the largest states in the PFAS water contamination litigation. I also represent the state of New Mexico in a number of cases, one of which is going to trial early next year, involving the false marketing of AndroGel, which is a testosterone replacement therapy. As we allege in our complaint, the manufacturer fabricated a disease called “Low T” in order to sell more drugs.

All in all, I would say it’s really a mix these days of my public client work, my ﬁnancial services litigation, automotive litigation and environmental litigation work keeping me very busy.

LD: Oh, wow. AL: Yes. Other than that, I’m co-lead counsel in the ComEd case, I’m working on our GM 5.3-liter defective engine litigation, which is headed to trial in August 2022, and I’m also co-lead counsel in the Society Insurance multidistrict litigation, which was the ﬁrst Covid-19 business interruption litigation that the JPML created. I’m also working on a broad range of stillconﬁdential matters involving a series of sovereign wealth funds and other institutional investors that will likely become public in the upcoming months.

LD: I can imagine. Then, looking back on your career a bit, what would you say have been some of the most memorable cases you’ve tried? I know, for instance, that you were involved in several of the largest biotechnology class actions in history.

AL: Certainly, the StarLink corn case (In Re StarLink Corn Products Liability Litigation), which is now more than 20 years old. That case was important to me for several reasons. First, it was the first large crop contamination class action in the United States. Second, it was my first really big case. I was 31 when I got appointed to leadership in that MDL. Third, working with a very talented agricultural economist and drawing on our securities litigation experience with the efficient market hypothesis, we created the damages model for crop contamination cases that has been used in every similar case since then. So, that was a really gratifying experience all around. But, despite the many high-profile litigations that I’ve successfully led, or in which I’ve otherwise been involved, the most memorable case in all my years of practice was when I represented my grandparents to obtain justice for them when they were hurt in one

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 99 together because we had mutual ideals on creating a thriving law firm. We always wanted to have what I’ve characterized from the outset as a fully-hedged plaintiffs’ firm. We didn’t want to focus solely on class actions or commercial litigation or public clients or mass torts. We set up strong practice groups in several practice areas. Our fundamental goal, however, is to be a firm that’s known for taking and resolving – by trial or otherwise – the most complex, meaningful and socially significant cases. We’ve been doing that since we opened our doors – and our partners have been doing that throughout their careers, long before we formed DiCello Levitt. Since we’ve opened, however, the market knows what we’re doing and how we do it, a fact that’s confirmed on a daily basis through the clients and potential clients who contact us, the opportunities with which we’re presented and the attorneys who want to join us. That goes back to your question about hierarchy. It’s very important to us to make sure our younger lawyers get out there early and explore their options. If someone shows the desire and aptitude and wants to be in a lead role, we’re going to do everything we can to push those people into those roles. A great example of that is our partner Amy Keller on the Equifax case. Amy was 34 years old when she was appointed co-lead counsel in the Equifax multidistrict litigation. She was the youngest woman ever appointed co-lead in an MDL case. Then, we supported Fu’s leadership application to the Paraquat MDL. We have other senior partners like Mark available to handle Paraquat, but Fu is a great lawyer, and we wanted her to have this opportunity. We were proud when she was appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee from a pool of more than 80 qualified candidates. Since her appointment, she’s consistently been proving us right, by effectively leading important facets of that litigation while overseeing, with my partners Mark DiCello and Mark Abramowitz, DiCello Levitt’s entire Paraquat docket, which is the largest docket of Paraquat cases in the United States.

LD: That’s a fantastic philosophy. And what about you? What sort of matters are you handling right now? AL: Well, ﬁrst of all, Mark and I manage the ﬁrm. And as we’ve been expanding, that’s been taking up a lot of our time.

100 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Jeroen van Kwawegen BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Gregory Varallo BERNSTEINWILMINGTONLITOWITZ Irina Vasilchenko LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK Carol Villegas LABATON SUCHAROW NEW YORK David Wales BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK Genevieve Wallace SUSMANSEATTLEGODFREY Murielle Steven Walsh POMERANTZNEWYORK Mark Wawro* SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Tamar Weinrib POMERANTZNEWYORK Stephen Weiss SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Jeremy Wells REIDAUSTINCOLLINS Mark Werbner WERBNERDALLASLAW Michael Wernke POMERANTZNEWYORK Keith Wesley BROWNE GEORGE LOS ANGELES Lexie White SUSMANHOUSTONGODFREY Joseph White III SAXENA WHITE BOCA RATON Conlee Whiteley KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS Ben Whiting KELLERCHICAGOLENKNER

AL: We want to fulfill our mission to create a firm that truly supports its lawyers. We support our people, we respect our people, and we put our junior lawyers in important roles very early on, unlike the hierarchy of an AmLaw 100 firm. We provide a platform to support the book of business new hires bring with them and support them in expanding their practice within our That’sfirm.why our phone rings all the time with people who want to work with us. Lawyers recognize that we’ve created something special – support without interference. And, as far as how successful that model is? Within four years, expanding from 11 lawyers in two offices to 50 lawyers in seven offices, the billions of dollars in recoveries and settlements, our trial successes, our current caseload, the way we get a look on every important case out there – I’d like to think it speaks for itself.

LD: Well, it certainly sounds like you’re doing just that. So, moving back to the present, how do you see the ﬁrm moving forward in the coming years?

101 of the universal life insurance “vanishing premium” scams. My grandparents, who were not wealthy people, had their life insurance with Columbian Mutual, based in Binghamton, N.Y. They got duped into this scheme when their Columbian Mutual agent came to their house and showed them a schematic explaining why they should switch from their safe, whole-life insurance policies into purportedly “vanishing premium” universal life policies. Unfortunately, my grandparents were fooled by the agent’s representations, and they made the switch. So, you know what happened. They got their universal life insurance policies, for which the projections depended on high interest rates, and, suddenly, interest rates decreased and their premium payments, rather than “vanishing,” actually quadrupled. They couldn’t afford that undisclosed increase, so Columbian Mutual cancelled their life insurance policies, just when they needed them the most. This was an unexpected and crushing blow to them, doubly so because it was caused not by their own missteps, but, rather, because of the insurer’s greed and deception. They asked me to represent them, and I did. While the settlement that we ultimately entered into was confidential, let’s just say when they each passed away, they were each fully insured with fully funded Columbian Mutual life insurance policies for which no additional premiums were ever paid. I still have a framed card in my office from my grandfather, thanking me for the work that I did. My grandparents were first-generation Americans, emigrating here from Poland in the early part of the twentieth century. To have their grandson, two generations later, be able to use the justice system of their chosen country to represent them against a powerful corporation was very meaningful for them and for me.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM

LD: Absolutely. And you really keep those lines of communication up with the whole legal world, don’t you? Tell me about the work you and your partners do outside your ﬁrm. How is that informed by your practice, and vice versa? AL: Well, we take a broader view of our standing and our responsibility to the bar. Both Amy Keller and I are elected members of the American Law Institute. I’m an elected member of the Economic Club of Chicago, Mark is leading the Summit Council and Amy is on the Executive Board of Public Justice. The fact is that unless you’re involved in shaping the future of the law, you’re a part of the problem. We strive to be a meaningful solution.

LD: I can imagine. That’s so moving. Oh, absolutely. Can we talk about some of your trial successes? DiCello Levitt is a “trial-first” firm. Tell me about how that works in practice. You have the DiCello Levitt Trial Advocacy Center at your firm – can you share a little of what that is? AL: Sure. We work up every case that our firm takes with the assumption that we’re going to try it. We have an in-house focus grouping and mock trial practice. It informs the way we evaluate and structure and litigate every single case we have. Every word that comes out of your mouth, every phrase that comes out of your mouth, and the way you frame a story is vital. It’s about proper, clear communication, and making sure your message resonates with people. That’s something that we work on every day. For example, our partner Bobby DiCello got a record $50M verdict in Arnold Black’s police brutality case against the City of East Cleveland. We have all seen how police brutality cases have played out in recent years. But because of the horrific facts of the case and Bobby’s ability to tell Arnold Black’s story in a way that resonated with the jury, Arnold got justice. We are proud of that accomplishment and that result, which culminated in Public Justice naming my partners Mark and Bobby DiCello the 2021 Trial Lawyers of the Year.

102 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Adam Wierzbowski BERNSTEIN LITOWITZ NEW YORK K. Craig Wildfang* ROBINSMINNEAPOLISKAPLAN David Williams KLINE & PHILADELPHIASPECTER Shawn Williams ROBBINS GELLER SAN FRANCISCO Steven N. Williams SAVERI LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Mark Willis LABATON WASHINGTON,SUCHAROWD.C. Mary Jane Wilmoth KOHN, KOHN & WASHINGTON,COLAPINTOD.C. Robin Winchester KESSLERRADNOR,TOPAZPA. David Wissbroecker ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Terry Wit QUINN EMANUEL SAN FRANCISCO Adam Wolfson QUINN EMANUEL LOS ANGELES Kara Wolke GLANCY PRONGAY LOS ANGELES Harvey Wolkoff* QUINNBOSTONEMANUEL William Wood MCKOOLHOUSTONSMITH Debra Wyman ROBBINS GELLER SAN DIEGO Michael Yoder REIDDALLASCOLLINS Eric Young MCELDREWPHILADELPHIAYOUNG Steve Zack* BOIESMIAMISCHILLER

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 103 Judith Zahid ZELLE SAN FRANCISCO Adam Zapala BURLINGAME,COTCHETTCALIF. John Zavitsanos HOUSTONAZA Jessica Zeldin ANDREWS & WILMINGTONSPRINGER Jason Zweig KELLERCHICAGOLENKNER

The remarkable 500 lawyers featured here are the warriors who fight the good fight for consumers who have been injured or had family killed through accidents, medical malpractice, faulty products or toxic exposure. They take on sexual predators and police and others who commit misconduct, grievously harming and killing individuals and trampling their civil rights. These lawyers stand up against the worst, seeking justice and providing hope.

We selected these attorneys through nominations, research and review by a board of their peers. The past year seemed a fitting time as well to honor an amazing and historic class of plaintiff lawyers who truly created the world of personal injury and plaintiff consumer lawyering as we know it today. You will see them recognized here (with past Plaintiff Consumer Hall of Fame members) denoted with an asterisk.

Those visionaries, of course, have created the playing field on which today’s leading trial lawyers work every day, fighting with every fiber of themselves to help people.

This year’s guide is 35 percent female and 16 percent inclusive.

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106 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Terry Abeyta* ABEYTA YAKIMA,NELSONWASH. Mike Abourezk* ABOUREZK & GARCIA RAPID CITY, S.D. Mark Abramson ABRAMSON MANCHESTER,BROWNN.H. Robert Adams EGLET ADAMS LAS VEGAS Marijo Adimey GAIR GAIR NEW YORK Wylie Aitken* AITKEN AITKEN COHN SANTA ANA, CALIF. Michael Akselrud LANIER LAW FIRM WOODLAND HILLS, CALIF. Charla Aldous ALDOUS WALKER/ATHEA TRIAL LAWYERS DALLAS Brian Alexander KREINDLER & KREINDLER NEW YORK Mary Alexander* MARY ALEXANDER & ASSOCIATES SAN FRANCISCO Greg Allen* BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Cynthia Amant KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS Parvin Aminolroaya SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Robert Ammons THE AMMONS LAW FIRM HOUSTON Jennie Lee Anderson ANDRUS ANDERSON SAN FRANCISCO Patricia Anderson LUVERA LAW FIRM SEATTLE Lori Andrus ANDRUS ANDERSON SAN FRANCISCO Donald Arbitblit LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 107 Mike Arias ARIASLOSSANGUINETTIANGELES Kurt Arnold ARNOLD & HOUSTONITKIN Lisa Arrowood ARROWOODBOSTON Richard Arsenault NEBLETT ALEXANDRIA,BEARDLA. D. Leon Ashford* HARE BIRMINGHAM,WYNNALA. Jennifer Ashley SALVI WAUKEGAN,SCHOSTOKILL. Chris Aumais AUMAIS LAW LOS ANGELES Mark Avera AVERA & GAINESVILLESMITH Kyle Bachus BACHUSDENVERSCHANKER Kimberly Barone BADEN MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Khaldoun Baghdadi WALKUP MELODIA SAN FRANCISCO Rosalyn “Sia” Baker-Barnes SEARCY DENNEY WEST PALM BEACH Daniel Balaban BALABAN SPIELBERGER LOS ANGELES Beth Baldinger MAZIE ROSELAND,SLATERN.J. Lee Balefsky KLINE PHILADELPHIASPECTER Joseph Balesteri POWERCHICAGOROGERS Wesley Todd Ball FARRAR & HOUSTONBALL Lauren Guth Barnes HAGENS CAMBRIDGE,BERMANMASS.

Kelly Hyman THE HYMAN LAW FIRM (WEST PALM BEACH)

LD: Oh, wow. That’s amazing. Do you have any kids? And if so, are any of them interested in the law? KH: I have two stepchildren, and they’re both lawyers. My husband went to law school. We’re a whole family of lawyers. My dog, Benny, would probably love to be a lawyer if he could. My grandmother was a true pioneer, and I always knew that I had a passion for law. When I was a senior in high school, we had a civil class and our teacher told us that we had to do a trial skit, so we had to have certain roles. Everyone turned to me and said, “Oh, you should be the lawyer.” And I said, “Why?” And they said, “You like to argue.” And then they all laughed, in a good way. I always knew that I had a passion for helping people. Being a lawyer, and especially being a plaintiffs’ class action and mass tort attorney, enables me to make a difference in people’s lives and really help them.

Hyman’s “ready for anything” mentality stems from her deeply rooted background in theatrical improvisation. She teaches improvisation to lawyers across the country, and believes firmly in the power of mental awareness, agility and empathy to further a lawyer’s career. That compassion is what brought her into the field and is what has seen her through massive wins for clients who have suffered injustice, fighting for voters’ rights and beyond.

LD: I also thought it was fascinating that you teach mindfulness and improvisation to attorneys. Tell me about how that started, and what effect does that have on lawyers’ practices or their work-life balance?

Lawdragon: You’ve had such an interesting career path. You spent a couple of decades in a successful acting career, so what motivated your transition into becoming a lawyer? Kelly Hyman: I’m actually a third-generation lawyer. When I tell people I’m third-generation lawyer, they always say to me, “Oh, where did your grandfather go to law school?” And I smile and I say, “Actually, my grandmother went to St. John’s in New York.”

KH: Well, my background as an actress involved a lot of years training in improv with some of the best acting coaches. I think that as a lawyer, and especially if you’re a trial lawyer, you have to be ready for the unexpected. Improv teaches you to be in the moment, to really listen to what someone is saying and to be mindful of what they say.

Trials are basically theater. You’re putting on a play when you’re presenting your evidence. You have acts one, two and three. It’s really similar. So, it’s important for attorneys to be quick on their feet and to be in the moment, because you never know what’s going to happen. Even if they’re not trial lawyers, all kinds of lawyers have to be prepared for the unexpected in a deposition setting. If defense counsel does something that you didn’t expect, you have to really listen to what they say to ﬁgure out how to handle things, so I think it’s key as any type of attorney to be quick on your feet. And that goes back to mindfulness: You have to be in the moment and really be cognitive of your thoughts. Improv and mindfulness work hand in hand.

KELLY HYMAN EMILY JACKOWAY

LD: It’s got to be a lot of fun. Do you do individual classes, or do you have a group?

PHOTO BY JOSH RITCHIE

KELLY HYMAN CONSISTENTLY EXPECTS THE unexpected. Whether that unanticipated turn comes when presented with surprising evidence in a case, or when switching from a 20-year acting career to becoming a highly regarded lawyer, she knows the importance of being ready for anything. That bravery allowed her to open her solo ﬁrm, The Hyman Law Firm, specializing in class actions and mass tort cases. Her ﬁ rm is based in West Palm Beach, Fla., where she also served as President of the Palm Beach Federal Bar Association from 2017 to 2018, along with a position as the Chair of the Membership Committee for the Colorado Federal Bar Association.

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LD: That’s great. And did you work for other ﬁrms before you opened your own?

KH: I was at a ﬁrm in West Palm Beach for seven years, working on their mass tort cases and on the tobacco litigation in Florida. The Florida Supreme Court decertiﬁed a class action, so each case had to be individually tried. I worked in the tobacco litigation unit representing people that have been harmed by tobacco.

110 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 F. Gregory Barnhart SEARCY DENNEY WEST PALM BEACH Patrick Berry DECOF PROVIDENCEBARRY David “Chip” Barry, Jr. CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Vincent Bartolotta Jr. THORSNES BARTOLOTTA SAN DIEGO June Bashant ROUDA FEDER SAN FRANCISCO Michael Baum BAUM HEDLUND LOS ANGELES Jere Beasley* BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Bradley Beckworth NIX AUSTINPATTERSON Megan Wolfe Benett KREINDLER & KREINDLER NEW YORK David Beninger LUVERA LAW FIRM SEATTLE Esther Berezofsky MOTLEY RICE CHERRY HILL, N.J. Nicole Berg KELLERCHICAGOPOSTMAN Steve Berman HAGENSSEATTLEBERMAN N. John Bey BEY &ATLANTAASSOCIATES Nadeem Bezar KLINE PHILADELPHIASPECTER David Bianchi STEWARTMIAMITILGHMAN Andy Birchfield BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Gayle Blatt CASEY GERRY SAN DIEGO

LD: That’s great. Tell me about the American Spirit case you were involved in. What was the issue there?

KH: Well, it all started when I was watching Bill Maher one day. He said, “I’ll have conservatives on my show, and they’ll have two people that support them to come on and try to persuade people. But Democrats do themselves a disservice because they won’t go on the conservative shows and give their point of view.” I thought he made a really valid point – it was a call to action for me. I also saw a study that ﬁ ve percent of people that voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016 got their main source of news from Fox News. Being a lifelong Democrat, interning in the White House, volun-

I tried other types of law, like entertainment law and family law, but when working with Judge Sandoval and a couple other fi rms later, I realized I really enjoyed working on class actions. Then, with my prior firm in West Palm Beach, Fla., the opportunity came to work in their mass torts department. While at my prior firm, I also got to work on a class action MDL case and realized that I really enjoyed being a plaintiffs’ attorney.

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KH: I’ve been invited to teach for trial lawyer organizations, like Kentucky Trial Lawyers, and I spoke about mindfulness for the American Association for Justice.

LD: Oh, wow. You go right into the ﬁre. How did you get into doing that?

KH: The book is about the ﬁ rst 100 days of the Biden administration. I’m a lifelong Democrat – I go on conservative news frequently and give legal and the Democratic perspective.

KH: I’m local counsel on medical devices cases in Florida, which are mass tort cases against the manufacturer for defective drugs. Then, I’m working on class actions against banks for charging consumers excessive fees and a class action data breach. I’m also working on human trafﬁcking cases.

LD: In other current news, I also saw that you have a new book. Tell me about that.

KH: I think I tried every practice of law possible. When I graduated from law school, I was fortunate to clerk for a judge in Miami in a bankruptcy court. And after my clerkship was up, the judge that I worked for said to me, “Do you want to be a bankruptcy attorney?” And I said, “Actually, no.” And he says, “What do you enjoy?” And I said, “Well, I enjoy litigation.” And so, he said, “Well, I think you should clerk for a federal judge.”

LD: Did you always know you wanted to be a plaintiffs’ lawyer?

KH: It was a false advertising claim. The allegations were that American Spirit advertised itself as being 100 percent natural and it wasn’t. I was on the discovery committee for that MDL class action in New Mexico and worked on that case as well, in addition to working on the tobacco litigation. I really enjoyed it, and ever since then, I’ve always worked on the plaintiffs’ side.

I was fortunate enough to clerk for federal Judge Brian Sandoval right after that. He left the federal bench, became the governor of Nevada twice and now is the president of the University of Nevada.

LD: What other cases are you working on these days?

HYMAN’S “READY FOR ANYTHING” MENTALITY STEMS FROM HER DEEPLY ROOTED BACKGROUND IN THEATRICAL IMPROVISATION. SHE TEACHES IMPROVISATION TO LAWYERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, AND BELIEVES FIRMLY IN THE POWER OF MENTAL AWARENESS, AGILITY AND EMPATHY TO FURTHER A LAWYER’S CAREER.

112 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Bryan Blevins Jr. PROVOST BEAUMONT,UMPHREYTEXAS Alexander “Zander” Blewett III HOYT & BLEWETT GREAT FALLS, MONT. Paula Bliss JUSTICE LAW COLLABORATIVE SOUTH EASTON, MASS. Jerome Block LEVYNEWKONIGSBERGYORK Jeffrey Bloom GAIR GAIR NEW YORK Lisa Blue* BARON AND BLUE/ATHEA TRIAL LAWYERS DALLAS Patricia Bobb* PATRICIA C. BOBB & ASSOCIATES CHICAGO LaBarron Boone BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Rainey Booth LITTLEPAGEHOUSTONBOOTH James Bostwick* BOSTWICK & PETERSON SAN FRANCISCO Raymond Boucher BOUCHER LLP WOODLAND HILLS, CALIF. Beverly Bove BOVE & WILMINGTONHEDRICK Kevin Boyle PANISH SHEA LOS ANGELES Margaret Moses Branch* BRANCH LAW ALBUQUERQUEFIRM Thomas Brandi* THE BRANDI LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Debbie Dudley Branson THE LAW OFFICES OF FRANK L. BRANSON DALLAS Frank Branson* THE LAW OFFICES OF FRANK L. BRANSON DALLAS Clint Brasher BRASHER LAW FIRM BEAUMONT, TEXAS name name FIRM FIRM FIRM (CITY)

Why is that a particular issue that’s important to you?

TRIALS ARE BASICALLY THEATER. YOU’RE PUTTING ON A PLAY WHEN YOU’RE PRESENTING YOUR EVIDENCE. YOU HAVE ACTS ONE, TWO AND THREE. IT’S REALLY SIMILAR.

But I think my experience with acting has given me really thick skin. And, deﬁnitely, sometimes it does hurt, seeing all these hateful Twitter things really early in the morning. One time I was with someone on a show, and it was really early. It must have been 5:30 in the morning, and he was literally screaming at me. I had this reaction on my face, like, really? It’s 5:30 in the morning and you’re screaming at me. It’s not civil. I try to be civil. Sometimes it’s harder than other times, but I try not to be disrespectful to other people.

LD: Tell me about your voters’ rights advocacy.

I remember being a poll watcher one time in Florida, even before all the new restrictions had come into place. A woman came to vote, but she was denied. She was like, “How can I not vote?” They told her that after so many years of not voting, you’re basically purged from the record. And I thought, this is horrible. Why are we limiting people’s access to the polls in doing that? I just don’t think that’s right. It’s always been something really, really important to me.

LD: That makes sense. Then, this might be a silly question, but is there any part of you that misses acting? Do you still do it? KH: No, but I think that doing the work that I do, it’s always there. I’m using those same skills and I ﬁnd them very helpful, so I get to experience it that way. It’s always there.

LD: Do you get attacked on Twitter, or on the air sometimes? Or do you ﬁnd that you’re able to keep civil conversations?

KH: Because I’m a strong advocate for democracy and I really believe in it, and I think if you do, you shouldn’t try and limit people’s access to the polls and take away their rights. It’s a fundamental right, and I think if you truly believe in the will of the people, you let the people vote.

LD: That’s amazing. Then, moving back to your legal work, you are the only attorney inside of the ﬁrm, right? KH: Yes. I think having a plaintiffs’ class action contingency casework is a lot of risk. There’s a lot of reward in helping people, but it’s a lot different than just doing straight hourly work for clients. That’s always a concern. You have to really be cognizant of the litigations that you get involved in and treat it very strategically. I want to be helpful for everyone, but because I’m one person, there’s only so many projects I can take.

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teering for numerous campaigns and being a poll watcher in Florida, voters’ rights issues are very near and dear to my heart. Women’s rights are extremely important to me, as well. Equal work, equal pay.

So, having said that, the book is called “Build Back Better: The First 100 Days of the Biden Administration and Beyond.” I’m trying to inspire people – Democrats, Republicans and independents – not to vote against their own interests, but to look at the policies. For example, the Covid-19 relief package – a majority of Americans supported it, but not one Republican in Congress supported it. They should follow the will of their constituents, and people shouldn’t vote for politicians who are against their own interests. And, if they have someone who is not voting for their interests, whether it’s about Covid relief or the infrastructure bill or the For the People Act, then they should vote them out.

KH: No, I have been attacked. Along with some other really nasty things, I had someone say that I need to wear makeup. I’ve had people say that I’m an idiot, I’m stupid, and had someone say, “You’re just another Democratic talking head, and it’s obvious you’re being paid.” And I wrote back in so many words and said, “Well, thanks. Actually, they are my talking points and I do believe them, and I’m not being paid.”

114 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Gregory Breedlove CUNNINGHAM BOUNDS MOBILE, ALA. E. Drew Britcher BRITCHER LEONE GLENN ROCK, N.J. Anne Brockland CASEY DEVOT ST. LOUIS Quentin Brogdon CRAIN BROGDON ROGERS DALLAS Bruce Broillet* GREENE BROILLET SANTA MONICA Alex Brown LANIER LAW HOUSTONFIRM Thomas Brown THE BROWN LAW FIRM HOUSTON Toby Brown CUNNINGHAM BOUNDS MOBILE, ALA. Joseph Brown Jr.* CUNNINGHAM BOUNDS MOBILE, ALA. Devon Bruce POWERCHICAGOROGERS David Buchanan SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Virginia Buchanan LEVINPENSACOLAPAPANTONIO Richard Burke Jr. CLIFFORD LAW CHICAGOOFFICES Warren Burns BURNSDALLASCHAREST Michael Burrage WHITTENOKLAHOMABURRAGECITY Kenneth Byrd LIEFFNASHVILLECABRASER Elizabeth Cabraser* LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO David Cain Jr. CUNNINGHAM BOUNDS MOBILE, ALA.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 115 Clair Campbell CAMPBELL & CHARLOTTEASSOCIATES Susan Capra CLIFFORD LAW CHICAGOOFFICES Diane Cardoso JAVERBAUMSPRINGFIELD,WURGAFTN.J. Robert Carey HAGENSPHOENIXBERMAN Diana Carnemolla GAIR GAIR NEW YORK Tom Carse CARSE LAW DALLASFIRM David Casey Jr.* CASEY GERRY SAN DIEGO Stewart Casper CASPER & DE TOLEDO STAMFORD, CONN. Stacey Feeley Cavanagh CAVANAGH LAW GROUP CHICAGO Timothy Cavanagh CAVANAGH LAW GROUP CHICAGO Mark Chalos LIEFFNASHVILLECABRASER Deborah Chang CHANG | KLEIN/ATHEA TRIAL LAWYERS HERMOSA BEACH, CALIF. Daniel Charest BURNSDALLASCHAREST Doris Cheng WALKUP MELODIA SAN FRANCISCO Cynthia Chihak* CHIHAK & MARTEL SAN DIEGO Michael Ciresi* CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Denyse Clancy KAZANOAKLANDMCCLAIN Robert Clayton TAYLOR & RING MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF.

116 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Robert Clifford CLIFFORD LAW CHICAGOOFFICES Eleni Coffinas SULLIVAN PAPAIN NEW YORK Gary Cohen GROSSMAN ROTH CORAL GABLES Howard Coker* COKER JACKSONVILLELAW John Coletti PAULSON PORTLAND,COLETTIORE. Dean Colson COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES Jan Conlin* CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Roxanne Conlin* ROXANNE CONLIN & ASSOCIATES DES MOINES Jayne Conroy SIMMONS HANLY CONROY NEW YORK Kathryn Conway POWERCHICAGOROGERS Ralph Cook* HARE BIRMINGHAM,WYNNALA. Erin Copeland FIBICHHOUSTONLEEBRON Philip Harnett Corboy Jr. CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Christopher Cormier BURNS WASHINGTON,CHARESTD.C. Natasha Cortes GROSSMAN ROTH CORAL GABLES Joseph Cotchett* COTCHETT PITRE & MCCARTHY BURLINGAME, CALIF. Fred Cunningham DOMNICK CUNNINGHAM PALM BEACH GARDENS Katie Curry MCGINNALBUQUERQUEMONTOYA

Brian Denney: I went to Stetson University for undergraduate and law school, and then got a job at a great law ﬁrm in the Tampa area doing defense work on civil cases. Then, I was offered an opportunity to start my own defense law ﬁrm with two other attorneys, which was a positive learning experience for me. But then I got married and was going to start a

A member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, the Florida Justice Association and the Executive Committee at his ﬁrm, Denney has demonstrated a career-long devotion to making sure as many people as possible are able to experience that feeling.

Brian Denney SEARCY DENNEY (WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.)

Lawdragon: You have been at Searcy Denney for 14 years. Can you give me an idea of your career path leading up to then?

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PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM

BY EMILY JACKOWAY LITIGATOR BRIAN DENNEY’S BIGGEST

inspiration? The strength his clients demonstrate every day despite the hardships they’ve suffered. And, after more than 20 years of experience trying cases – more than two-thirds of which have been at current ﬁrm Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley – he has been inspired by hundreds of victims who have turned to him to get their day in court. Denney specializes in personal injury, medical malpractice and product liability, with cases ranging from automobile negligence to wrongful death. He has taken on massive corporations like Big Tobacco, including recovering a $21M verdict against two tobacco companies, and another $3.5M verdict in a wrongful death trial for a 92-year-old surviving spouse. In total, Denney has won more than $150M for his clients. Those wins are what Denney loves about his career –not because of the personal victories, but because of how his clients feel afterward. As a plaintiffs’ lawyer, he explains, “You get to help people overcome something terrible that’s happened to them, and in some small way you are able to help make it right. A jury verdict can give some people closure because they get to access our justice system and see justice done.”

BRIAN DENNEY

BD: To me, the biggest difference between being a defense lawyer and a plaintiffs’ lawyer is that when you’re a defense lawyer, if a case is sent to you by an insurance company, you almost always take the case. By that time, usually there’s a claim made, or a complaint ﬁled, and you are in reaction mode.

LD: Do you feel your job has made you parent them similarly to how your dad did you?

BD: Maybe a little bit, but when I get home, I don’t talk much about work because I don’t want to freak them out about some of the horrible things that happen to my clients. What they do know, though, is that their dad helps people. I’m the only man that they interact with for the most part in their day-to-day life. So, that’s a huge responsibility that I take very seriously. I want to set a good example for them. LD: Well, it sounds like you have been. And, obviously, as you said, you’re helping people who have suffered from catastrophic injuries. Do you have any clients or cases that particularly stand out in your memory?

LD: I’m sure. And you have four daughters, right?

BD: Yes, ma’am. Four beautiful daughters.

LD: Right. BD: On the plaintiffs’ side of things, though, you get to select your cases. By doing so you get to build your case from the ground up, and then it’s up to the other side to attempt to tear it down. I much prefer the plaintiffs’ side for that reason. It’s less stressful to me because you have more control over the direction your case takes.

LD: Tell me about your transition from being a defense attorney to a plaintiffs’ attorney – what did you ﬁnd most interesting about that shift?

BD: Yeah, it has. I really learned how the other side operated.Butmybiggest takeaway was that the defense lawyers on the other side are not the enemy. They are professionals who deserve to be treated with respect. They’re doing the best they can to advocate for their clients. That’s their job.

BD: Yeah, there are a few. I had the privilege of representing a young man who, as a brand-new teenager, was rear-ended by a Palm Beach County school bus, and he broke his neck. At the time, he was on a path to become a superstar basketball player, and the injury derailed his career. However, he had a good surgeon, and this kid wound up being named by our local newspaper as the Small School Basketball Player of the Year for the whole county. LD: Wow. BD: Yeah. So, I learned a lot from him. We took the case to trial, but we didn’t do it for ﬁnancial reasons because we were suing a sovereign-immune entity. We did it for the principle of the thing. The jury loved this young man so much for what he overcame in his life, and we wound up getting a nice verdict on the case. When the trial was over, all the jurors came over and gave him a big hug. He wound up

BD: Well, you learn something new every day in this profession. I do a wide variety of work here at the ﬁrm in different areas, all involving people who’ve been catastrophically injured due to someone else’s negligence. So, for example, in medical malpractice cases, you learn a lot about best practices of medicine. In products liability cases you learn about the vetting process for products brought to market.

LD: I love that. So, now you specialize in medical malpractice, personal injury and product liability, right? What do you enjoy most about those practice areas?

LD: That makes a lot of sense. Do you feel like your experience moving from defendant’s law to plaintiffs’ law has helped you get a better perspective on all sides of the legal ﬁeld?

I’ll also say, it’s hard not to become a very paranoid person doing this line of work. I now have a much better appreciation why my father was always the dad who said, “No, you can’t go on this trip because this or that could happen.” It gives you a different perspective on the world.

LD: Right. BD: And they go home, and they tell their family about the good or bad day they had, just like we do. Or the good or bad experience they had with a lawyer. And when they work with me, I want them to go home and say, “We disagreed about the case, and, boy, he fought hard for his client, but he was a gentleman about it.”

118 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 family, so my wife and I came back to the Palm Beach County area, and I ended up coming to work for the Searcy, Denney ﬁrm, where my father practiced at the time. It was a lot of fun practicing law with him before he retired.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 119 Lisa Dagostino KLINE PHILADELPHIASPECTER Carolyn Daley POWERCHICAGOROGERS Michael Danko DANKO MEREDITH REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. Frank Darras ONTARIO,DARRASLAWCALIF. Mark Davis* DAVISHONOLULULEVIN Victoria de Toledo CASPER & DE TOLEDO STAMFORD, CONN. David Dean* SULLIVAN PAPAIN NEW YORK Jessica Dean DEANDALLASOMAR Kevin Dean MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. A. Roy DeCaro RAYNES PHILADELPHIALAWN Mark Decof DECOF PROVIDENCEBARRY Michael Demetrio CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Thomas Demetrio* CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Brian Denney SEARCY DENNEY WEST PALM BEACH Tara Devine SALVI WAUKEGAN,SCHOSTOKILL. David Dickens THE MILLER FIRM ORANGE, VA. David Dickey YERRID LAW FIRM TAMPA Paulina do Amaral LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK

BD: Well, the ones that really stick with me now are the cases where I’ve represented children who have been hurt.

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My client was very badly injured. He was undergoing cancer treatments at the time, but the treatments had to be interrupted because he was in the hospital with wires and tubes coming out of his body, having to recover from his injuries. He had total faith and conﬁdence in me to try his case. I took that responsibility very seriously and worked day and night to ensure that we’d get him the best outcome possible. He would pray with me at his request before we would go into court, in a private room. He was just one of these people who was so inspiring to us, because of all he’d gone through. It was likely that his cancer was going to come back, and that the outcome was not going to be a positive for him, but he was able to just rise above that in his mind. The jury absolutely loved him. We wound up getting a big verdict, no doubt because of everything he had overcome and how hard he was working to get better. The defense had to pay his attorney’s fees as well.

BD: He is a really super kid. I’ll tell you about another one. I had the honor of representing a gentleman who was hurt pretty bad. We only had a $50,000 offer before the trial began. He had been traveling down the road when a bush hog tractor pulled out in front of him. He didn’t anticipate that, so they had a violent collision.

LD: That’s a wonderful story.

BD: It was. But on a personal note, the most moving part of the story for me is that midway through the trial, he pulled a Superman shirt out of his bag, gave it to me, and said, “You’re my champion, Brian.” The truth is, the real heroes are the clients, not the lawyers. Our job is to show the jury the kind of people that our clients are and the things that they’ve overcome despite all the bad that’s happened to them.

At the end of the day, the jury is awarding your client justice, not you. As attorneys, we need to check our egos at the door and put our clients in the spotlight. So, those are just a couple of examples of people that I have had the fortunate privilege of representing. Those kinds of experiences change your life. It’s humbling to see people who’ve been through so much have such a positive attitude about it. Those are the kinds of stories that I like to share with my kids.

LD: Oh, I’m sure. Especially as a father.

BD: Oh, yeah. Kids are resilient, and oftentimes it’s the parents who suffer more by watching their child in pain. Then, it’s the kids who put on a brave face and wake up every day and deal with their issues.

I’ve represented brain-damaged children, children who’ve lost the use of their legs. And I’m always struck by how courageous they are. It’s an interesting window into reality doing what we do, because we see the worst side of humanity, but also the best side of humanity. If you look into a terrible, preventable tragedy, you’ll ﬁrst wonder how someone could have let it happen, or how a corporation could behave in such a CAN HAVE SOMETHING CALLED THE CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE WHERE, WHEN YOU LEARN SOMETHING, IT’S HARD TO REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE WHEN YOU DIDN’T KNOW IT. SO, WHEN YOU’RE TALKING TO SIX JURORS, YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT THESE PEOPLE ARE HEARING YOUR CASE FOR THE FIRST TIME.

LAWYERS

playing college basketball. Then, he started a charity for kids out in Belle Glade, where he’s from, which is an economically disadvantaged area. So, to be able to represent someone like that is such an honor.

LD: Wow. That’s great.

LD: That’s a great outlook to have on your role as a lawyer. And then what about some of your more recent cases – are there any that stick with you?

LD: Absolutely. Honesty and simplicity are the best policies.

BD: Yeah, my father absolutely was. He didn’t necessarily talk about cases around the dining room table, but what he instilled in me was a work ethic. That’s more valuable than anything.

LD: Sure.

I think it’s important for people to remember that nothing comes easily. Anyone who’s had success in their life has had late nights, early mornings, study, repetition – all the things that come with being disciplined in any profession. So, I think that when coming into any case, knowing what you don’t know and being willing to learn, to listen to your client and let your client’s story guide the case – that’s the best advice I could give to a young lawyer.

BD: My father drilled into my head from a young age that the harder you work, the better the result will be. And that stuck with me through the years. As a trial lawyer you have to be willing to get your hands dirty and do the work. You should never have to ask someone to do a job that you either don’t know how to do yourself, or you’re not willing to do yourself. I think it’s important that lawyers know how to do everything from carrying the boxes into the courthouse, to giving the closing argument, to negotiating the settlement to doing all of the little things behind the scenes that aren’t glamorous but that are necessary to win. Not only does that build character, but it’s the right thing to do. Being a good leader is about showing people that you’re willing to get down in the weeds to do the hard work.

LD: That’s a great point. And then, throughout all these trials, what would you say that your style is as a trial lawyer?

Another part of being honest is just being yourself. Be authentic and present your best possible case without unnecessary ﬂuff. I think juries appreciate that. You can tell when lawyers – oftentimes young ones – get up and they aren’t being authentic or honest. And I think juries can tell, too.

BD: Well, I’d say that as a trial lawyer, I am honest with the jury. That might sound cliché, but it’s something that I strive for. Be honest with your client, be honest with the jury. That means admitting the parts of your case that might not seem to be in your favor and owning them, upfront. That means that you don’t promise things that you can’t deliver to the jury. That means being respectful of their time. That means not trying to push the envelope and pull the wool over their eyes about something. I believe that as a plaintiff, where you get to pick your cases, if you go into court, your case should be good enough that you should present it to the jury warts and all.

LD: That’s great. And yeah, speaking of your dad, would you say that he was one of your mentors?

One thing that my father taught me is that hard work is how you get ahead. You don’t have to be the smartest person in the room, but if you work hard and you go about your business honorably, you’ll put yourself in the best position to be successful.

BD: Right. Lawyers can have something called the curse of knowledge where, when you learn something, it’s hard to remember what it was like when you didn’t know it. So, when you’re talking to six jurors, you have to remember that these people are hearing your case for the ﬁrst time.

AT THE END OF THE DAY, THE JURY IS AWARDING YOUR CLIENT JUSTICE, NOT YOU. AS ATTORNEYS, WE NEED TO CHECK OUR EGOS AT THE DOOR AND PUT OUR CLIENTS IN THE SPOTLIGHT.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 121 callous way. But then you look at the family that’s been hurt and you see how they pull together and how their faith can bind them and really get them through hard situations. That’s very eye opening and humbling.

LD: Absolutely. And, speaking of younger lawyers, do you have any other advice for lawyers just starting out?

BD: I think the most important thing for young lawyers is that you must know what you don’t know. Check your ego at the door. If you don’t know something, don’t pretend that you know. Look it up and then ask for help from someone with more experience.

122 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Chris Dolan DOLAN LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Michael Dolce COHEN MILSTEIN PALM BEACH GARDENS Sean Domnick DOMNICK CUNNINGHAM PALM BEACH GARDENS Dennis Donnelly THE DONNELLY LAW FIRM SUMMIT, N.J. Gary Dordick DORDICK LAW CORPORATION BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. T. Micah Dortch POTTS LAW DALLASFIRM Kimberley Dougherty JUSTICE LAW COLLABORATIVE SOUTH EASTON, MASS. Carl Douglas* DOUGLAS HICKS LOS ANGELES Daniel Dunbar PANISH SHEA LOS ANGELES Kendall Dunson BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Kevin Durkin CLIFFORD LAW CHICAGOOFFICES Daniel Dutko RUSTY HARDIN & HOUSTONASSOCIATES Emmanuel Edem NORMAN & EDEM OKLAHOMA CITY Brad Edwards EDWARDS POTTINGER FT. LAUDERDALE Robert Eglet EGLET ADAMS LAS VEGAS Tracy Eglet EGLET ADAMS LAS VEGAS Lewis “Mike” Eidson* COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES Michael Elsner MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 123 Michael Ermert HARE BIRMINGHAM,WYNNALA. Regina Etherton REGINA P. ETHERTON & ASSOCIATES CHICAGO Ingrid Evans EVANS LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Karen Evans THE COCHRAN FIRM WASHINGTON, D.C. Elizabeth Faiella* FAIELLA & GULDEN WINTER PARK, FLA. Kyle Farrar FARRAR & HOUSTONBALL John Feder ROUDA FEDER SAN FRANCISCO Elizabeth Fegan FEGANCHICAGOSCOTT Alan Feldman FELDMANPHILADELPHIASHEPHERD Bibi Fell FELL LAW/ATHEA TRIAL LAWYERS SAN DIEGO James Ferguson II* FERGUSONCHARLOTTECHAMBERS Steven Fineman LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK George Finkbohner III CUNNINGHAM BOUNDS MOBILE, ALA. Edward Fisher PROVOST BEAUMONT,UMPHREYTEXAS Joe Fisher II PROVOST BEAUMONT,UMPHREYTEXAS Christopher Fitzgerald CHF LEGAL NEW YORK Fidelma Fitzpatrick MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Wendy Fleishman LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK

June Bashant ROUDA FEDER (SAN FRANCISCO)

BY EMILY JACKOWAY CONSUMER SAFETY AND WRONGFUL DEATH

PHOTO BY RORY EARNSHAW NO STRANGER TO LARGE CORPORATE THE DEFENSE, BASHANT HAS RECOVERED MILLIONS IN NEGLIGENT GUN VIOLENCE. SHE HAS TRIED, MEDIATED AND MANY CASES WITH MULTIMILLIONNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED DEFENSE

DEFENDANTS ON

Lawdragon: You started at Rouda Feder just a couple of years after you came to the Bay Area. What made you decide to join this ﬁrm and stay for the last 23 years?

SECURITY CASES INVOLVING

DOLLAR RESULTS AGAINST

FIRMS AND LARGE CORPORATIONS.

LD: Right. JB: On top of that, the insurance companies would audit the bills. Attorneys were required to get approval before they could engage in discovery, depositions or even settlement evaluations that fell within our expertise as lawyers. The insurance company didn’t care about my case evaluation or advice – it was all about how much money they could save. So, after doing that for about three years, I had a case against my current firm. I drafted a motion for summary judgement that my current firm thought I might win. They were concerned, and settled the case. My instincts to file the motion were proactive, creative and strategic. I think my current firm recognized that, and because of my work on that one motion, they inquired about hiring me. It’s important to put your full energy and effort into everything you do. You never know what opportunity might be around the corner. I am passionate about every case, and getting the best result for my clients.

LD: What did you enjoy about that shift to not only plaintiffs’ work, but speciﬁcally personal injury and wrongful death matters?

attorney June Bashant values trusting, personal relationships with both her clients and her colleagues. A partner with Rouda, Feder, Tietjen & McGuinn, Bashant came to plaintiffs’ work because she wanted to represent families and individuals who experienced a sudden traumatic loss. Her goal is to ensure that preventable catastrophic events do not threaten the stability and security of a family. She has protected families and individuals for the last 23 years with incredible success. She and fellow partner John Feder recovered $20M in a premises liability case when a young professional was exposed to a virus while he was on vacation and died. No stranger to large corporate defendants on the defense, Bashant has recovered millions in negligent security cases involving gun violence. She has tried, mediated and resolved many cases with multimillion-dollar results against nationally recognized defense ﬁrms and large corporations.Bashantstays involved outside of the courtroom, as well. She is a member of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, Consumer Attorneys of California and several women-centered trial groups. Bashant has worked with the Concord Family Justice Center, and supports FESCO, a family emergency shelter in the Bay area.

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RESOLVED

JUNE BASHANT

June Bashant: I started out doing defense work, but I didn’t find it fulfilling. I would finish a day and be congratulated for billing hours even if the work I was doing had no substance at all. I was sent to depositions where no questions were required, or I traveled somewhere to stand around all day as a placeholder. I might bill 12 hours and be congratulated for my time, not for the substance of my work. That bothered me on a number of levels.

126 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Frank Floriani SULLIVAN PAPAIN NEW YORK Jodi Westbrook Flowers MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Kathryn Forgie ANDRUSOAKLANDWAGSTAFF Keith Forman WAISBALTIMOREVOGELSTEIN Carol Forte BLUME CHATHAM,FORTEN.J. Gary Fox* STEWARTMIAMITILGHMAN Jan Woodward Fox* LAW OFFICES OF JAN WOODWARD FOX HOUSTON Robert Francavilla CASEY GERRY SAN DIEGO Carrie Frank KLEIN BOULDER,FRANKCOLO. Aaron Friewald FREIWALD PHILADELPHIALAW Agnieszka Fryszman COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Brenda Fulmer SEARCY DENNEY WEST PALM BEACH Simone Fulmer GAUS FULMER SILL OKLAHOMA CITY Anthony Gair GAIR GAIR NEW YORK Reena Gambhir WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Deborah Gander COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES Alicia Garcia ABOUREZK & GARCIA RAPID CITY, S.D. Stephen Garcia GARCIA & ARTIGLIERE LONG BEACH

WHEN I MEET CLIENTS, IT’S BECAUSE THEY HAVE EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN AND SHOCKING CATASTROPHIC EVENT. WITHOUT MY WORK, THEIR FUTURE IS AT RISK. I TAKE THAT VERY, VERY SERIOUSLY.

JB: I learn so much from my clients. I ensure my clients understand the legal process, but at the end of each case, I am sure to share with each client what I’ve learned from them, and the legacy of their loved one. Each family dynamic, each person passes wisdom to me that I incorporate into my practice. It’s so moving that my clients invite me in to understand their loss. I visit their homes and schools. I speak directly with their treating doctors to understand the detail of the injuries or the ongoing effects of the loss. And, at the conclusion of the case, I always follow up to thank my clients for sharing the intricate and complex tapestry that conveys the story of their family.

JB: Oh, it was a complete shift. Every one of my clients is depending on me for their future security. The client relationship is both personal and professional. I care deeply for the families and individuals that I represent, and who are experiencing dire circumstances. When I meet clients, it’s because they have experienced a sudden and shocking catastrophic event. Without my work, their future is at risk. I take that very, very seriously. In doing this kind of work, I need to protect my clients to ensure they will have a stable ﬁnancial future in light of the severe injuries they, or a family member, have sustained. That’s the difference.

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JB: I was able to build a practice from the ground up. I knew very little about the details and strategy of plaintiffs work when I came here, but I was meticulously trained. The attorneys at my ﬁrm were not only my colleagues and mentors, but they turned into my law partners, and became part of my family. Every time I did something, they cared enough to show me how to do it better. It’s all about the grit you put into learning every detail. You need that passion to put in the time that is necessary on each case to get the best result. And, you need to know the people who are working around you, support you, and have your back all the time. All of those were advantages that allowed me to build a practice within a small boutique ﬁrm.

LD: It’s wonderful that you have that kind of bond with them.

LD: As a female lawyer, which is a rarer combination than it should be, did you have any women who were

LD: Tell me about working at Rouda Feder. What are some of the advantages of working at a smaller, boutique ﬁrm?

LD: Did you have any mentors when you were becoming a lawyer?

JB: My mentors included Ron Rouda, John Feder, Tim Tietjen and Cynthia McGuinn. Each of them took the time to teach me. That is a rarity. I shadowed them at trial, arbitration and mediation. They meticulously corrected my writing, and taught me the skills necessary to properly evaluate the liability and damage side of cases. Ron Rouda in particular taught me to keep asking the questions necessary to drill down on the key issues. Each of my mentors encouraged me to attend conferences and educational seminars for professional development. And, they gave me enough space to make mistakes and learn from my failures.

LD: Do you have any stories from cases where you formed a particular bond with a client, or where their case especially moved you?

JB: It’s hard to pick just one. Unquestionably, my clients become my friends and family. I know so much about them, and the bond is unmistakable. I tend to represent families in wrongful death cases. I can relate, because I have two kids of my own and my husband passed away unexpectedly. This makes me uniquely qualiﬁed to understand the profound loss my clients experience from the moment of the event, and how that loss continues to manifest itself in their daily lives. I know the resources available. I know what to do in the immediate aftermath of tragedy. I can compassionately counsel and console through the excruciating process of grief. Those are the cases that stay with me.

128 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Sekou Gary GARY WILLIAMS PARENTI STUART, FLA. Willie Gary GARY WILLIAMS PARENTI STUART, FLA. Jonathan Gdanski SCHLESINGER LAW OFFICES FT. LAUDERDALE Laura Benitez Geisler SOMMERMANDALLASMCCAFFITY Robert Gellatly LUVERA LAW FIRM SEATTLE Rachel Geman LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Victor George LAW OFFICES OF VICTOR L. GEORGE TORRANCE, CALIF. Eri Gibbs GIBBS LAW OAKLANDGROUP William Gibbs CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Scott Gilmore WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Thomas Giuffra RHEINGOLD GIUFFRA NEW YORK Chris Glover BEASLEYATLANTAALLEN John Goetz SCHWEBELMINNEAPOLISGOETZ Larry Golston BEASLEYATLANTAALLEN Ralph Gonzalez YERRID LAW FIRM TAMPA Jeffrey Gordon LESSER LESSER BOCA RATON James Gotz HAUSFELDBOSTON Brent Goudarzi GOUDARZI & YOUNG GILMER, TEXAS

LD: That’s heartbreaking. But you’ve been able to get justice for so many of these victims and their families.

In terms of style, every woman has to have her own style. The tone that works for one, may not work for another woman. I can’t just assume another woman’s style – it’s very individual.

There have been so many more. In one case, a grandmother was killed in a crosswalk by a truck driver. She was active and loved walking every single day. Her life was so rich as a physician and single mom who had raised two daughters. At the time of her death, she was enriching the lives of her ﬁve grandchildren. An untrained truck driver failed to stop an adequate distance from a crosswalk. As a result, he could not see my client over the top of his truck. It was heart wrenching that she was out doing what she loved to do, and that her life prematurely ended so senselessly. This collision was absolutely preventable.

There have also been the cases involving a lack of adequate security, where my clients have lost family members as a result of gun violence.

Cynthia can communicate the single most important issue in the case with absolute precision. The take away is that my ability to accurately and credibly communicate with attorneys, mediators, judges and juries helps to get cases resolved for the beneﬁt of my clients.

One thing I have learned as a female attorney is that you must know your case better than the defense. Another strategy I impart on young law students and attorneys is to prove yourself indispensable. As a woman, you need to be prepared and you must get it right. Be the attorney in the case who the judge, other lawyers and clients turn to for leadership and credibility.

Which of your cases have made an impact on you?

JB: Oh, so many. I settled a case against a major online retailer that involved a dangerous product that was ultimately removed from the market. In these consumer product cases, it is so important to send the message to the global market place that no matter how big you are in market share, you cannot place a harmful product in the stream of commerce at the expense of your customers. Proﬁt should never trump safety.

To what do you credit your success?

LD: What would you say your style is, as a trial lawyer?

ONE THING I HAVE LEARNED AS A FEMALE ATTORNEY IS THAT YOU MUST KNOW YOUR CASE BETTER THAN THE DEFENSE. AS A WOMAN, YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED AND YOU MUST GET IT RIGHT. BE THE ATTORNEY IN THE CASE WHO THE JUDGE, OTHER LAWYERS, AND CLIENTS TURN TO FOR LEADERSHIP AND CREDIBILITY.

JB: I was given the gift of my colleague, Cynthia McGuinn. Cynthia is an incredible communicator, writer and trial lawyer. There are few people who have the ability to connect with a jury like Cynthia McGuinn. I have looked up to her for many, many years, even before she joined Rouda, Feder, Tietjen & McGuinn.

LD: Tell me about some of your memorable cases.

JB: I think it comes down to a strong work ethic and grit. I put my head down and just keep digging to ﬁnd out the truth. I am so passionate about my cases, and the people who I represent, that I keep pushing until I get all of the information necessary to properly evaluate my cases. There is no quick settlement, only cases that are methodically worked up to determine fault, and the full extent of harms and losses.

JB: I’d say that I’m meticulous with detail, and a bit of a control freak. I am critical and self-aware which keeps me motivated to improve. And, I hope that I display an understated conﬁdence. My strength is taking depositions. My listening and communication skills push me to always ask the question that some might stop short of posing.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 129 particularly helpful in mentoring you, or did you have to ﬁnd your own path?

130 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Elizabeth Graham GRANT & WILMINGTONEISENHOFER Jeffrey Grand SEEGER WEISS RIDGEFIELD PARK, N.J. Mark Gray GRAY & LOUISVILLEWHITE Justin Green KREINDLER & KREINDLER NEW YORK Vincent Green IV MOTLEY PROVIDENCERICE Browne Greene* GREENE BROILLET SANTA MONICA David Greenstone SIMON DALLASGREENSTONE Dicky Grigg* THE LAW OFFICE OF DICKY GRIGG AUSTIN Stuart Grossman* GROSSMAN ROTH CORAL GABLES Rachel Gusman GRAVESTULSAMCLAIN Lisa Guth KLINE PHILADELPHIASPECTER Michael Haggard THE HAGGARD LAW FIRM CORAL GABLES Chris Hamilton HAMILTONDALLASWINGO Paul Hanly Jr.* (RIP) SIMMONS HANLY CONROY NEW YORK Rusty Hardin RUSTY HARDIN & HOUSTONASSOCIATES Christian Hartley MAUNE RAICHLE HARTLEY ST. LOUIS Michael Hausfeld* WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Edward Havas DEWSNUP KING SALT LAKE CITY

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 131 Lexi Hazam LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Denman Heard HEARD LAW HOUSTONFIRM Dara Hegar LANIER LAW HOUSTONFIRM Charles Hehmeyer RAYNES LAWN PHILADELPHIAHEHMEYER Richard Heimann* LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Russ Herman* HERMAN HERMAN & KATZ NEW ORLEANS Steven Herman HERMAN HERMAN & KATZ NEW ORLEANS Frank Herrera Jr. THE HERRERA LAW FIRM SAN ANTONIO John Herrick MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Charles Hermann HERRMANN LAW GROUP SEATTLE Lara Hermann HERRMANN LAW GROUP SEATTLE Nancy Hersh* HERSH & HERSH SAN FRANCISCO Howard Hershenhorn GAIR GAIR NEW YORK Jamon Hicks DOUGLAS/ HICKS LOS ANGELES Ryan Higgins RUSTY HARDIN & HOUSTONASSOCIATES Arash Homampour THE HOMAMPOUR FIRM SHERMAN OAKS, CALIF. Sean Houlihan POWERCHICAGOROGERS Kelly Hyman THE HYMAN LAW FIRM WEST PALM BEACH

Stephen Garcia GARCIA & (LOSARTIGLIEREANGELES)

The ﬁrm made a decision early on not to take on any Covid-related cases against these facilities. The thinking was, as Garcia explains, “if the government, and our president, and our health professionals can’t ﬁgure out what we should be doing, and it’s all constantly evolving, how the heck can these nursing homes be expected to do it?”

That said, the pandemic has correlated with injuries and abuses to the elderly at a frequency that Garcia hasn’t seen since before the revisions to the federal Elder Abuse Act in the early 90s. In one of his current cases, a resident went missing from a facility – for three whole months. The 87-year-old woman had trouble with walking and other movements, yet the management claims she scaled the 12-foot fence surrounding the facility and wandered off. “We’re at a curious time right now,” says Garcia, “where litigation and plaintiffs’ lawyers are back to being the last bastion of safety for the poor and underserved.”Remarkably,Garcia doesn’t seem wearied by these setbacks. Instead, his energy is crackling and robust. He has the force of a silverback gorilla protecting its young, and his passion for his work, several decades into this epic up-hill battle, is glisteningly clear. What keeps him so motivated?

It’s frustrating because, as Garcia explains, “with the robber barons just taking a little less for their riches, say one and a half percent of gross income, they could hire, train and pay fairly sufﬁcient staff to meet the needs of the residents, but nope that will never happen.”

Garcia and others at his firm, Garcia & Artigliere, have made incredible strides in seeking justice and protections for elders in care facilities, particularly in recent years with the issue of chronic understaffing. In one ground-breaking case, he achieved a rare class certification in a lawsuit accusing a residential care facility of understaffing. The case went on to be settled, with the facility agreeing to increase staffing to meet the needs of its residents.

PHOTO BY AMY CANTRELL

STEPHEN GARCIA ALISON PREECE NURSING HOMES ARE AN INCREDIBLY lucrative business, with the U.S. market estimated at over $70B. But for the staff and the elderly in their care, that might come as a surprise. Many facilities appear chronically underfunded and in need of maintenance or renovation, which became painfully clear during the rapid spread of infections during the pandemic. What’s more, front-line caregivers are often paid minimum wage, despite the skills needed for this demanding and crucial job. So where is all that money going?

Understaffing is a critical battleground for fighting abuse against elders in these facilities, since having more workers, particularly CNAs, or certifi ed nursing assistants, can reduce neglect and ensure each resident is getting appropriate attention and care. “The people on the floor in nursing homes, they’re good people, by and large,” says Garcia. “It’s not the people on the floor that create the problems, it’s the robber barons who own the facilities. They’re paying themselves eight ways from Sunday, taking money out of the facility that could be paying people fairly, and that’s required for appropriate care.”

In California, where Garcia does much of his work, a bill was passed a couple years back that required a 10 percent increase in staff at these facilities. He celebrated at the time, but has been frustrated to watch the implementation fall ﬂat.

Garcia’s advocacy for increased stafﬁng at nursing homes extends beyond lawsuits to legislative lobbying. While he has had some incredible wins, including over $25M in recoveries, it remains a chronic issue that the pandemic only exasperated.

“They built in a right to be exempt from the law, and every single nursing home claimed to be exempt,” says Garcia. “And the government grants the exemption. It’s all a facade.”

Stephen Garcia has dedicated his career to ﬁghting for the rights of elders in nursing homes and residential care facilities, advocating for funds to be dedicated to proper care. He has represented elders who had suffered abuse and neglect, and families who have lost loved ones to wrongful death at these facilities for over 25 years. His efforts have frequently led to seven-ﬁ gure verdicts, and, crucially, called attention to systemic causes of this mistreatment.

Instead, too many facilities are chronically dealing with a small, underpaid staff.

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“I think my son was preordained to be a trial lawyer,” says Garcia. “He spent a lot of time in the car with me, seeing what I do. My daughter has gone her own path, and wants to effect change outside of the courtroom. She wants to be a politician, and help work in some of the less advantaged areas and provide people with assistance.

“We really focused on creating a very, very strong bench and team players,” says Garcia, “and I think we’ve got the right people in place.”

“What keeps me going is the younger people in the ﬁeld,” says Garcia. “It’s my legacy, and I want to teach them about the intricacies of it, so they can carry on and make meaningful social change.

“That’s what she plans to do with her law degree, whereas I think my son is probably planning on throwing me out the door and trying cases instead of me,” he quips. Garcia, who has extensive trial experience, advises the younger generation to “be direct” in the courtroom. “You need to be genuine.” He advises young lawyers to work as waiters or bartenders in order to “develop your interpersonal skills, your ability to be compelling, to evoke emotion and evoke thought.”

Garcia is hands-on, and trains his mentees to be the same. “Paper isn’t going to make you real,” he says. “What’s going to make you real is getting your hands dirty. Do the grunt work when nobody else wants to do the grunt work, and go talk to every witness.”

The ﬁrm operates on a full contingency basis, which is a philosophy Garcia inherited from his father and three uncles who were all lawyers. “That’s just the way I was brought up. You’re taking a chance with the cause you’re supporting, and you’re in it with your clients, trying to help them, and not imposing on them to fund your cases,” says ThisGarcia.isparticularly advantageous for clients in an elder abuse practice, because these aggrieved plaintiffs often lack the funds to take on a corporate Goliath, despite the merits of their case.

I want to stay around long enough to teach them how to do it right.”

Beyond being authentic and straightforward in the courtroom, Garcia advises that, “you need work ethic and tactical understanding. They don’t teach you tactical understanding in law school. They don’t teach you how to zig when the book says you should zag. They don’t tell you how, when your trial’s been prepped one way and it’s not going well, how to go home at night and figure a new way for the morning. “Those are the talents that make really remarkable trial lawyers.” As part of his legacy in this fight for elders’ rights, Garcia has brought on some remarkable people to join him at his firm. Bill Artigliere is a decorated West Point graduate and former star baseball player who has worked side by side with Garcia for going on 15 years, and has been counsel of record in matters leading to well over $100M in awards for elder and infirm adults throughout the country.

Matthew Coman is a former federal prosecutor who served as the Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division in the Eastern District of Louisiana. He has tried an impressive 160-plus jury trials to verdict, and was given the National Award for Superior Performance in Litigation by the U.S. Justice Department for his work prosecuting the former mayor of New Orleans on corruption charges in United States v. C. Ray Nagin David Medby, of counsel to the firm, has already successfully litigated over 100 cases of elder abuse. He was a former law clerk for Garcia at his prior firm, The Law Offices of Stephen Garcia, and has significant class action experience as well.

Two of those younger people are Garcia’s son, Taylor who is law school, and daughter, Ali who is heading to law school. He would like to see them both join the ﬁrm one day.

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“The way we operate, you don’t have to worry about an inability to pay to seek justice,” says Garcia, “because we’ll make sure you get justice.”

Garcia started practicing shortly before the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act was amended in California in 1991, and much of his career has been bringing that legislation to bear in civil courts.

He doesn’t believe passing new laws is necessary to address the issues he takes on today.

“Legitimate, credible enforcement of the rules they have is all that’s required,” Garcia says. “If they did that, if the state did that, the Department of Public Health did that, we would ﬁnally see proper care to our loved ones.”

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 135 Daniel Iracki COKER JACKSONVILLELAW Cory Itkin ARNOLD & HOUSTONITKIN Jason Itkin ARNOLD & HOUSTONITKIN Evan Janush LANIER LAW FIRM NEW YORK Kristen Johnson HAGENS CAMBRIDGE,BERMANMASS. Raymon Jones LAW OFFICES OF RAYMOND R. JONES WASHINGTON, D.C. Rhon Jones BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Joseph Kalbac Jr. COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES Julie Braman Kane COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES Allan Kanner KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS Kristina Kastl KASTLDALLASLAW Brian Katz HERMAN HERMAN & KATZ NEW ORLEANS Steven Kazan* KAZANOAKLANDMCCLAIN Christopher Keane KEANE LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Anne McGinness Kearse MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Don Keenan* KEENAN LAW FIRM ATLANTA Diogenes Kekatos SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Ashley Keller KELLERCHICAGOLENKNER

136 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Michael Kelly* WALKUP MELODIA SAN FRANCISCO Keith Kessler STRITMATTERSEATTLEKESSLER Ray Khirallah HAMILTONDALLASWINGO Marlon Kimpson MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Colin King DEWSNUP KING SALT LAKE CITY Robert King Jr. CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Aimee Kirby DOLAN LAW FIRM LOS ANGELES David Kirby EDWARDS KIRBY RALEIGH, N.C. Daniel Kirschner CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Beth Klein KLEIN BOULDER,FRANKCOLO. Candice Klein CHANG KLEIN HERMOSA BEACH, CALIF. Amanda Klevorn BURNS CHAREST NEW ORLEANS Thomas Kline* KLINE PHILADELPHIASPECTER Mary Koch WAISBALTIMOREVOGELSTEIN Karen Koehler STRITMATTERSEATTLEKESSLER Allison Kohler DUGAN TIMONIUM,BABIJMD. Michelle Kohut CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Robert Komitor LEVYNEWKONIGSBERGYORK

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 137 Josh Koskoff KOSKOFF BRIDGEPORT,KOSKOFFCONN. Nishi Kothari BRASHER LAW FIRM PLLC HOUSTON James Kreindler KREINDLER & KREINDLER NEW YORK Scott Krist KRIST LAW HOUSTONFIRM Leslie Kroeger COHEN MILSTEIN PALM BEACH GARDENS Noah Kushlefsky KREINDLER & KREINDLER NEW YORK Brian LaCien SMITHCHICAGOLACIEN Frank LaMothe LAMOTHE LAW FIRM NEW ORLEANS Walter Lack ENGSTROM LIPSCOMB LOS ANGELES Steven Laird LAW OFFICES OF STEVEN C. LAIRD FORT WORTH Joseph Landy LESSER LESSER WEST PALM BEACH W. Mark Lanier LANIER LAW HOUSTONFIRM Timothy Lawn RAYNES PHILADELPHIALAWN Jennifer Lawrence THE LAWRENCE FIRM COVINGTON, KY. Richard Lawrence* THE LAWRENCE FIRM COVINGTON, KY. Marianne LeBlanc SUGARMANBOSTON Matt Leckman LITTLEPAGEHOUSTONBOOTH Stephan LeClainche COHEN MILSTEIN PALM BEACH GARDENS

Susan Capra CLIFFORD LAW OFFICES (CHICAGO)

SC: The guiding principle that I have used throughout my career is to put the client ﬁrst. I am cognizant of the enormous privilege and responsibility I have in representing brain injured children. I never forget that I am ﬁghting for them.

SUSAN CAPRA EMILY JACKOWAY

LD: How would you describe your style as a lawyer?

LD: Is there a speciﬁc reason why you chose your law school?

LD: Is this the type of practice you imagined yourself practicing while in law school?

SC: DePaul has an excellent reputation in the Chicago legal community.

CHICAGO-BASED ATTORNEY SUSAN CAPRA knows medical negligence cases inside and out. A former registered nurse at a top children’s hospital, she spent years working with infants and young children with serious neurological conditions. In 1989, Capra switched to advocating for those children and families in the courtroom by joining Clifford Law Ofﬁ ces, where she is now a partner. As a lawyer, Capra has succeeded at getting justice for families whose children have been the victim of medical malpractice. A host of the cases she’s litigated have resulted in verdicts and settlements of more than $10M to help support children who need it most.

LD: How did you ﬁrst become interested in developing a practice in medical negligence?

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LD: Do you feel your work as a registered nurse helps you in your legal career?

SC: Yes. I was very fortunate to meet Robert Clifford at law career day at DePaul Law School. He is not only a phenomenal lawyer but also a great man. I am working at a premier law ﬁrm in an area of law I love. I have been with Clifford Law Ofﬁces for over thirty years and I am grateful to Robert Clifford for giving me the opportunity to serve so many wonderful clients over the years. I could not have had a more rewarding career.

SC: The best part of the practice is the clients. Once I meet my clients, especially the children, I am 100 percent focused and committed to their case. I am blessed to work with incredible families. Despite great adversity, they face every day with strength and courage. It is my goal to make life easier for them. I also enjoy the intellectual challenge of the cases. Medicine, like law, is always changing and evolving. It is gratifying to learn new things in both law and medicine.

LD: As your work continues to change with the ﬁeld, are there any trends you are seeing in your practice?

LD: What are some aspects about this work that you ﬁnd professionally satisfying?

LD: That’s wonderful. Do you have any advice you’d give to current law school students?

SC: Work hard and always put the client ﬁrst. Always be honest in dealing with clients and opposing counsel.

SC: No speciﬁ c trends except cases are getting more complex and involved. In a birth injury matter, I work with at least 12 experts. This was not the case 30 years ago. You need more experts to prove the cases and fend off the defenses.

I ENJOY THE INTELLECTUAL CHALLENGE OF THE CASES.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM

SC: I describe my style of practice as being tough and relentless in my representation of clients.

Susan Capra: Yes, I specialize in obstetrical and pediatric cases.

SC: In addition to being a lawyer, I am also a registered nurse. I worked at a children’s hospital. As a nurse, I always wanted to work with children. As a lawyer, I am helping them in a different profession.

SC: My work as a registered nurse in pediatrics was very helpful in my law career. In most cases, I am familiar with the medicine involved.

MEDICINE, LIKE LAW, IS ALWAYS CHANGING AND EVOLVING.

LD: Over the years, do you have one central lesson you’ve learned from your work?

Lawdragon: Your legal practice focuses on medical and hospital negligence – have you developed a niche within that practice?

140 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 James Ledlie MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Katie Crosby Lehmann CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Travis Lenkner ATTORNEY AT LAW CHICAGO Theodore Leopold COHEN MILSTEIN PALM BEACH GARDENS Gary Lesser LESSER LESSER WEST PALM BEACH Jeannete Lewis LEWIS LEGAL PLANTATION,GROUPFLA. Richard Lewis WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Micha Liberty LIBERTYOAKLANDLAW David Lira ENGSTROM LIPSCOMB LOS ANGELES Zoe Littlepage LITTLEPAGE BOOTH/ATHEA TRIAL LAWYERS HOUSTON Judith Livingston* KRAMER DILLOF NEW YORK Michael Livingston* DAVISHONOLULULEVIN Ramon Lopez LOPEZ MCHUGH NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. Kathy Love MCGINNALBUQUERQUEMONTOYA Kenneth Lumb CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Thomas Luneau CASEY GERRY SAN DIEGO Michael Lyons LYONS & DALLASSIMMONS Francisco Maderal COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 141 Raj Mahadass PMR HOUSTONLAW Barbara Mahoney HAGENSSEATTLEBERMAN Moshe Maimon LEVYNEWKONIGSBERGYORK Mitchell Makowicz BLUME CHATHAM,FORTEN.J. Adam Malone MALONE LAW ATLANTAOFFICE Andrew Maloney III KREINDLER & KREINDLER NEW YORK Steeven Marks PODHURSTMIAMIORSECK Amy Rose Martel CHIHAK & MARTEL SAN DIEGO Annika Martin LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Reid Martin MARTIN WALKER TYLER, TEXAS Roberto Martinez COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES Ricardo Martinez-Cid PODHURSTMIAMIORSECK Angela Mason THE COCHRAN FIRM DOTHAN, ALA. Sean Matt HAGENSSEATTLEBERMAN Neil Maune MAUNE RAICHLE HARTLEY ST. LOUIS David Mazie MAZIE ROSELAND,SLATERN.J. Sean McCaffity SOMMERMANDALLASMCCAFFITY Matthew McCarley FEARSDALLASNACHAWATI

LD: Which changes in particular? BL: The ability to uniformly attend court hearings and depositions via video conference. Such activities often involved travel whether locally, nationally or internationally. Before the pandemic, I was traveling up to 75,000 miles per year, which was by no means a high number in this profession, but with the integration, widespread availability and acceptance of platforms like Zoom, there is less of a need for that kind of travel. It is often much more efﬁcient to attend depositions and hearings via video conference. While not every hearing or deposition can be done through Zoom, I think it can be useful for the case, the clients and the practice of law.

BL: Because we’ve worked together for so many years, we have similar approaches to handling cases – speciﬁ-

BL: I’d worked with Todd for the majority of my career. As the years went on, we worked together on more and more cases. We had similar approaches to handling matters and were interested in the same types of cases. So, it just felt like the right time with the right person. I worked with good people at my previous ﬁrm, but I was ready for the next step in my career.

Though LaCien may be new to starting a law firm, he brings nearly 20 years of high-stakes experience to the role. His career has focused on complex litigation in an array of matters including medical malpractice, aviation, product liability, accounting malpractice, trucking litigation and financial fraud. Among his recent cases, LaCien is continuing to work with others toward resolution of the Takata Airbag Productions Liability Litigation, where Smith and his firm serve as a co-lead counsel. The firm also serves as co-lead counsel in a large environmental exposure case, where hundreds of individuals maintain that they suffered harm due to a sterilization facility’s decades-long release of a toxic cancer-causing chemical into a residential community. Outside of the courtroom, LaCien is active in several organizations including serving on the American Association for Justice’s board of governors. In his service

Lawdragon: Tell me about the founding of the ﬁrm. I imagine it was in spite of rather than due to the pandemic.

LD: How do the two of you complement each other in your work? Do your styles differ?

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM there, he works towards keeping the court system accessible to all Americans.

LD: On to the actual founding of the firm, why did you decide that now was the time to start your own firm and why specifically with your partner, Todd Smith?

LD: Had you ever imagined that you might want to start your own firm, or did this move come as a surprise to you? BL: I had thought about it. I think most attorneys think about it. Launching a firm is challenging because of the dual business and practice aspects of starting and operating a firm.

Brian LaCien: Yes, the planning of the firm predated the pandemic by a short period of time. Starting a firm or any business during a global health crisis presented unique challenges. However, these challenges pale in comparison to some of the everyday challenges faced by the clients we represent. As to opening the firm during a pandemic, there are difficulties in doing anything that is worthwhile, so I have tried to look at the positives. Obviously, this has been a terrible pandemic, but it caused some shifts in the practice of law that were long overdue.

OF THE WORLD WAS shutting down, attorney Brian LaCien was embarking on a new career path. In May of 2020, LaCien and his partner, Todd A. Smith, opened the doors to their new ﬁrm, Smith LaCien LLP. With more than $2B in verdicts and settlements, the two partners are continuing to prove that no obstacle – not even a pandemic and a prolonged interruption in courthouse operations – can stop them from working towards securing recoveries for their clients.

WHILEJACKOWAYTHEREST

BRIAN L A CIEN BY EMILY

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Brian LaCien SMITH (CHICAGO)LACIEN

BL: Our client was a cyclist who was doing what many people do in urban areas – riding his bike on a residential street. He was a relatively young father who had moved from Europe to the United States to go to college, then graduate school.

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LD: That access is built into the structure of your ﬁrm in that you operate on a contingency basis, correct? BL: Completely. Most trial lawyers receive no payment unless they win the case.

There had been only a few previous incidents where there were crashes due to failed tail rotor ball bearings. A tail rotor system helps a helicopter pilot ﬂy – it’s basically the tail of the helicopter. For this type of aircraft, according to the manufacturer, the tail rotor ball bearings were supposed to last a lifetime, but we found that the bearings had an irregularly high replacement rate. We combined the number of helicopters in the U.S., the number of bearings that were coming into the U.S. and the number of mechanics who were called to replace these bearings and discovered that there was evidence of these systems failing. We demonstrated through this evidence and expert testimony that it was likely due to the type of material used in the bearings. So, working with our experts, we demonstrated that the crash was due to the failure of the tail rotor system, not pilot error.

LD: Are there any challenges you’ve faced in getting cases to trial?

LD: It sounds like getting justice for your clients and their families is what you ﬁnd most rewarding about your career. BL: As a trial lawyer, you are truly helping people. That in and of itself is a reward. We help provide them with a sense of justice and the knowledge that the system does work. One of the pillars of our constitutional system is that our state and federal courts are accessible to everyone, regardless of wealth or status. The courts are a place where legal disputes can be resolved peaceably.

LD: Moving on to speciﬁc cases, tell me about the helicopter case you had to piece together with no eyewitnesses.

He was on a bike ride one day, and his bike tire became caught in the groove of an old streetcar track that was exposed through the asphalt. It took him right off his bike, and he suffered a catastrophic injury. The injury required extensive medical care and rehab and left him cognitively as well as physically impaired.

cally, the need to thoroughly investigate a matter by way of discovery and prepare for anticipated defenses. Both of us have also been open to taking on difﬁcult cases due to the nature of the case or legal issues involved in the matter.

BL: In the type of work that we do, our clients have experienced the worst things that can happen in life such as catastrophic injury and/or loss of a loved one. There’s typically a lot of stress on them and on their families. Often, cases become contentious – not necessarily between the parties, but between the lawyers because of the high stakes of the litigation. So, I try to be measured and methodical in pursuing the case because the end goal is to obtain justice for the client. Opposing counsel often can be difficult and obstinate, and many times, we are using the testimony of a defendant or its own employees to prove a case. Needless to say, these are not pleasant, cooperative witnesses. Moreover, the subject matter of the cases is often complex. I find that it’s effective to stay fixed on the goal of proving the case and not letting the conduct of witnesses, experts or opposing counsel deter our clients from obtaining the evidence to which they are entitled through discovery.

BL: In today’s litigation environment, defendants often delay or just aren’t cooperative for a variety of reasons. But we stay focused on the goal, which is to get the case to trial and win.

LD: What led to that style?

I would say, though, that we have different styles. In the courtroom, you have to be yourself, because the jury will get a good read on you over the course of trial. Authenticity is important to a jury. So, Todd is a dynamic, compelling trial lawyer, while I have a measured, methodical approach.

BL: That was a challenging case. We represented the family of an experienced helicopter pilot who died when his helicopter crashed. It was his last day of work before retirement. He was gassing up the helicopter and it was nighttime. Otherwise, conditions were good. There were no witnesses to the crash. So, piecing together what happened involved looking at air trafﬁc control data, analyzing the badly burned wreckage and reconstructing the crash itself to determine the cause.

LD: In another case, you sued the city of Chicago over a bicycle crash that led to a severe traumatic brain injury, and you had to reconstruct part of the bicycle to demonstrate to help the jury understand what happened. Tell me about that.

LD: How did you overcome those defenses?

LD: Is there any part of that case that’s been particularly impactful for you?

LD: Finally, moving away from your cases, tell me about your role on the board of governors of the American Association for Justice.

LD: That’s the goal of your ﬁrm, too, so those aims must connect well across your working life. What do you ﬁnd vital about your role there?

BL: The organization’s focus on making sure the courthouse doors remain open for all of us is crucial. Over the past few decades, we’ve seen certain forces constantly wanting to chip away at that access, making it more difﬁcult to seek relief in court. It parallels the way that certain entities want to make it more difﬁcult to vote.

It’s important that people have a voice in our system of government, whether they’re voting or seeking justice through the courts. The courts are one element in our governmental system where people actually do directly participate, whether it be as jurors, witnesses, plaintiffs or defendants. It is essential that the doors to the courthouse remain open for all.

BL: Those cases are progressing. Cases against several manufacturers have been resolved, and the few which are left are moving ever closer to trial. It is an immensely complicated case because of the number of cars and people impacted by the defective product. Takata did business and supplied parts to basically every major vehicle manufacturer, and the case was prosecuted against each manufacturer.

BL: The case was difﬁcult partly because he had signiﬁcant memory loss initially after the incident – which is not uncommon in head injuries. Even though he recovered some of his memories later, the defense tried to undercut his recollections of the event. So, we obtained testimony from neurologists and neuropsychologists and reviewed a lot of medical literature analyzing amnesia. Since there were no witnesses to the injury, we also analyzed bike paths and old trolley systems in Chicago and across the country. We investigated how trolley tracks cause injuries to bicyclists and demonstrated that our client’s injury was consistent with the danger posed by trolley tracks. Like many municipalities, the City of Chicago had recently put an emphasis on pedestrian and cyclist transportation and prioritized those systems of transportation over vehicular transportation in new projects. There’s a lot of merit to that goal. But, if you’re putting that system on top of a 100-plus-year-old system of streets and trolley tracks, you have to make sure that those bike lanes are safe. At the location where our client crashed, we discovered that the trolley tracks had been asphalted over in the 1950s rather than being removed. The track had been exposed on and off for years. Maintenance workers patched over that asphalt multiple times, but they were patching asphalt to metal, which is not likely to last and led to the track continuously being exposed. The major challenge in the case was the immunities and defenses that the State of Illinois provides to a municipality like the City of Chicago. Under Illinois law, a plaintiff cannot pursue certain claims against the city and has a higher standard of proof compared to other claims. For instance, there’s also something in Illinois law called discretionary immunity, meaning a municipality has discretion and you can’t second-guess the discretion they exercise in performing certain acts.

LD: I’d be remiss if I didn’t also ask for an update on your Takata Airbag litigation. Where are those cases now?

BL: The city had to prove it actually exercised discretion. Through discovery prior to trial, we were able to demonstrate that the city couldn’t prove that its employees exercised discretion in planning for the repair of the street. They couldn’t prove that they exercised discretion in not ﬁxing the trolley tracks. That seems like it’s an easy concept, but we had to litigate that issue through a number of depositions with exacting detail as to how and when work was performed. We did this so that someone from the municipality couldn’t just come in and say, “Well, we’ve got a lot of streets. They’re in poor condition. We do the best we can.” They would have had to prove they made a decision about this street, which they couldn’t end up proving.

144 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 LD: What were some of the challenges of the case?

BL: Working with AAJ has been rewarding. The American Association for Justice is an organization that primarily focuses on making sure there’s equal access to our court system so that regular people have a chance at receiving justice.

BL: Well, there are two major parts of the case: economic loss and personal injury. The economic loss is important because for nearly a decade people purchased and operated cars that weren’t safe. As to personal injury, airbag systems are designed to save lives and reduce injury. Unfortunately, this safety device was causing injury and death. When you look back and see how many people died and how many were injured by what should have been a safety system, it’s truly tragic.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 145 Niall McCarthy COTCHETT PITRE & MCCARTHY BURLINGAME, CALIF. Craig McClennan MCCLELLAN LAW FIRM SAN DIEGO James McEldrew MCELDREWPHILADELPHIAYOUNG Randi McGinn* MCGINN MONTOYA/ATHEA TRIAL LAWYERS ALBUQUERQUE Christopher McGrath SULLIVAN PAPAIN GARDEN CITY, N.J. Patrick McGroder BEUSPHOENIXGILBERT Cynthia McGuinn ROUDA FEDER SAN FRANCISCO Thomas McManus SULLIVAN PAPAIN NEW YORK Randy McMurray MCMURRAY HENRIKS LOS ANGELES Rick Meadow LANIER LAW HOUSTONFIRM Ted Meadows BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Andje Medina ALTAIR LAW SAN FRANCISCO Enid Duany Mendoza COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES Karen Barth Menzies GIBBS LAW OAKLANDGROUP Marco Mercaldo MERCALDO LAW FIRM TUCSON Ron Mercaldo MERCALDO LAW FIRM TUCSON Kristine Meredith DANKO MEREDITH REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. Tom Methvin BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA.

146 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Donald Migliori MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Dee Miles BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Betsy Miller COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Michael Miller THE MILLER FIRM ORANGE, VA. Nancy Guy Miller THE MILLER FIRM ORANGE, VA. Ronald Miller MILLER & BALTIMOREZOIS Tobias Millrood POGUST CONSHOHOCKEN,MILLROODPA. Matthew Minner HARE LEXINGTON,WYNNKY. Marc Moller* KREINDLER & KREINDLER NEW YORK Robert Mongeluzzi SALTZPHILADELPHIAMONGELUZZI A. Elicia Montoya MCGINNALBUQUERQUEMONTOYA Patrick Montoya COLSON HICKS CORAL GABLES Jennifer Moore MOORE LAW LOUISVILLEGROUP Thomas Moore* KRAMER DILLOF NEW YORK John Morgan MORGANORLANDOMORGAN Mary Ann Morgan MORGAN TRIAL LAW WINTER PARK, FLA. J. Kevin Morrison ALTAIR LAW SAN FRANCISCO Jane Morrow OTOROWSKI MORROW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASH.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 147 Elizabeth Mulvey CROWE & BOSTONMULVEY Daniel Munley MUNLEYSCRANTON,MUNLEYPA. Marion Munley MUNLEYSCRANTON,MUNLEYPA. Andre Mura GIBBS LAW OAKLANDGROUP Francis Patrick Murphy CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Christopher Nace PAULSON & WASHINGTON,NACED.C. Majed Nachawati FEARSDALLASNACHAWATI Kathleen Nastri KOSKOFF BRIDGEPORT,KOSKOFFCONN. Robert Nelson LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Tim Newsom THE LAW OFFICES OF FRANK L. BRANSON DALLAS Marie Ng SULLIVAN PAPAIN NEW YORK Minh Nguyen NGUYEN LAWYERS LONG BEACH Darren Nicholson BURNSDALLASCHAREST Nanci Nishmura COTCHETT PITRE & MCCARTHY BURLINGAME, CALIF. Harold Nix* NIX DAINGERFIELD,PATTERSONTEXAS Leslie Nixon NIXON MANCHESTER,VOGELMANN.H. Bradley Norman NORMAN & EDEM OKLAHOMA CITY John Norman* NORMAN & EDEM OKLAHOMA CITY

Natasha Cortes GROSSMAN ROTH (CORAL GABLES, FLA.)

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LD: You mentioned the two of you have similar styles. How would you describe your style? FIRM

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE

NC: He took me under his wing. We would handle cases together in the beginning, and we still do on a few select cases a year. I very much enjoy practicing with him because he works harder than any attorney I know, and he gives it his all. He is also a talented negotiator. Those are skills you have to learn if they’re not something you have a natural ability at, so watching him take depositions and strategize over the years has been so amazing.

Obviously, I didn’t necessarily want to use my door to Grossman Roth because I didn’t want to put my mom in that spot. But what Neal Roth said was, “Come in and do an interview and if we click, then I’ll give you an opportunity to clerk for the summer.” And we just hit it off. Our styles are very similar, and I never left. So, this is where I’ve been working since I was 20 years old and he’s been the most amazing mentor.

LD: How has he been a mentor to you?

NC: Having good medical experts to guide you is important, but a lot of it is reading the science. I buy the latest textbooks for subjects I’m working on. I’ll read the clinical studies. And then I’ll meet with my experts once I have that basis of knowledge so they can ﬁne tune my research to the particular issues in the case. But it takes many hours of prep work to be able to take an effective depo of a doctor. I just took a depo last week of an interventional radiologist in a prostate embolization case. I had never had a case involving a prostate embolization. It was a new area, and I had to learn the anatomy and what the images demonstrated, so that when I’m deposing the doctor I can effectively articulate the science that is involved and the malpractice that took place. It’s a challenge, but I love it because every case is different. You are always learning.

LD: Stepping back for a moment, you went to Grossman Roth right after you ﬁnished your law degree, right? NC: Yes. I knew that I wanted to ﬁnish my education quickly, so I graduated high school a year early, at 16. And then I graduated college early. So, when I started law school, I was 19.

NATASHA CORTES

BY EMILY JACKOWAY MANY LAWYERS GROW UP IN THE LEGAL industry, but Natasha Cortes’ story is a little different than most. Her mother, Marling Santiago, is a medical investigator at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, a leading plaintiffs’ medical malpractice and personal injury firm in Florida. Santiago has been with the firm for more than 30 years, and now Cortes has for more than 20. Growing up, Cortes’ mother introduced her to female lawyers – allowing her to see, from a young age, that there was room for her in the industry. Now, Cortes acts as an inspiration to other young women and people of color who can see themselves reflected in the legal profession. Cortes has spent her entire career with Grossman Roth, where she is now a partner and head of the medical malpractice division. She has litigated plaintiffs’ cases in the areas of medical malpractice, wrongful death, complex personal injury matters and complex mass tort litigation – more than one hundred of which have been multi-million-dollar suits. In every case, she works to transform lives not only with justice and financial compensation, but with tangible policy changes that help transform her community for the better. That mission is furthered by her commitment to mentorship and increasing diversity in the legal profession. Cortes is a founding member of the Puerto Rican Bar Association of Florida and a member of the Florida Justice Association Minority Caucus and the University of Miami Law Alumni Association. In those organizations, she spearheads mentorship and education programs for minority law students, as well as privately mentoring students from underrepresented communities. Later this month she will be launching a partnership between the FJA and the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization in Palm Beach with a mentorship workshop she worked to create.

Lawdragon: Did you always know that you wanted to be a lawyer, ever since you saw your mother’s work with Grossman Roth? Or did you go off in another direction before coming back? Natasha Cortes: I think I knew. Growing up, my dad was in the computer software industry and my mom was in this legal world, and I kind of gravitated towards the legal world. Although, I do love math and science, so I was considering, “Do I go to medical school? Do I do law?” Well, medical malpractice work blends the two. It seemed like a perfect match. LD: Absolutely. How do you keep on the cutting edge of science in your work now?

150 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Victoria Nugent COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Leigh O’Dell BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Stephen Offutt WAISBALTIMOREVOGELSTEIN Ann Oldfather OLDFATHER LAW FIRM LOUISVILLE Jack Olender* JACK OLENDER LAW FIRM WASHINGTON, D.C. Jami Oliver OLIVER LAW OFFICES DUBLIN, OHIO David Olsen DEWSNUP KING SALT LAKE CITY Christopher Otorowski OTOROWSKI MORROW BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, WASH. Chris Panatier SIMONDALLASGREENSTON Brian Painsh PANISH SHEA LOS ANGELES Nicholas Papain SULLIVAN PAPAIN NEW YORK Mike Papantonio* LEVINPENSACOLAPAPANTONIO Tej Paranjpe PMR HOUSTONLAW Michelle Parfitt ASHCRAFT & WASHINGTON,GERELD.C. Kevin Parker LANIER LAW HOUSTONFIRM Lorraine Parker PARKERDENVERLIPMAN D’Juana Parks PROVOST BEAUMONT,UMPHREYTEXAS C. Cary Patterson NIX TEXARKANA,PATTERSONTEXAS

NC: I think it’s the exposure – just giving them the opportunity to see themselves as a reﬂection of you – that’s so powerful. Because, again, I was fortunate to have my mother in the legal arena, but really all the people in the ﬁrm, at the time, were older men. I really didn’t identify with them, and I was kind of intimidated. But, as part of a middle school project, my mom put me in touch with two female lawyers that specialized in malpractice. That always sticks out in my mind because they were female and practicing that type of law and telling me, “You can do it too. Come hang out with me for a day.”

LD: I know you recently authored an article discussing the importance of diversity and inclusion, particularly at the partner level. Why do you believe that is so important?

NC: As a high school student, because I think the earlier you start the better. I have another whom I started mentoring when she was in high school and now, she’s a partner at one the largest and most prestigious South Florida ﬁrms. And then I also do mentorship programs through the Florida Justice Association.

NC: Yes. We have eight medical investigators and about a dozen or so support staff who I oversee. I also helped implement and manage the ﬁrm’s case and document management systems, so the technology part of it. I worked with IT to customize our case management program to our practice, and I also work on marketing our ﬁrm. All of that is part of what I do.

NC: I am tenacious when I believe in a cause and I’m not a “winger.” Some lawyers use their bravado and don’t have to prepare as much. I’ve never been like that. When I was in law school, I was the one who had the color-coded, 30-page outlines. Now I am the malpractice lawyer with the bookmarked and highlighted 10,000-page medical chart. But no lawyer in the case knows the record better than me. I just feel most conﬁdent when I am 100 percent prepared and that has served my clients well.

NC: Well, what I’m finding is that, especially with Latina lawyers and women attorneys of color, they may get their foot in the door, but then they don’t seem to progress to the higher ranks of their law firm. They don’t feel supported, and the statistics reveal that staggering numbers are ultimately leaving the practice of law. That really upsets me because you should feel heard and valued after working so hard. I think part of the solution is just a matter of increasing a firm’s diversity so that more diverse voices can be heard. And that diversity only helps the firm. The studies are clear: Diverse firms foster creativity, better serve clients and generate more revenue. It is a win win and is the reason I am so passionate about mentorship. Right now, I have two mentees. I have a college graduate and high school student I’m mentoring, for example. They have been in the office and have shadowed me on depos and hearings. And the high school student will call me and say, “Next semester I have these pre-law classes – which ones do you recommend?”

I also think my style involves having empathy for my clients because of the cultural perspective I have. I was the only Hispanic lawyer in my ﬁrm for many years, and I’m still really the only Hispanic female lawyer here. So, when we have a Hispanic client, obviously I can speak their language and connect on another level. I can also empathize with them because we grew up in the same community, so, culturally, I have an understanding that makes me a better advocate.

LD: Wow, as a high school student, that’s amazing.

LD: What do you find fulfilling about mentorship –specifically, mentoring younger students?

And then I just realized, “If she can do it, I can do it, too.” Having mentors that reﬂect you and mirror what you look like and where you come from is so powerful. So, for me, to be able to now do that for others is extremely rewarding.

NC: I think management is always difﬁcult. It can be stressful at times because of managing personalities

LD: Absolutely. And then you also manage the medical malpractice division, right?

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LD: Tell me a bit about those programs.

NC: Right now, I’m interviewing candidates for an internship program that matches minority law students with FJA law ﬁrms doing personal injury work. And then I’m putting together an inaugural workshop with Big Brothers Big Sisters for our annual conference. While we’re there for our annual convention, I said, “Why don’t we take the opportunity to try to do some mentoring there, since we have all our members gathered?” As it’s a statewide organization, it’s unique that we’re all together. I’m hoping in the next few years, we’ll have high school kids all throughout the state being able to really have a mentor to look up to so they can see themselves in their shoes. I think that’s so important.

LD: Have you had any particular joys or challenges with balancing management and your own practice?

152 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 and HR issues, especially when you’re so busy practicing law, so sometimes it can get a little overwhelming. But we are blessed to have such a great team right now. I believe all of the work these past decades is really paying dividends now – the case management system, the diversity – has all led up to an exciting future. I feel like we’re at a jumping-off point where the ﬁrm is only going to get better and surpass our past success.

LD: That’s such an incredible, tangible impact.

LD: Speaking of your practice, can you tell me about any recent cases or wins you’ve had?

NC: Well, because of Covid-19, obviously, trial practice has been a little delayed. But now the pendulum has swung the other way with courts helping to push our cases through the backlog. This year has been busy in terms of trial settings and juggling pre-trial deadlines but hopefully this year we’ll be able to try a few. But because we’re so selective in the cases we handle, especially with the medical malpractice cases, they tend to be cases that the defense does not want to let you get to a jury, and so they resolve.

LD: Sure. I’m sure many of the matters you handle are so emotional. Are there any cases that have impacted you the most?

NC: Absolutely. I’m the type of lawyer where my clients have my cell phone number, and we text each other. I have so many clients that text me all the time. And I’ll text them when I remember it’s their birthday. I have invited clients to my home for dinner long after their case is resolved. I try to keep that personal contact with them, because you’re going through the most difﬁcult period of their life with them. Many times, more than anything, a lot of them just need somebody to talk to and be a friend to them. It’s so amazing how that connection can be so deep. I’ve tried to establish that with all our clients.

LD: That’s incredible. Stepping away from the ofﬁce, what do you do for fun to counteract the pressure from the weight of those cases?

NC: Right now, I’m a mother of a teenage boy, who never ceases to amaze me and keeps me busy with all his activities. I also have a daughter who’s graduating from FSU. She now wants to pursue her master’s in occupational therapy and work with special needs children. She has a beautiful heart. So, my free time is spent with my family. My husband and I love to entertain, so we host a lot of family gatherings. We built a pizza oven outside in our terrace and we enjoy having friends and family come over to make their favorite pies. He’s the oldest of nine siblings and my family all live in Miami so there’s always somebody coming over that we’re cooking for. That’s what I enjoy most, just spending time with them and traveling whenever we can. Because of all the tragedy I see in my line of work, it makes even the smallest moments spent with my family all the more precious.

NC: Right. Many of the families I represent say that part of the reason they’re taking action is because they don’t want what happened to them to happen to someone else. When you are able to achieve an actual policy change through their grief and their misery, they know that they were able to hopefully prevent that from happening to someone else. I don’t want to say that there’s a silver lining in a tragedy, but at least there’s something for them to hold onto – the knowledge that at least they made a positive change and spared another family from suffering the same pain.

There was a case that Neal and I arbitrated several years ago that involved a woman who was not diagnosed timely and ended up developing metastatic breast cancer. And we still keep in touch. She’s been going through therapies and ﬁghting her ﬁght. We send each other Mother’s Day notes and I still include her in my prayers. The connection is deep.

LD: I’m sure you must become so close with the families during those cases.

NC: Cases involving brain damaged children are so moving, especially when we’re able to change hospital policies. I handled a case with Stuart Grossman a number of years ago which involved a young girl who had suffered a profound hypoxic brain injury when she suffered respiratory distress while in an MRI machine that was not timely recognized nor treated. She was having a study performed, suffered a seizure and needed to be urgently resuscitated. They didn’t have a pediatric crash cart in the radiology suite that she was in – that wasn’t a standard for them. Even though they saw pediatric patients through the ER and that’s where she had come in through, the radiology department only had the adult-size crash carts, but not the pediatric kits with smaller endotracheal tubes necessary for intubating children. As a result of that case, not only were we able to get her the best care possible, but the hospital used the case to teach the nurses about how to avoid that happening in the future, and they changed their policy. Now, they made sure to have pediatric crash carts available in their radiology suites.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 153 Jane Paulson PAULSON PORTLAND,COLETTIORE. James Payne PROVOST BEAUMONT,UMPHREYTEXAS Emily Peacock OLSMANBERKLEY,MACKENZIEMICH. Brandon Peak BUTLER COLUMBUS,WOOTENGA. Thomas Penfield CASEY GERRY SAN DIEGO Jason Penn BERMAN GAITHERSBURG,SOBINMD. Cheryl Perkins WHETSTONECOLUMBIA,PERKINSS.C. Craig Peters ALTAIR LAW SAN FRANCISCO Elizabeth Petersen KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS Kathleen Flynn Peterson* CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Roberta Pichini FELDMANPHILADELPHIASHEPHERD Frank Pitre COTCHETT PITRE & MCCARTHY BURLINGAME, CALIF. James Pizzirusso WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Brice Plaxen PLAXEN ADLER BALTIMOREMUNCY Aaron Podhurst* PODHURSTMIAMIORSECK Cole Portis BEASLEYATLANTAALLEN Derek Potts POTTS LAW HOUSTONFIRM Scott Powell HARE BIRMINGHAM,WYNNALA.

154 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Joseph Power POWERCHICAGOROGERS Thomas Power POWERCHICAGOROGERS Gary Praglin COTCHETT PITRE & MCCARTHY SANTA MONICA Jessica Klarer Pride PRIDE LAW SAN DIEGO Peter Prieto PODHURSTMIAMIORSECK Mark Proctor LEVINPENSACOLAPAPANTONIO George “Tex” Quesada SOMMERMANDALLASMCCAFFITY Troy Rafferty LEVINPENSACOLAPAPANTONIO Marcus Raichle Jr. MAUNE RAICHLE HARTLEY ST. LOUIS Audrey Perlman Raphael LEVYNEWKONIGSBERGYORK Jeffrey Rasansky RASANSKY LAW FIRM DALLAS Ramon Rasco PODHURSTMIAMIORSECK Rahul Ravipudi PANISH SHEA LOS ANGELES Stephen Raynes RAYNES PHILADELPHIALAWN Carey Reilly KOSKOFF BRIDGEPORT,KOSKOFFCONN. Melissa Rhea JACK OLENDER LAW FIRM WASHINGTON, D.C. David Rheingold RHEINGOLD GIUFFRA NEW YORK Joseph Rice MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 155 Amanda Riddle COREY DANKO CHICO, CALIF. David Ring TAYLOR & RING MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. Lyssa Roberts PANISH SHEA LOS ANGELES Daniel Robinson ROBINSON CALCAGNIE NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. Mark Robinson* ROBINSON CALCAGNIE NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. Joe Roden RUSTY HARDIN & HOUSTONASSOCIATES Sarah Rogers CRAINDALLASBROGDON Larry Rogers Jr. POWERCHICAGOROGERS Larry Rogers Sr.* POWERCHICAGOROGERS Daniel Rose KREINDLER & KREINDLER NEW YORK Susan Comer Rosen ROSEN LAW CHARLESTON,FIRMS.C. Neal Roth GROSSMAN ROTH CORAL GABLES Steve Rotman HAUSFELDBOSTON Ben Rubinowitz GAIR GAIR NEW YORK Ben Ruemke PMR HOUSTONLAW Douglas Saeltzer WALKUP MELODIA SAN FRANCISCO Regan Safier KLINE PHILADELPHIASPECTER Patrick Salvi* SALVICHICAGOSCHOSTOK

So, one day when I was 11 or 12, I was truly sick, and she said we were going to watch the movie, “To Kill a Mockingbird.” I really didn’t want to see it, but then when I started to watch it, I was in awe of Atticus Finch. I knew then that was what I wanted to do. I wanted to help the good guys win in court. Good guys versus bad guys. It seemed like a career made in heaven for me. And, then, I am a pretty competitive guy who played sports year round. That probably helped as well. Still does really.

NOW A SENIOR PARTNER AT THE FIRM, BARNHART CONTINUES TO HELP HIS CLIENTS EVERY DAY, WITH NEARLY 100 VERDICTS AND SETTLEMENTS IN EXCESS OF $1M TO HIS NAME.

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BY EMILY GREGORYJACKOWAYBARNHART

Gregory Barnhart: Sure. People often don’t know

GREGORY BARNHART

When I was a kid, if we were truly sick and not malingering, my mom would let us stay home from school.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM what they want to do in life, but I always have. I can thank my mother for that.

backbone of his firm, Searcy Denney Scarola Barnhart & Shipley, for more than 40 years. Offered a job by the firm for his trial success as a young lawyer in 1978, Barnhart quickly proved himself and made partner just a couple of years later. Now a senior partner at the firm, Barnhart continues to help his clients every day, with nearly 100 verdicts and settlements in excess of $1M to his name. A celebrated teacher and lecturer, Barnhart enjoys sharing his knowledge with younger lawyers. He has been awarded the Distinguished Lecturer Award and the Al J. Cone Lifetime Achievement Award by the Florida Justice Association for his teaching ability and long-term leadership. Barnhart has also been appointed to key leadership positions, including serving as past president of both the Florida Justice Association and the Federal Bar Association. “If you’re going to be a trial lawyer, you should help your fellow lawyers and preserve the system,” explains Barnhart. Lawdragon: I heard that your legal career started out because you watched “To Kill a Mockingbird” when you were a child. Can you tell me a bit about that story?

Then, when I went to college, I took every speech course they had. I was an English major, so I liked to tell stories. I was in plays in high school and college, not because I was such a good actor – I probably wasn’t – but just to be able to walk around more comfortably in front of people on stage. To be convincing. To be persuasive.

GB: Part of it was just serendipity. So, I’d started with another firm, a commercial law firm. I wanted to try cases, so I basically didn’t ever settle. I think I tried 11 or 12 trials in my first year. They were not big cases, but I got my feet wet in the courtroom and got to be known by the judges. Then, the head partner of the firm I’m with now, although the name has changed, walked in and said, “I’m Bob Montgomery.” I said, “I know who you are, Mr. Montgomery.” He said, “What do you make?”

LD: That makes a lot of sense. Then, obviously, Atticus was defending a criminal case, so how did you decide that you wanted to be a plaintiffs’ lawyer?

HAS BEEN PART OF THE

Gregory Barnhart SEARCY DENNEY (WEST PALM BEACH, FLA.)

LD: That’s a great story. Then, what about your clients? Do you have any stories about representing somebody who really moved you?

GB: It really is, because it helps our clients settle cases. The defendant knows that if they don’t settle, if they’re not fair, then what’s going to happen? We’ll go to court, where we’re more likely to win than not, and we’re more likely to get a big verdict than most ﬁrms. So, they know to watch out.

LD: Yes. That’s also important.

GB: Yes, during the ﬁrst tobacco case tried in Florida – which was one we tried, even though we didn’t know much about tobacco yet. The jury was out for four days after a lengthy two-month trial, and we ended up winning. It was front page news because it was among the ﬁrst cases taking on tobacco. The tobacco company had their all-star team from across the country, but we won. So, after the trial, this young pilot who was on the jury called and said, “You know, you almost lost.” I said, “Well, after four days, we were beginning to feel that way.” He said, “Well, I was the one that held out and turned everybody around.” So, that helped me learn that one good leader can turn the whole jury and that has been reinforced again and again in watching jurors.

LD: That makes sense. In trial, what would you say your style is? GB: Really, I use storytelling techniques. I try to connect with the jury. Sometimes jurors call after a case and tell me what they thought of the case as presented in court.

THE IMPORTANT THING ABOUT BEING A PLAINTIFFS’ LAWYER, TO ME, IS THAT I REPRESENT PEOPLE WHO REALLY NEED HELP.

MOST OF THEM DON’T HAVE SOPHISTICATED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE LAW. SO, I’M ABLE TO HELP THEM BY GOING AFTER THESE BIG COMPANIES, LIKE TOBACCO, BIG MANUFACTURING COMPANIES AND SO ON. IT’S GRATIFYING.

GB: I deﬁnitely do. We’ve done a fair number of medical malpractice cases involving babies with brain damage that have gone to trial. In one case, many years ago, the parents were just so dedicated to their little girl. I’m telling you, the kind of work they were doing was 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Little kids take a lot of work, but then they move along in the maturity scale, so you don’t have to stay up all night with them or anything. LD: Right.

LD: That’s admirable. You’re a senior partner now, so you’ve obviously stayed with this ﬁrm for a very long time. What do you love about the work or environment of this ﬁrm?

I told him, and he said, “Well, I’ll double it if you come on over.” So, in 1978, I did. By 1981 I was made Thepartner.important thing about being a plaintiffs’ lawyer, to me, is that I represent people who really need help. Most of them don’t have sophisticated knowledge about the law. So, I’m able to help them by going after these big companies, like tobacco, big manufacturing companies and so on. It’s gratifying.

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GB: So, our firm has really become one of the biggest plaintiffs’ firms in Florida, and people know us all over. I don’t mean to be prideful, but when I walk into court in, say, Pensacola, which is 800 or so miles away, they may not know me, but they know the firm. The firm has a reputation for being tough, taking good cases, being straightforward, honest and not backing down. I think that’s very important, and we’ve been very successful.

LD: Do you have any particularly interesting instances of that happening?

LD: Absolutely. Those are both great pieces of advice. Then, speaking of giving back with education, your firm is known for its philanthropy. Can you tell me a bit about that? GB: Sure. We’ve been very fortunate in winning cases and getting good verdicts. With that good fortune comes success financially, so we want to give back and we do. We focus on partnering with charities who are aligned with the kinds of causes we fight for – those focusing on children and disadvantaged people; people who are subject to discrimination and environmental advocacy.

Teaching at a law school, like Cornell, proved to be very different. When you’re teaching at a law school, the students are really smart and they want to be lawyers, but they don’t know much at all yet from a trial standpoint. When you’re trying to teach how to do parts of a trial to somebody who’s never been in trial before, it’s a lot harder. But it’s very rewarding. And, as you said, my whole family are teachers. My dad was a college professor, my grandfather was a superintendent of schools and my mom was a teacher, too. Teaching involves performing, and loving being onstage is sort of an inherited trait. Even if you get nervous, you either like being onstage or you don’t. Being nervous, actually, has helped me because you have to be prepared. If you’re thinking, “I’m really tired, and the trial’s not for 10 days,” but then you start thinking about getting up there and making a fool of yourself, you’ll put in the extra time.

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GB: That’s not so for brain damaged kids. The mom and the dad were just so devoted and so supportive. I keep up with them – we talk every two or three years. We send Christmas cards. Their little girl is now 40-something, and I know now that we’ve taken care of her for the rest of her life.

GB: One is a lawyer. She just graduated from Cornell Law School, like me. Now she’s clerking for a top judge.

LD: I know you’ve lectured a lot, as well, and you have a family of teachers. What’s meaningful to you about teaching?

GB: Right, well, as you saw, I give a lot of lectures, and I teach every year at the annual Florida Bar Legal Update and Board Certiﬁcation Review. There, you lecture to people who are already lawyers, already interested in the subject, or they have to get their continuing legal education requirement.

LD: That’s so true. Do you have any other tips that you’d give to the younger lawyers?

GB: I do. Number one: get in court. There is no substitute for experience, and so many cases settle nowadays. You want to get in court. You have to draw a hard line. And the client has to call the shots, but I make sure I give them all the information so they know what’s at stake. So, that’s one piece of advice. The other is, take every opportunity you can to speak in public even if it is not in court. Just getting up there and giving a talk helps. If you’re not up there, you’re getting rusty.

LD: Oh, that’s amazing. You also taught a trial techniques course at Cornell, right? GB: I did.

LD: Wow. That’s so impactful. How many kids do you have? GB: I have three girls.

I’m Vice Chair now of 1,000 Friends of Florida, which is an organization trying to protect the environment –we involve people from across the political spectrum. I’m interested and involved in these kinds of causes. Growing up in Florida was just beautiful, just beautiful. Now, due to development and money, it’s getting to be so overcrowded and polluted. Legislators are giving in and not protecting what we have. We try to do as much as we can to help protect the environment, to protect people who are disadvantaged – just like we protect our clients every day.

NUMBER ONE: GET IN COURT. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR EXPERIENCE…YOU WANT TO GET IN COURT.

LD: Are any of them interested in the law?

LD: Of course. GB: Practice really is everything. As you get more experienced, you have to use that extra energy to practice in front of a mirror or practice in front of somebody else. Sometimes, what you think is really so poignant, such a zinger, so elegant, sounds terrible out loud.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 159 Patrick Salvi II SALVICHICAGOSCHOSTOK S. Shay Samples HARE BIRMINGHAM,WYNNALA. Elise Sanguinetti ARIAS EMERYVILLE,SANGUINETTICALIF. Diana Santa Maria LAW OFFICES OF DIANA SANTA MARIA DAVIE, FLA. Shana Scarlett HAGENS BERKELEY,BERMANCALIF. John “Jack” Scarola* SEARCY DENNEY WEST PALM BEACH Darin Schanker BACHUS & DENVERSCHANKER Fred Schenk CASEY GERRY SAN DIEGO Scott Schlesinger SCHLESINGER LAW OFFICES FT. LAUDERDALE Richard Schoenberger WALKUP MELODIA SAN FRANCISCO Susan Schwartz CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO James Schwebel* SCHWEBELMINNEAPOLISGOETZ Carmen Scott MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Christian Searcy* SEARCY DENNEY WEST PALM BEACH Ibiere Seck SECK LAW CANOGA PARK, CALIF. Christopher Seeger SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Scott Segal SEGAL CHARLESTON,LAWW. VA. Joseph Sellers COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C.

160 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Derek Sells THE COCHRAN PHILADELPHIAFIRM Anthony Shapiro* (RIP) HAGENSSEATTLEBERMAN Adam Shea PANISH SHEA LOS ANGELES Loretta Sheehan DAVISHONOLULULEVIN Stephen Sheller SHELLER PHILADELPHIAP.C. Carol Nelson Shephard FELDMANPHILADELPHIASHEPHERD William Sieben SCHWEBELMINNEAPOLISGOETZ Philip Sieff ROBINSMINNEAPOLISKAPLAN Roman Silberfeld ROBINS KAPLAN LOS ANGELES James Sill FULMER OKLAHOMASILLCITY Chris Simmons LYONS & DALLASSIMMONS John Simmons SIMMONS HANLY CONROY ALTON, ILL. Jeffrey Simon SIMON DALLASGREENSTONE Linda Singer MOTLEY WASHINGTON,RICED.C. Thomas Siracusa POWERCHICAGOROGERS Hezekiah Sistrunk Jr. THE COCHRAN FIRM ATLANTA Adam Slater MAZIE ROSELAND,SLATERN.J. D. Neil Smith NIX DALLASPATTERSON

JOHN M. FEDER BY EMILY JACKOWAY

John Feder: It is. We have ﬁve great lawyers. I love having the collegiality and camaraderie of this group of ﬁve talented lawyers that inspire each other.

Feder has worked for injured victims and their families for more than 40 years at Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn. Since then, Feder has helped clients recover more than $500M across a wide range of personal injury and wrongful death cases. His passion has also extended to helping forge a more progressive and vibrant profession. Highly active in the legal community, Feder is a former president of both the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association and the Consumer Attorneys of California.

LD: That’s exciting. What a milestone this past year.

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LD: What do you ﬁnd most rewarding about your work?

LD: That’s got to be such an amazing moment.

JF: I think that’s been part of the key to our success: We spend a lot of time with our clients. We really understand what their life was like before the trauma and what it’s like now. FIRM

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE

SEASONED PERSONAL INJURY ATTORNEY JOHN M. Feder views his work not as a job, but as a calling – his clients not just as clients, but as family. He goes to great lengths to understand the people and matters he represents; in one case, he visited a crosswalk accident scene multiple times and, he admits, “My wife wasn’t too happy when she heard that I had almost got hit a couple of times.”

John M. Feder ROUDA FEDER (SAN FRANCISCO)

JF: It’s gone by amazingly quickly. I’ve had a lot of great cases, great clients and great results that have all been so rewarding.

JF: I love being a personal injury lawyer, in large part because of the close engagement with our clients. It feels good to help them navigate this terrible time in their lives and end up with a result that feels like they were heard, they were recognized and that we had their back all along. I always love the hug from the client at the end of the case.

Lawdragon: What do you ﬁnd advantageous about working with a small ﬁrm? It seems like a great environment.

JF: That was easy for me. I did my college work at Cal Berkeley, graduating in 1975. While a student at Cal, I worked for Consumer Action in San Francisco, and I was very interested in ﬁghting the big corporations taking advantage of the little guy. During law school at Hastings College of Law, I was a law clerk for Judge Donald B. Constine. The trial work I observed inspired me to become a trial lawyer.

LD: I love that deeply personal relationship you have with your clients. How do you recommend the other ﬁrms build that dynamic, and why would you say it’s so important?

JF: I think the common thread is that the damages tend to be extensive, and the liability may be a challenge. We get cases referred from lawyers and judges all over the country and many of them involve complex issues. When there are signiﬁcant damages, you can afford to spend a lot of money on a case to develop theories. We have a tremendous sense of responsibility because our clients are counting on us to help them through this. That’s a perfect motivating factor to work late into the night when we need to.

LD: Tell me about your switch from defense to plaintiffs’ litigation. How did that happen?

LD: It must have felt so good for both you and the client to have that verdict reafﬁrmed. What would you say the key to your success was in that case?

LD: How do you choose? Is there any common thread?

JF: As a young defense lawyer, I realized how critically important it is to be prepared. In the plaintiffs’

I worked for Consumer Action when I was a student and I wanted to be a plaintiffs’ lawyer. I admired Ralph Nader and I wanted to ﬁght for justice – his book, “Unsafe At Any Speed,” was inspirational for me and made a huge difference in promoting safety.

JF: Right now, I’m thinking of Alice, who was a 19-year-old English college student who got a job working in America. At the end of the summer, she wanted to take a trip out to Los Angeles. On the way back from visiting Universal Studios one day, she was walking through a crosswalk right by the Hollywood Bowl. The crosswalk was right below a freeway exit, so cars were racing through; it was a terrible location. She was struck by a car and suffered a catastrophic brain injury. We did a great deal of research and studied up on the trafﬁc engineering required in properly designing pedestrian crosswalks. We hired the best team of experts available across the county. After careful review, we brought suit against the City of Los Angeles and the State of California for the placement of the crosswalk and the way the crosswalk was maintained. Simply put, the crosswalk never should have been placed at that location as it was just below a freeway exit. The state and the city said 144 million cars went through there and there were no similar accidents. However, we dug deep, and we found two citizens who had complained about how dangerous that crosswalk was. One, in fact, put together her own stop sign and lit it up every time she walked to the Hollywood Bowl because she’d noticed how dangerous that crosswalk was. We brought them into court, and they were probably the key to our case. We settled with the State after voir dire and proceeded to trial against the City of Los Angeles. After a six-week trial, the verdict came in for more than $18M. The City had controlled the intersection. The City of Los Angeles tried to appeal the decision multiple times, but to no avail. That result allowed a woman with a catastrophic brain injury to be able to afford the care necessary to maximize her potential.

JF: I think the key is having a passion for what you’re doing. You can’t look at this as a job; you have to look at it as a calling. I think the more contact you have with the client and the more you know them personally, the more you understand the case.

162 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 We don’t take a ton of cases. We only take ones that we think are going to be meaningful, and then we make a difference.

JF: I think the key to our ﬁrm’s success overall has been our hands-on involvement. We spend a lot of time with the clients at their homes. We take many visits to the accident scenes. We really work to understand the legal issues.

LD: Do you have a story about a client or case that’s particularly impacted you?

LD: Do you feel working as a defense lawyer helped you in the work you do now?

When I interviewed for a job at a defense ﬁrm, I said I wanted to be a plaintiffs’ lawyer, but I wanted to get as much trial experience as possible. They gave me a jury trial ﬁve days after I had passed the bar. I had no idea what I was doing but won the case for the defense.

LD: What did Rouda teach you in those early days that you still carry with you?

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 163 bar, there were a fair number of lawyers who were not as well versed in their client’s history and medical records as they should have been. I worked there for two and a half years, and then I had a case where our ﬁrm’s founder, Ron Rouda, was my opponent. He thought I did a great job in a deposition and offered me a job on the spot – and here we are 40 years later. I don’t know what I would do if I wasn’t a personal injury lawyer.

LD: Tell me more about that work. How did you empower women speciﬁcally?

LD: They sound like great role models. So, back in the courtroom, what would you say your style is as a trial lawyer?

JF: I’m proud of the diversity in the profession now. There were very few female trial lawyers in 1978, when I ﬁrst started practicing. Now there’s a tremendous group of female trial lawyers that do wonderful work. I also think there is a far higher percentage of people of color practicing law. I think there’s also much more awareness of sexism that exists in the profession. I served as the president of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association in 2007 and the Consumer Attorneys of California in 2014. In those roles, I tried to empower young female lawyers, so they knew they had mentors behind them.

JF: On the boards of both the Consumer Attorneys of California and San Francisco Trial Lawyers, we made a conscious effort to get more female members on the executive committees – which is only fair. They had to work 10 times harder to establish themselves as worthy advocates and that’s not right.

LD: Working on so many catastrophic cases over the years must be mentally draining. How do you take care of yourself when working on those cases?

JF: It is heavy. There’s no question.

JF: Ron always believes in treating your adversary with respect. You have to be a fierce advocate for your clients, but you treat the other lawyer as a professional. Don’t look at them as the enemy. Our firm’s creativity and tenacious pursuit of justice has changed our clients lives for the better. My law partners Timothy Tietjen, Cynthia McGuinn and June Bashant have worked together seamlessly on many of our biggest cases. We all have slightly different styles that complement each other well. Our clients get the benefit of a team of lawyers fighting passionately on their behalf.

One of the things about our cases is you realize that bad things can happen at any time. I’ve had cases about everything. I love to water ski, so I give instructions to all my guests about safety on the boat. I had a client pushed right in front of a tram, so when we were in Europe with my family, I made all my family stay far away from the tracks while they waited for the trains to come. I do have a certain cautiousness. Our work is important and sobering, and you just have to treasure your time away from work. I love listening to music. I love good, old fashioned rock and roll. I love humor, good stories and the company of friends and family. Go after everything with a passion, including your time away from work.

LD: How would you say the legal ﬁeld has changed since you ﬁrst became a lawyer?

JF: I’d characterize my style as real. No pretension. I try to be in court like I am with my friends. I also think preparation is key. But, as part of being real, I think I can also be emotional in the courtroom. I’m not afraid to do that, because I understand the gravity of the cases I’m trying. Every case is vitally important to my clients and to our law ﬁrm. Our goal is to empower the jury to make a real difference in rendering a just verdict that fully recognizes the enormous harm our client has suffered. So, overall, I’d sum my style up as logical, organized, approachable and emotional.

I’ve been blessed to have fantastic female partners like Cynthia McGuinn and June Bashant. Cynthia was recently the president of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

I THINK I CAN BE EMOTIONAL IN THE COURTROOM. I’M NOT AFRAID TO DO THAT, BECAUSE I UNDERSTAND THE GRAVITY OF THE CASES I’M TRYING.

164 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Michael Smith LESSER LESSER WEST PALM BEACH R. Allen Smith THE SMITH LAW FIRM RIDGELAND, MISS. Todd Smith SMITHCHICAGOLACIEN William Smith* ABRAMSON SMITH SAN FRANCISCO Daniel Smolen SMOLENTULSAROYTMAN Kathryn Snapka SNAPKA FIRM CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS Thomas Sobol HAGENSBOSTONBERMAN Allison Soloff SOLOFF & PHILADELPHIAZERVANOS Donald Soloff SOLOFF & PHILADELPHIAZERVANOS Andrew Sommerman SOMMERMANDALLASMCCAFFITY Dan Sorey SOREY & LONGVIEW,GILLILANDTEXAS Christine Spagnoli GREENE BROILLET SANTA MONICA Shanin Specter KLINE PHILADELPHIASPECTER Broadus Spivey* (RIP) SPIVEY & AUSTINGRIGG Kathryn Stebner STEBNER LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Bruce Stern STARK & LAWRENCEVILLE,STARKN.J. L. Chris Stewart STEWART TRIAL ATLANTAATTORNEYS Larry Stewart* STEWARTMIAMITILGHMAN

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 165 Paul Stritmatter* STRITMATTER KESSLER HOQUIAM, WASH. Kenneth Suggs JANET JANET & SUGGS COLUMBIA, S.C. Robert Sullivan* SULLIVAN PAPAIN GARDEN CITY, N.J. Dennis Sweet III SWEET & JACKSON,ASSOCIATESMISS. Laura Tamez THE HERRERA LAW FIRM SAN ANTONIO Mark Tanner FELDMANPHILADELPHIASHEPHERD Anthony Tarricone KREINDLER & BOSTONKREINDLER John Taylor TAYLOR & RING MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. Larry Taylor THE COCHRAN FIRM DALLAS Jonathan Thomas POWERCHICAGOROGERS Tad Thomas THOMAS LAW LOUISVILLEOFFICES Brandon Thompson CIRESI MINNEAPOLISCONLIN Fred Thompson III MOTLEY RICE MT. PLEASANT, S.C. Timothy Tietjen ROUDA FEDER SAN FRANCISCO Paul Traina PANISH SHEA LOS ANGELES Michael Trunk KLINE PHILADELPHIASPECTER Lucy Tufts CUNNINGHAM BOUNDS MOBILE, ALA. Nancy Turbak Berry TURBAK LAW WATERTOWN,OFFICES.D.

166 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Dawn Vallejos-Nichols AVERA & GAINSVILLESMITH Kenneth Vogelstein WAISBALTIMOREVOGELSTEIN Aimee Wagstaff ANDRUS LAKEWOOD,WAGSTAFFCOLO. Gary Wais WAISBALTIMOREVOGELSTEIN Brent Walker ALDOUSDALLASWALKER Derrick Walker ALLEN ALLEN ALLEN & ALLEN RICHMOND John “Jack” Walker MARTIN WALKER TYLER, TEXAS Mary Anne Walling SULLIVAN PAPAIN GARDEN CITY, N.J. Judson Waltman LANIER LAW HOUSTONFIRM Johnny Ward WARD SMITH & HALL LONGVIEW, TEXAS Navan Ward, Jr. BEASLEY MONTGOMERY,ALLENALA. Donald Watson GARY WILLIAMS PARENTI STUART, FLA. Natalie Weatherford TAYLOR & RING MANHATTAN BEACH, CALIF. Lisa Weinstein GRANT & CHICAGOEISENHOFER Stephen Weiss SEEGER WEISS NEW YORK Geoffrey Wells GREENE BROILLET SANTA MONICA Jeanmarie Whalen DOMNICK CUNNINGHAM PALM BEACH GARDENS Tim Wheeler GREENE BROILLET SANTA MONICA

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 167 Charles Whetstone WHETSTONECOLUMBIA,PERKINSS.C. Matthew White GRAY & LOUISVILLEWHITE William Whitehurst* WHITEHURSTAUSTINHARKNESS Conlee Whiteley KANNER & WHITELEY NEW ORLEANS Reggie Whitten WHITTENOKLAHOMABURRAGECITY Edward Willer CORBOY & CHICAGODEMETRIO Lorenzo Williams GARY WILLIAMS PARENTI STUART, FLA. Matthew Williams SALVICHICAGOSCHOSTOK Lawrence Wilson LANIER LAW HOUSTONFIRM Paul Wingo HAMILTONDALLASWINGO David Wirtes, Jr. CUNNINGHAM BOUNDS MOBILE, ALA. R. Brent Wisner BAUM HEDLUND LOS ANGELES Michael Worel DEWSNUP KING SALT LAKE CITY Andrew Yaffa GROSSMAN ROTH CORAL GABLES C. Steven Yerrid* YERRID LAW FIRM TAMPA Marty Young GOUDARZI & YOUNG GILMER, TEXAS Kathleen Zellner ZELLNER & ASSOCIATES DOWNERS GROVE, IL. Michael Zerres BLUME CHATHAM,FORTEN.J. John Zervanos SOLOFF & PHILADELPHIAZERVANOS Laura Zois MILLER & BALTIMOREZOIS

Rosen Saba, LLP would like to congratulate Partners Jim Rosen, Ryan Saba, and Elizabeth Bradley for being selected in 2021 as three of the Top 500 Leading Employment and Civil Rights Lawyers in the United States by Lawdragon Magazine. We are also proud to announce Partners Jim Rosen, Ryan Saba, Elizabeth Bradley and Francesca Dioguardi also received this award in 2022. Since the Covid-19 Pandemic started, we have settled over $75 million in cases on behalf of plaintiﬀs. (310) 285-1727 | info@rosensaba.com | www.rosensaba.com | 2301 Rosecrans Ave., Suite 3180, El Segundo, CA 90245 At Rosen Saba, LLP, we are committed to creating excellent working partnerships between attorneys through referrals. When you need tenacious trial lawyers, tough negotiators, an ethical, client-driven referral destination, or all of the above, Rosen Saba, LLP is your Rosenpartner. Saba is a complete civil litigation ﬁrm delivering exceptional results.

LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 169 500

And, workers have quit in droves, seeking a reordering of the employment relationship. It’s been ages since the balance of power shifted to workers in the way it did since the pandemic reordered our universe.

For the fourth consecutive year, Lawdragon is proud to publish our guide to the 500 lawyers who’ve devoted their careers to helping workers protect their rights.

The 2021 Lawdragon 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment & Civil Rights Lawyers guide was created through nominations and independent journalistic research vetted by peers and adversaries. Lawyers denoted by an asterisk are those who have previously been inducted into the Lawdragon Hall of Fame.

There are, of course, tens of thousands of lawyers representing union members, employees, executives and others who keep our economy moving ahead. Which makes the 500 lawyers featured here all the more special. Covid brought us to our knees and challenged employers big and small in unprecedented ways. How to stay in business? How to keep workers safe? How to ensure a harassment free environment?

We’re especially excited by the inclusiveness of this guide, and want to share with you that more than half of the 500 are women – 252 of them, to be precise. Our guide is also 24 percent inclusive, an other important goal. If we want inclusive workplaces, shouldn’t the lawyers fighting to make them so also be inclusive? We say yes.

170 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Sally Abrahamson WERMANCHICAGOSALAS Vicki Lafer Abrahamson* ABRAHAMSONCHICAGORDZANEK Gregg McLean Adam MESSING ADAM SAN FRANCISCO J. Bernard Alexander ALEXANDER MORRISON & FEHR LOS ANGELES Gloria Allred ALLRED MAROKO LOS ANGELES Ilona Demenina Anderson SAENZ & AVENTURA,ANDERSONFLA. Jennie Lee Anderson ANDRUS ANDERSON SAN FRANCISCO Lori Andrus ANDRUS ANDERSON SAN FRANCISCO Margaret Angelucci ASHERCHICAGOGITTLE Chirag Badlani HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL Rebekah Bailey NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Anita Bala BUCKLEYATLANTABEAL Lisa Banks KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C. Allyson Belovin LEVY RATNER NEW YORK Jonathan Ben-Asher RITZ CLARK & BEN-ASHER NEW YORK Tiffanie Benfer HARDWICK DOYLESTOWN,BENFERPA. Rachel Berlin Benjamin BUCKLEYATLANTABEAL Jennifer Bennett GUPTA WESSLER SAN FRANCISCO

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 171 Harvey Berger BERGER WILLIAMS SAN DIEGO Lynne Bernabei* BERNABEI & WASHINGTON,KABATD.C. Nicole G. Berner JAMES & WASHINGTON,HOFFMAND.C. Jonathan Berns DOBSON GOLDBERG ST. LOUIS Inga Bernstein ZALKINDBOSTONDUNCAN Stephen Berzon* LTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Michal Bien ROSEN BIEN SAN FRANCISCO Rachel Bien OLIVIER SCHREIBER & CHAO LOS ANGELES Amanda Biondolino SASS LAW TAMPAFIRM Saba Bireda SANFORD WASHINGTON,HEISLERD.C. Laureve D. Blackstone LEVY RATNER NEW YORK Alan C. Blanco ROTHMANPITTSBURGHGORDON Beth Bloom BLOOMSEATTLELAW Katherine Blostein OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Tanesha Walls Blye SAENZ & AVENTURA,ANDERSONFLA. Ellen Boardman O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Kathleen Bogas* BOGAS & KONCIUS BINGHAM FARMS, MICH. Karine Bohbot BOHBOT & OAKLANDRILES

Jennifer Ostertag GENIE HARRISON LAW FIRM (LOS ANGELES)

Genie is amazing and so passionate. Over the years I’ve seen many lawyers, and Genie’s passion is so infectious and inspirational. She’s not doing it for the money. That said, I don’t think any of us really do it because it’s a business. We do what’s right for our client and because we love what we are doing. If we wanted to make a bunch of money, we’d probably be in a different ﬁeld.

LD: What do you enjoy most about employment law?

LD: What do you enjoy about the ﬁrm’s environment?

JO: There are certain industries, like the construction industry, that have discriminatory practices in place against Black and Latino employees. In those situations, they often fail to give them proper safety equipment. I did two or three of those cases at the same time, and in all the cases, it was the same story: they would give

Outside of the courtroom, Ostertag is active as the chair of the Employment Section for the Beverly Hills Bar Association, and she holds a key role in the Committee on Empowering Women. She is a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California and the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and is a member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles’ Board of Governors. Originally from France, she is also a member of the American Association for Justice’s International Relations Committee.

LD: I saw one case you tried was on behalf of a generator technician who sustained a brain injury as a result of discrimination based on his nationality.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 173 JENNIFER OSTERTAG BY EMILY JACKOWAY

Jennifer Ostertag: Well, I met Genie Harrison many, many years ago. I used to work for another female lawyer, and we shared our suite with Genie. So, we literally shared walls before we began working together.

The majority of Ostertag’s clients are those who wouldn’t be able to tell their stories on their own; many of her clients come from marginalized groups, including women who have been abused and immigrants who are not ﬂuent in English. Ostertag’s practice operates on a contingency basis, ensuring that everyone has equal access to justice. That access is especially vital in a ﬁeld like plaintiffs’ employment law, where so many of her clients have been stripped of fair wages and the ability to work.

LD: It’s incredible that it’s almost an all-female practice. How does that change the dynamic?

JO: Because I’m on the plaintiffs’ side, I get to fight for employees, which I love. Many of my clients are women who have been abused for years. Sometimes they don’t get a huge settlement, but the process helps them feel heard and empowered. Once they are done with the case, they not only have the financial component of a win, but it has also been a journey for them to prove to themselves that they are not going to be the victim. I always tell my clients, don’t be afraid. Your employer already fired you. They cannot do anything to you anymore. Now it’s your time to take your control.

YEARS AGO, JENNIFER OSTERTAG TRIED A case on behalf of a young woman who had been abused in the workplace. She’s tried many such cases before and since, but this one is her favorite. She lost. In the courtroom, anyway. But for her client, the case was about so much more than a verdict or any amount of settlement money. It was about standing up and telling her story. “She felt vindicated,” explains Ostertag. “At the end of the case she said, ‘Thank you so much for believing in me all the way.’” That was all she needed to help rebuild her life – to win personally. “That case has always impacted me because I knew that, no matter what, we did what was right for her,” remembers Ostertag. Ostertag is a senior attorney at the Genie Harrison Law Firm, where she represents victims of workplace harassment and discrimination, as well as those whose equal pay and wage rights have been violated. She’s worked in employment law and personal injury cases for her entire career. She began by serving as associate general counsel for a top internet company in the 90s, then tried employment and personal injury cases for other ﬁrms before ﬁnding her place at the all-female attorney Genie Harrison Law Firm. In her years in the courtroom, she has won tens of millions of dollars in verdicts, awards and settlements for her clients. Her largest verdicts include a $3.3M verdict against a Mexican hotel chain.

JO: I think women cooperate with each other more. I think, when I’ve worked with men, sometimes there’s more competition and you have to watch your back. Here, everybody rises together, or we fall together. It’s not an “every man for himself” mentality.

JO: It’s a different kind of work culture because it’s such a supportive group.

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM

Lawdragon: Tell me a bit about your practice. What brought you to the Genie Harrison Law Firm?

174 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Manuel Boigues WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Subhashini Bollini CORREIA & WASHINGTON,PUTHD.C. Megan A. Bonnani PITT MCGEHEE ROYAL OAK, MICH. David Borgen GOLDSTEINOAKLANDBORGEN Jeffrey L. Bornstein ROSEN BIEN SAN FRANCISCO Mary Bortscheller COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Elizabeth R. Bradley ROSEN SABA LOS ANGELES Lynne Jaben Bratcher BRATCHER INDEPENDENCE,GOCKELMO. Elaine Charlson Bredehoft CHARLSONRESTON,BREDEHOFTVA. Valerie Brender RUKIN HYLAND SAN FRANCISCO Matthew D. Brinckerhoff EMERY CELL NEW YORK David Brody SHERIN & BOSTONLODGEN Christopher Brook PATTERSON HARKAVY CHAPEL HILL Molly Brooks OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Carla Brown CHARLSONRESTON,BREDEHOFTVA. Deane B. Brown HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL Tracey L. Brown THE COCHRAN FIRM NEW YORK Edward Buckley BUCKLEYATLANTABEAL

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 175 M. Malissa Burnette BURNETTE COLUMBIA,SHUTTS.C. Joseph Burns JACOBSCHICAGOBURNS Katherine Butler BUTLERHOUSTONHARRIS Lisa Butler MAINE EMPLOYEE RIGHTS GROUP BANGOR, MAINE Alejandro Caffarelli CAFFARELLI & CHICAGOASSOCIATES Gregory Care BROWN GOLDSTEIN LEVY BALTIMORE James W. Carroll Jr. ROTHMANPITTSBURGHGORDON Shanon Carson BERGERPHILADELPHIAMONTAGUE Adam Augustine Carter THE EMPLOYMENT LAW GROUP WASHINGTON, D.C. Larry Cary CARY KANE NEW YORK Andrew G. Celli Jr. EMERY CELLI NEW YORK Jonathan Cerrito COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Eve Cervantez ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Connie K. Chan ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Lin Chan LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Kelly Chanfrau CHANFRAU & CHANFRAU DAYTONA BEACH Katharine Chao OLIVIER SCHREIBER & CHAO SAN FRANCISCO Ed Chapin SANFORD HEISLER SAN DIEGO

LD: Speaking of trial, can you tell me about any recent matters you’re working on?

LD: How did you prove racial discrimination?

LD: Did you have any female mentors ealry on?

JO: For my clients, I tell them that I cannot change the past. All I can do is try to show a path to help you tell your story and get you compensation. But if you’ve been sexually assaulted, I’m not taking that away. That’s going to stay with you for life. I really encourage them to go to therapy and talk about it. For me, I know I’m making a difference by what I’m doing, so that’s helpful. And, at the end of the day, except when I’m getting ready for trial, when I leave, I say, “Okay, I’m done with my day.” I’m going to watch a silly movie or talk to my friend and talk about something completely different. People I’m close to say I’m very lucky because I’m able to compartmentalize things easily. I like to sleep well at night.

LD: Do you have any advice for early-career lawyers, particularly those who are women? JO: First, I think you have to follow your instincts. Second, don’t be afraid to speak up, but also stay respectful to opposing counsel. I’m not the kind of lawyer who’s going to get in your face. I believe in civility. We’re all professionals. I’ve had lawyers send me nasty emails and speak to me inappropriately. Once another lawyer was reprimanded by the judge for his conduct toward me, but when we walked out of court he was fuming, and he continued to act rudely toward me. I just laughed.

It’s also cultural because, depending on who the employer is, they don’t always realize that the behavior is illegal. You can’t treat people this way. “Mad Men” is gone. It’s not 1950.

LD: Have you seen any improvement of understanding in the last few years, particularly with the #MeToo movement?

JO: When we took the depositions, it became very clear why the supervisor was not giving the equipment to that employee. The supervisor and owners were using terms to refer to this Latino worker that were very explicit. I won’t repeat them, but they were directed at Mexican workers. For a plaintiffs’ case, it’s about building a wall. When you put all these bricks together, it built a pretty good wall.

LD: Other than remaining civil, how would you describe your style in court?

JO: I’m not an extravagant person; I’m quiet. I prepare thoroughly. I probably over-prepare because I want to know everything. I want to be in control as much as I can. Of course, when you’re in trial, you have to think on your feet, but to the extent I can control my environment, I like to. I’m a person of habit and I like things organized.

LD: So many of your clients have been abused and gone through horrible trauma. How do you support them and also take care of your own mental health, as well? I’m sure these are very trying cases to work on.

JO: There were no female mentors in the ﬁrms in which I ﬁrst worked, but there were certain lawyers I would look up to. I admired Genie from afar when we didn’t work together. Then there’s a woman I always go to – Gretchen Nelson. She’s fantastic. When I was a much younger lawyer, she was one of those people where I’d look at her and say, “I want to be like her.”

JO: I ﬁnd it much more litigious. I think 20 years ago you were able to resolve cases more easily. When I started 22 years ago, I also used to be the only woman on a case. Particularly when working on personal injury cases, it used to be 30 men and me. Now I work with a lot of female attorneys, which is wonderful. It doesn’t mean that they’re easier to deal with. They’re still ﬁerce adversaries, but it’s very different.

Sometimes, a case is much harder when it’s against an employer who does not have insurance and is on the hook for the actions of another person in the company. Especially when it’s a smaller employer, they have a very hard time grasping what they did wrong.

LD: That is important. Over the course of your career, have you noticed any changes in the legal ﬁeld overall?

JO: Well, I think some people are becoming more sensitive to it, but then you have people who are reacting from the opposite side. They don’t get it or they don’t want to get it. After the #MeToo movement, some men have started to say that they’re the victims, not the woman. They think that you have to “tap dance” around women and that you can’t say anything to them

JO: I have a case right now which is just at the onset. We’re representing a 23-year-old woman who was sexually harassed at work and not put on payroll. But the employer doesn’t understand what he did wrong. He thinks, “Well, I’m not the person who harassed you, so why am I here?”

176 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 them the more dangerous job and they would not give them the proper safety equipment.

I was furious. For such a rich state, I was shocked that we could tolerate these kinds of working conditions. The minimum wage is rising, but still employees still cannot pay for a lawyer on an hourly basis, like companies are able to do. So we work exclusively on a contingency basis for employees, many of whom can barely put food on the table.

JO: I did a case a few years ago and, and my client came to see me for a toxic tort case initially, but I realized while I was talking to him that he had this really sad employment case. The man was a nighttime security gate guard. He had been working there for 20 years. He sent me photos, and I was so shocked when I saw his working conditions. He had a wood shed outside where they had put some crappy folding bed and a Port-O-Potty because he was not even allowed to go in the building to use the restroom. This poor man would work for a ﬂat rate, but it evened out to less than $4 an hour. I was outraged. They had abused this man for 20 years and gotten away with it because he was an immigrant and he didn’t speak English. That’s true in so many employment cases I see. Not only does the person not want to be deported, they don’t want to see their family deported and they live paycheck to paycheck. So, if you lose that job – that’s not paying you even minimum wage – it’s still the difference from being on the street versus having a roof over your head and saving your family. So, they don’t have a choice. Most of this company’s employees didn’t speak English, and they were afraid that if they said anything the employer would call immigration on them. So, I told him, “Don’t worry. If they call immigration, they’re going to be the ﬁrst ones in trouble because we are going to show that they knew about these conditions.” So, I thought about it and I said, “You know what, I’m trying this case.”

LD: Do you do any pro bono work outside of your ﬁrm?

JO: Before the pandemic, I volunteered at a legal clinic for battered women. Now I focus on volunteering for my synagogue and for various bar organizations.

LD: That’s beautiful. Reﬂecting on your career overall, did you think that you’d end up in this type of practice? And what have you found to be most rewarding about your work?

JO: Right. And then I get people from out of state who violate California labor codes and they’re shocked when I tell them they’ve broken the law. But we live in a state where workers have rights and if they don’t agree with that concept, they can stay in their own state.

LD: The work you do is so important because so many of these individuals’ stories often aren’t heard and don’t get to court. Can you tell me about a case that’s really surprised you, or that you felt just needed to be tried?

LD: That’s interesting. The people who don’t understand and the ones who don’t want to understand are two very different types of people.

JO: When I went to law school, I thought I was going to be taking a very different path, but then I found this area. When you are 18 or 20, you have different dreams than when you are approaching 50, but I was very lucky to fall into this. When I was in school, my dream was to do environmental law for the United Nations. LD: Wow. That’s a little different.

LD: Absolutely. I’m sure that your clients learn so much from you, but is there anything that you’ve learned from your clients?

JO: Each case teaches you something. Each person comes in with their history, with their baggage. Each jury comes in with the same. I’m not my clients’ best friend – I have to tell them things they don’t always want to hear. But I want them to be able to make their own decisions. I want to empower them to stand up, to have a voice. When they come from being abused and not being heard, that’s such a change for them. I just ﬁnished a case with a client who was sexually assaulted. After the case, she came up to me and said, “You know, I learned so much from you and my daughter now wants to be a lawyer because of you.” I was totally in tears, and I said, “No, she should want to be like you, because you stood up and told your story.”

JO: It’s completely different. I thought that I was going to change the world – but now I realize that I change the world a little bit, each person at a time.

It’s just mutually beneﬁcial to treat your employees well, because if you respect your employees, they’re going to be the best employees because they’re going to stay around, they’re going to love their job and they’ll perform well. If you treat them like dirt, the quality of their work is going to be bad. And if you keep your employees around for years by treating them right, they’ll develop invaluable institutional knowledge.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 177 anymore, but that’s not it. It’s just that you have to treat people with respect. But I think for certain people, particularly powerful people, they don’t understand that their actions have consequences.

178 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Stephen Chertkof HELLER WASHINGTON,HUROND.C. Gregory Chiarello OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Lewis Chimes LEWISSTAMFORDCHIMES Barbara “B.J.” Chisholm ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Jeanne M. Christensen NEWWIGDORYORK Anne L. Clark VLADECK RASKIN NEW YORK Denise Clark CLARK LAW WASHINGTON,GROUPD.C. Miriam Clark RITZ CLARK & BEN-ASHER NEW YORK Shaylyn Cochran U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE WASHINGTON, D.C. Lina Balciunas Cockrell MESSINGSACRAMENTOADAM Peter Cohen CHARLSONRESTON,BREDEHOFTVA. Kyla Cole NEILL LEGLER COLE DALLAS Francis Collins KAHNBALTIMORESMITH Stephen Console CONSOLEPHILADELPHIAMATTIACCI Samuel J. Cordes ROTHMANPITTSBURGHGORDON Linda Correia CORREIA & WASHINGTON,PUTHD.C. Marc Cote FRANKSEATTLEFREED Colleen E. Coveney KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 179 Burton Craige PATTERSON HARKAVY CHAPEL HILL Jillian Cutler FRANKSEATTLEFREED Jenna M. Dabbs KAPLAN HECKER NEW YORK Cornelia Ho-Chin Dai HADSELL & PASADENA,STORMERCALIF. Glenn Danas ROBINS KAPLAN LOS ANGELES Linda Dardarian GOLDSTEINOAKLANDBORGEN Frank Darras ONTARIO,DARRASLAWCALIF. Emile Davis DOLAN LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Susan Davis COHEN WEISS NEW YORK David P. Dean JAMES & WASHINGTON,HOFFMAND.C. Peter DeChiara COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Nicole Horberg Decter SEGALBOSTONROITMAN Lori Deem HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL Jeffrey Demain ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Amanda DeMatteis GARRISONNEWLEVIN-EPSTEINHAVEN Kelly Dermody LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO David deRubertis THE DERUBERTIS LAW FIRM STUDIO CITY, CALIF. Reena Desai NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER name name FIRM FIRM FIRM (CITY)

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM

Since 2002, his New York-based Maduegbuna Cooper has followed through on Maduegbuna’s original aim of fighting for the underdog. In addition to their niche specific commercial practice, the firm specializes in civil rights and employment litigation and always handles an array of pro bono matters. Though he did not return to Nigeria for work, Maduegbuna continues to practice on the international stage by handling domestic and international commercial transactions and in U.S.-Africa business deals mostly relating to Nigeria.

Maduegbuna first came to the United States in the early 1990s, he didn’t expect to stay. But when he realized how significantly he could help fellow immigrants and other underprivileged groups in the U.S., he knew he was needed here. Nearly 30 years later, he has successfully run his own firm and tried cases against seemingly indomitable entities, frequently garnering large recoveries for his clients.

SAMUEL MADUEGBUNA

Samuel Maduegbuna MADUEGBUNA COOPER (NEW YORK)

180 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM

BY EMILY JACKOWAY

I take on all aspects of labor and employment law, especially employment discrimination, retaliation and whistleblower cases on behalf of public servants and private employees. I have developed a particular interest in litigation against governmental employers on behalf of the citizens and groups they employ. I also handle civil rights litigation arising from police and even private misconduct. Those matters run the gamut and include death cases, police pursuit, excessive force, assault, battery, false arrest and detention, violation of prisoner and inmates’ rights through unlawful seizure and assault, and denial of rights or medical neglect. A fair amount of these cases involve death or serious injuries that implicate medical mal-

Sam Maduegbuna: I represent individuals against powerful interests. I ﬁght on behalf of individuals and groups who have been victims of civil rights violations or denied other rights in the workplace.

WHEN NIGERIAN-BORN TRIAL LAWYER SAM

Lawdragon: How would you describe the type of work you do in your practice?

One that is particularly memorable and fairly recent is the Glaves-Morgan v. City of New York employment discrimination and retaliation case. This was a case against the City of New York, and particularly Robert Doar, a commissioner for the city’s Human Resources Administration Agency. He was

SM: I was appointed to represent Richard Drake by the Eastern District of New York. I took on the case pro bono, working with a fellow Nigerian-trained lawyer K.C. Okoli – a brilliant advocate, one of the hardest working lawyers I know. Together, we fought for several years on Drake’s behalf. Our efforts led the judge to note speciﬁcally that we had gone above and beyond the obligations of our initial appointment.

LD: Do you have any other favorite cases?

SM: My plans changed after I came to North America for graduate studies. In 1992, after a master’s degree in International Trade Law, I emigrated to the U.S., took the bar a year later and decided to practice in New York for a little bit before returning to Nigeria. I quickly realized that because I was born in Nigeria a lot of fellow African and Nigerian immigrants were coming to me seeking legal help for issues relating to their employment. Some were teachers and public servants. Others were working as cab drivers or street vendors facing violation of their civil rights by incessant arrests and police brutality. This was in the early to mid-1990s New York City, when Rudy Giuliani was mayor and the police believed they could act with impunity. I felt an immediate need to help on a limited basis and frequently free of charge while still handling commercial matters. Later, I took on such matters on a more substantial basis as I saw the difference my assistance was making to the lives of these individuals and families.

LD: What shifted those plans?

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 181 practice and therefore require an understanding of complex medical issues.

LD: It must have been fulﬁlling to realize you could make a true difference in these people’s lives. What do you ﬁnd most rewarding about your practice?

LD: Are there any cases that stand out to you in particular? SM: There are several, but I would say that without a doubt the most unique and riveting is what, in my view, remains the unlawful termination of Richard Drake by Delta Airlines. Drake was a wonderful flight attendant and union leader and, more importantly, a great human being. He was falsely accused of adulterating his urine sample during a federally mandated drug Draketesting.claimed that his drug tests were not the product of random selection – that he was specifically targeted for three drug tests in three consecutive quarters as a means of eliminating him - a well-known union leader and organizer at Pan Am, which had been acquired by Delta. He alleged that the tests caused him to experience emotional distress, damage to his reputation, personal humiliation, mental anguish and suffering and deprivation of liberty. After five days of trial, the jury was presented with a special interrogatory for each of the three drug tests. It found that Drake’s April 1993 drug test was a product of random selection, but that the subsequent two tests were not. It awarded Drake $2.5M in damages over the various tests.

In fact, my original ambition was to be a diplomat with an international organization such as the United Nations or any of its agencies and afﬁliates, or to work as a private international commercial lawyer representing multinationals and entities engaged in international transactions.

LD: How did you get involved in that case?

SM: I find civil rights and employment law work extremely fulfilling. It is personal and solves the needs of the individual at an immediate and direct level. It has become a passion – a cause, not a job. It is something I look forward to doing every single day. I feel duty bound to fight on behalf of the weak and less fortunate against powerful interests, and quite fortunate that I am in a position to do so. I look forward to every new challenge and the satisfaction of the changes it brings to the lives and struggles of individuals, virtually all of whom end up becoming lifelong friends.

SM: There are far too many. All matters seem to be favorites as they all involve a ﬁght to protect individuals against powerful interests.

SM: My initial legal training was based on the English system of legal education, which prepared me to take on any sort of legal matter – even criminal matters. My real interest, though, has always been public and private international law.

LD: How did you ﬁrst become interested in those practice areas?

SM: There are several worthy of mention, but because the ones I want to discuss involve some level of conﬁdentiality, I’ll speak in general terms. My team and I have recently worked on a wide array of cases. Some involved minority employees who accidentally found out that they are being paid less than fellow non-minority employees doing the same; others were employees subjected to adverse employment action for complaining or whistleblowing in the workplace for such issues as not being provided the right equipment during Covid-19. Some of our recent cases have involved appeals on issues of importance. One disability discrimination case, Natofsky v. City of New York, required a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.

IT IS NOW INCREASINGLY DIFFICULT TO HAVE EMPLOYMENT

182 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 appointed under high praise by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, and his father had served as an assistant attorney general in the Justice Department during the Kennedy administration. After months of hotly contested discovery, including depositions of difficult high-level officials, most of whom were experienced lawyers, we roundly defeated the city’s motion for summary judgment. The offer to settle was an insulting low five figures. As a result, we tried the case to a jury verdict before the late United States District Judge Harold Baer. This ended up being the first case where a sitting New York City commissioner was found by a jury to have acted discriminatorily. The jury found on all claims for Ms. Glaves-Morgan, a Black female and a graduate of Yale and Brooklyn Law School, who was Executive Deputy Commissioner and the Agency’s Chief Contracting Officer. The jury was about to determine the amount of punitive damages Commissioner Doar and his First Executive Deputy should personally pay when the City of New York agreed to pay all that Ms. Glaves-Morgan wanted and all of our attorneys’ fees and costs. This result was widely published – made all major New York papers and legal publications, including The New York Times and New York Law Journal.

SM: I’d say that these matters were memorable because they show that bias is alive and well in today’s workplace and that litigation when properly handled does shine light on the truth.

DISCRIMINATION CASES WHERE THE EVIDENCE OF BIAS IS DIRECT…THE BIAS STILL EXISTS, BUT IT IS BETTER HIDDEN.

LD: Did you have any mentors early on?

LD: Are there any recent cases you’re particularly proud of?

LD: Did you face any major challenges in those cases?

SM: Unearthing the evidence in discovery to overcome a summary judgment motion is always a challenge. You have to really get into the weeds. My team and I work hard on that aspect of any case. These cases gave the clients vindication that their perception of discriminatory or retaliatory treatment was correct. For employers and management, our cases sent a clear message that they must always abide by laws and rules prohibiting discrimination and retaliation. Those laws protect us all in society.

SM: The capacity to effect change that a career in law and politics provides has always fascinated me. I had an uncle who was an English-trained lawyer. He ended up being a judge (magistrate) in the British colonial government-run Island of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, modern day Tanzania. At a very young age, I was so amazed at this man’s position and range of knowledge of world affairs that I very much wanted to be in such a position when I grew up.

SM: Very early in my career, before I was even admitted to practice law in Nigeria, I had two mentors who pushed me into conﬂict as to which direction in law practice to follow – international commercial law or civil litigation. I will mention one in particular, Bankole Aluko, of blessed memory – who died too soon. Bankole (Kole, as he was fondly called) was a brilliant civil litigator, not a criminal defense lawyer, who was ultimately conferred the highest honor a courtroom lawyer would obtain in Nigeria, by taking silk as a

LD: How did you ﬁrst become interested in the law?

LD: What else stands out to you about those cases?

This image of an international jurist and my aptitude for the humanities caused me to study a little bit of political science before switching to law.

SM: My style is to keep cases as simple as possible, but getting there involves a lot of hard work and sleepless nights. I come to the practice of law with an intense desire to change and confront wrongdoing, but with tremendous feeling and capacity for empathy. I believe that the key to our clients’ stories is not in the head, but in the heart. I start with the client; we are joined as one in the challenge or adversity he or she is facing.

Employers and supervisors are more careful in how they treat employees and how they cover the biases they hold. The bias still exists, but it is better hidden. Through diligent efforts in discovery, the bias can ultimately be uncovered – once in a while, you ﬁnd the evidence in an email with explicit language or even a memo that directly conﬁrms what the client believes and experienced.

SM: There are several, but one that comes readily to mind for the simplicity that he brings to litigation is Charles “Chuck” E. Kutner – a doyen of the New York medical malpractice bar. I had the pleasure of being on opposite sides with him in a number of medical malpractice cases. I was mesmerized by his professionalism and knowledge of the law. He could reduce the argument or the issue to one simple argument that was difﬁcult to overturn. I have a lot of admiration for Chuck, and we have remained friends, despite how aggressively we fought each other in litigation.

LD: Do you have a favorite book or movie about the justice system?

SM: My favorite of such movies would be “Anatomy of a Murder,” which is the 1959 Otto Preminger classic courtroom drama with a soundtrack and cameo by Duke Ellington. The main character, played by Academy Award winner James Stewart, teaches what it means to be the underdog in a courtroom when you’re always outmatched by the size and number of your adversaries, but never by their skills or knowledge. I repeatedly go back to scenes in this movie for lessons in witness preparation, ethics and, most importantly, presenting yourself as an ordinary person in the courtroom. As for books, there are just too many – no one in particular is a favorite, but biographies of renowned trial lawyers and judges are always a pleasure.

SM: If I wasn’t a trial lawyer, I would probably be in academia for the social sciences with a side gig in something involving art, like a curator, gallerist or interior designer.

LD: You mentioned you do a fair amount of pro bono work. Tell me about that.

SM: I have been a member of the pro bono panel of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York for as long as I’ve been admitted to that court. Since the mid-1990s, I have worked on a diverse array of pro bono matters, ranging from landmark workplace drug testing litigation, such as in the Drake case, to vindication of employee disability rights in both public and private sector employment.

SM: I love to travel and visit museums, attend art exhibitions. The most fun I have is in collecting and appreciating art – particularly contemporary African art. I ﬁnd joy in identifying and patronizing African artists, some of whom end up becoming international stars. Interior decorating using art is something that is also a source of much fun for me.

LD: How would you describe your style as a lawyer?

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, the equivalent of what the English call Queen’s Counsel. Despite representing multinational corporations in high-stakes litigation, this wonderful human being, for years, and unknown to most, spent much of his time taking on pro bono death penalty cases. One such case I worked with him was on behalf of a death row inmate. He took the case all the way to the Supreme Court of Nigeria, while at the same time serving commercial interests. This was a rare combination for a unique lawyer and a selﬂess individual. Kole taught me so much about dedication and preparation; about how to argue and how to be a good human being, and not just a lawyer.

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LD: Can you tell me about a lawyer you’ve come up against in a case who you admire, and why?

LD: If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be doing now?

SM: Yes, it has changed considerably in many ways. Electronic discovery, for one, was not widely used in the past. It is also now increasingly difﬁcult to have employment discrimination cases where the evidence of bias is direct.

LD: What do you do for fun outside the ofﬁce?

LD: Has your practice changed since the beginning of your career?

184 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Maria G. Diaz THE DIAZ LAW FIRM LOS ANGELES Jerome Dobson DOBSON GOLDBERG ST. LOUIS Christopher Dolan DOLAN LAW FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Carl Draper FELDMAN SPRINGFIELD,WASSERILL. Stephen Drew DREW COOPER GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Mark Dunlap MAINE EMPLOYEE RIGHTS GROUP PORTLAND, MAINE Christine Dunn SANFORD WASHINGTON,HEISLERD.C. Ronald Dunn GLEASONALBANYDUNN Lori Ecker LAW OFFICES OF LORI D. ECKER CHICAGO Daniel Edelman KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C. Cate Edwards EDWARDS KIRBY RALEIGH, N.C. Keith Ehrman MCGUINN HILLSMAN SAN FRANCISCO Herbert Eisenberg EISENBERG & SCHNELL NEW YORK Lisa Ells ROSEN BIEN SAN FRANCISCO Jay D. Ellwanger ELLWANGER LAW AUSTIN Alan B. Epstein* SPECTORPHILADELPHIAGADON Joseph Espo BROWN GOLDSTEIN LEVY BALTIMORE Yvette Everhart SASS LAW TAMPAFIRM

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 185 Alan B. Exelrod* RUDY EXELROD SAN FRANCISCO Michael Fayette PINSKY SMITH GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Tracy L. Fehr ALEXANDER MORRISON & FEHR LOS ANGELES Brenda Feis FEISCHICAGOGOLDY Nicholas Femia O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Menaka N. Fernando OUTTEN & GOLDEN SAN FRANCISCO Robert Fetter MILLERDETROITCOHEN Charles Field SANFORD HEISLER SAN DIEGO Michael A. Filoromo III KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C. James Finberg ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Julie E. Fink KAPLAN HECKER NEW YORK Michele R. Fisher NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Samuel Fisher WIGGINS BIRMINGHAM,CHILDSALA. Stephen J. Fitzgerald GARRISONNEWLEVIN-EPSTEINHAVEN Benjamin Flam GORDON LAW BOSTONGROUP Bruce A. Fredrickson WEBSTER & WASHINGTON,FREDRICKSOND.C. Andy Freeman BROWN GOLDSTEIN LEVY BALTIMORE Andrew H. Friedman HELMER FRIEDMAN BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF.

LD: How did Ryan Saba join you? JR: I needed another associate. So, I called some of my friends and I got referred to Ryan. This was back in 1999, when he was a second-year associate. He agreed to come over, and we’ve been working together since. We became partners around 2006 and now here we are.

JIM ROSEN BY EMILY

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM his ﬁeld through his love of writing. He is the author of multiple articles for the L.A. Daily Journal featuring ABOTA lawyers, and he is a member of the editorial board for Voir Dire magazine.

MALPRACTICE AND PERSONAL injury attorney Jim Rosen doesn’t back down from a fight – and he seldom loses. Since he opened his own firm in 1993, now Rosen Saba, the southern Californiabased attorney has tackled massive civil cases on both sides of the aisle. His career has featured successful litigation of high-profile employment and harassment disputes, catastrophic injury cases, professional liability claims, business torts and more. In his defense work, he’s gone to bat for local governments and major multi-national corporations. On the plaintiff side, Rosen has represented people from all walks of life, from famous entertainers like Tae Bo creator Billy Blanks to recent immigrants who have faced sexual harassment at work. In total, he has won more than $100M for his clients. In addition to his responsibilities as managing partner of the firm, Rosen remains active in the legal world both as an expert witness and in leadership positions. He is frequently engaged in expert witness testimony in legal malpractice cases throughout the state of California, working to ensure everyone is held accountable – even lawyers. He also currently serves as the vice president for the L.A. chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), where he will be president in the next two years. Rosen further serves

Lawdragon: Tell me a bit about the founding of your ﬁrm. How did you decide to open your own practice?

Jim Rosen ROSEN SABA (EL SEGUNDO, CALIF.)

Jim Rosen: Well, I started as a Big Law lawyer. The ﬁrst seven or eight years of my practice, I was an associate and then a partner at the Buchalter law ﬁrm. I got a lot of trial practice there. The people there were very friendly and supportive of young lawyers, and I really liked working with a lot of them. Len Venger, in particular, was one of my mentors when I was starting out. He was the managing partner at Buchalter at the time and a great role model. At some point, I realized that I was really drawn to the plaintiffs’ side of the law, but I was a defense lawyer at Buchalter. So, I struck out on my own in 1993 and opened my own practice.

LD: What made you say, “Yes, I want him to come over”? JR: You’d have to know Ryan. He’s a dynamic person. Very friendly. A quick study. Good on his feet. Great trial lawyer. I can’t say enough good things about Ryan. I’ve been very lucky to have him as a partner and friend this whole time.

LD: You were saying that you wanted to do more plaintiffs’ work and that’s why you struck out on your own. But you still practice on both sides of the aisle, right? JR: I do. I’d say I’m two-to-one or three-to-one plaintiff in my practice.

LD: Do you feel that having a firm that practices both sides is helpful? JR: It’s terrific. When I left Buchalter, I had to take on both because when you’re a young lawyer and you’re opening a firm, you take whatever comes in. So, I had a couple of my holdover defense clients, and I was bringing in plaintiffs’ work. I found that when I was on the plaintiffs’ side, I knew exactly what the defendant was doing. When I was on the defense side, I now knew and was comfortable with exactly what the plaintiff needed for his or her case and was able to see it from every

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EMPLOYMENT,JACKOWAY

JR: That was nice. Then there was also the Garcia sexual harassment case in Bakersfield. During trial, I was living out of a hotel in Bakersfield representing a mother and daughter who both worked for Bakersfield’s largest employer in agribusiness. It happened that I was picking a sexual harassment jury on the day that the election results between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton came in. I watched Trump win the election in Bakersfield, which is predominantly Republican. I was up against the community’s biggest agribusiness, and I was picking a jury that I wanted to find that the same forklift driver had sexually harassed both of my Hispanic clients, the mother of whom didn’t speak great English. Three out of five of these people, based on statistics, had voted for Trump the day before. And I thought, “Oh, God. What a setup for disaster.” But, in the end, it was a very rewarding experience. The jury was very receptive.

JR: Yeah. The case wound its way up the appellate ladder and was ultimately sent back when the Supreme Court ruled in another case that the labor commissioner had been misinterpreting one of the key statutes. So, it came back, got reset for trial and settled very close to trial that time around.

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JR: Absolutely. I had a defense case early in my career, representing two police ofﬁcers. It was by far the most intrigue and twists I’ve had in a case. My opposing attorney had us followed, overheard what my plan was after lunch and then collapsed in the corridor and was taken to the hospital. He ﬁnagled a short trial continuance, but deserved an Oscar. Then there was an employment case I tried with Elizabeth Bradley, my other partner and a gifted lawyer, where we represented a half-dozen senior waitresses. They were servers who worked at a family coffee shop for a gazillion years and were phased out for a “Hooters” kind of environment. They were told, “Don’t worry, your jobs aren’t at risk.” But the company brazenly interviewed much younger women – who were supposed to bring headshots to the interview – while the senior waitresses were there. The trial ended right before Christmas with a $6.7M verdict.

LD: That’s great.

LD: That’s incredible.

Then there was the Billy Blanks case. He was a seventime karate champion and martial artist who, due to his charisma and the way he ran his classes in The Valley, attracted a big following. Ultimately, a producer said, “If I can capture this on tape and sell it in an infomercial, I’ll make a lot of money.” And he was right. Overnight, Billy was a big hit. He was able to take this phenomenon and become one of the ﬁrst mass market exercisers. Billy really needed competent business advice to make his way through that whole maze. Unfortunately, he attracted a lot of sharks. He was forever being taken advantage of or muscled out by people who skirted the law or wouldn’t honor contracts. One of them was his self-proclaimed manager, who was never licensed as a talent agent, even though he should have been. But the lawyers that Billy hired to go after the manager blew the statute of limitations and tried to cover it up. So, we went to trial against them in 2005, against basically no offer. We won a $38.5M jury verdict.

JR: We won 800-something thousand dollars with an automatic attorney fee provision. Then for punitive damages, the jury found that the company had acted oppressively. We settled for a multiple of the jury’s award within about an hour of that ﬁrst-phase verdict. It was also a crazy case because one of the managers who was accused of retaliating against my client broke down on the witness stand and admitted to an extramarital affair with the forklift driver who was harassing my client.

LD: What early cases spurred your momentum?

perspective. I think our hybrid practice has become a great advantage for, not just me, but the whole ﬁrm.

LD: Why did you ﬁrst want to become a lawyer?

LD: That’s a good gift.

JR: I became a lawyer because, as a young kid, they reran “Perry Mason” at night, and I loved watching it. I always envisioned myself as being that kind of innovative trial lawyer. But then I attracted more work, and I attracted more lawyers to help me with the work. I can’t tell you that I ever envisioned a 12-lawyer ﬁrm, which is what we have now. Ryan and I both always say, “Well, we don’t want to grow too large.” But we’re twice as large as we were when we said that. We’ve picked up momentum.

JR: I’ve had some milestone cases in my career. I think my first noteworthy plaintiff case at this firm was the one involving Loni Anderson. The case was Nancy Nelson versus Loni Anderson and a partner at their law firm, which was Musick, Peeler & Garrett. We went to trial on that a long time ago. Because Loni Anderson, the actress, was involved, TV crews were always in the hallway waiting for comments.

LD: Are there any other cases that stand out?

188 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Ernest J. Galvan ROSEN BIEN SAN FRANCISCO Joseph C. Garrison GARRISONNEWLEVIN-EPSTEINHAVEN Carol J. Garvan JOHNSON PORTLAND,WEBBERTMAINE Rachel Geman LIEFFNEWCABRASERYORK Narendra Ghosh PATTERSON HARKAVY CHAPEL HILL Felicia Gilbert SANFORD HEISLER SAN FRANCISCO Carol Gillam GILLAM LAW FIRM LOS ANGELES Joseph Gillespie GILLESPIE & DALLASSANFORD Hal Gillespie* GILLESPIE & DALLASSANFORD Charles Gilligan O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Amy Gladstein* GLADSTEIN REIF NEW YORK Bradley Glazier BOS & GLAZIER GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Marie Gockel BRATCHER INDEPENDENCE,GOCKELMO. Nathan Goldberg* ALLRED MAROKO LOS ANGELES Jon Goldfarb WIGGINS BIRMINGHAM,CHILDSALA. Eileen Goldsmith ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Barry Goldstein GOLDSTEINOAKLANDBORGEN Byron R. Goldstein GOLDSTEINOAKLANDBORGEN

Ninety-Nine percent of my sexual harassment clients are women, but there are a growing number of male victims out there. The key is the harasser’s position of power. Gender, and even the sex, seem to matter less.

JR: Two of the best for me were right before the pandemic. In January of 2020, I settled the Sheppard Mullin case – Sheppard Mullin v. J-M Manufacturing

JR: I have a handful of cases right now where I’m an expert.

JR: It was right after I left Buchalter. My first several sexual harassment cases were female associates I’d worked with or against in different cases, who felt like they finally had somebody who could press their case against the male partners at their firm. It then became a mainstay of my practice.

LD: Tell me about serving as the vice president of the L.A. Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

LD: That’s fantastic. Who are your new partners?

LD: So, you’re primarily serving as an expert witness in legal malpractice cases then?

JR: A lot of times lawyers don’t want to testify against another lawyer. So, it’s easier sometimes to go to L.A. or elsewhere in the state and ﬁnd a good lawyer who will come to San Francisco, Santa Barbara or Alameda and testify there. And that’s usually what I’ve done, in, I think, four different counties so far, not including L.A.

JR: Yes. Mostly as to lawyers’ standard of care. And, again, like the rest of my practice: Half of them plaintiff, half of them defense.

JR: The most recent news is that we’ve recently moved to new ofﬁces and added a fourth and a ﬁfth partner.

LD: That’s so exciting. JR: It really is. We have new ofﬁces in the South Bay, a satellite ofﬁce in Santa Barbara, interesting and challenging cases and a dynamic, collegial team. I consider myself very fortunate. Thanks for taking the time to talk with me.

LD: So, you’ve deﬁnitely had some memorable moments in trial. Are there any recent case wins or settlements that you can tell me about?

JR: Well, I just love the organization. I love it because it’s evenly balanced, plaintiff and defense. It’s comprised of the best trial lawyers, nationally and in our community. You have to have both trial experience and a reputation for civility and integrity to get into the organization. Everybody becomes more human by being a member. It’s ABOTA’s focus on the art of being a formidable, civil and ethical trial lawyer that draws those people there, not necessarily an ideology. So, now I’m on the leadership ladder where I’m vice president this year, president-elect next year and then chapter president in ‘24. I’m also co-chairman of ABOTA’s membership committee nationally.

At the time, it was the most noteworthy California malpractice case in a long time. It was top news and it had been reversed by the Supreme Court with some blistering language. We were set for retrial in Santa Monica, and resolved the case very advantageously right before trial.

JR: I’ve tried a fair amount and also settled a lot of sexual harassment cases. A lot. It’s astounding that after everything that’s happened and all of these high-powered men have fallen from grace, ridiculously offensive conduct still happens. You just have to know what you do in the employment world can bite you. I still get the most incredible fact patterns of guys, mostly, misbehaving in the dumbest ways. It’s astounding to me.

I also tried a sexual harassment case in January of 2020. Male plaintiff, female defendant. She harassed him.

LD: Tell me a little more about your sexual harassment employment practice.

LD: Outside of your practice, you’ve often served as an expert witness. Tell me a bit about that.

LD: How did you start working in that practice area?

JR: Francesca Dioguardi was elevated to partner last year. She’s just a terriﬁc, all-around person. A mainstay of our defense practice and a delight to work with. This year, Todd Lander came to Rosen Saba as a lateral. He’s the former chairman of the litigation department of Freeman Freeman & Smiley. And, from 2014 to 2021, Todd and I were locked in the most intense, all-consuming business litigation/attorney malpractice case you could imagine.

LD: Oh, really?

LD: Do you have any recent news for the ﬁrm?

LD: How do you get involved in those engagements?

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JR: Seven years of constant, relentless ﬁghting. When it was all over, Todd and I had both fought gallantly, had gotten along together, and had earned each other’s respect. After the dust settled, we ﬁgured the only thing better would be to partner up – and here we are now.

190 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Joyce Goldstein JOYCE GOLDSTEIN & CLEVELANDASSOCIATES Nathan Goldstein SEGALBOSTONROITMAN Jill Goldy FEISCHICAGOGOLDY Lisa Gomez COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Joshua R. Goodbaum GARRISONNEWLEVIN-EPSTEINHAVEN Philip J. Gordon GORDON LAW BOSTONGROUP David E. Gottlieb NEWWIGDORYORK Debra Greenberger EMERY CELLI NEW YORK Cara Greene OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Paula Greisen KING & DENVERGREISEN Susanne Sachsman Grooms KAPLAN HECKER NEW YORK Gay Crosthwait Grunfeld ROSEN BIEN SAN FRANCISCO Deepak Gupta GUPTA WASHINGTON,WESSLERD.C. Caren Gurmankin CONSOLEPHILADELPHIAMATTIACCI Todd Gutfleisch HARRIS ST. LAURENT NEW YORK Barbara Hadsell HADSELL & PASADENA,STORMERCALIF. Ryan Hagerty ASHERCHICAGOGITTLER Kate Hallward LEONARDOAKLANDCARDER

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 191 Doug Hamill MIKEL & CHATTANOOGAHAMILL Andrea Hamm MILLERDETROITCOHEN Karen L. Handorf COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Adrienne Hansen MAINE EMPLOYEE RIGHTS GROUP PORTLAND, MAINE Chad Hansen MAINE EMPLOYEE RIGHTS GROUP PORTLAND, MAINE Katherine H. Hansen GLADSTEIN REIF NEW YORK Virginia L. Hardwick HARDWICK DOYLESTOWN,BENFERPA. John Harney O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Donna L. Harper SEDEY HARPER ST. LOUIS Tom Harrington THE EMPLOYMENT LAW GROUP WASHINGTON, D.C. Jonathan Harris HARRIS ST. LAURENT NEW YORK Margaret Harris BUTLERHOUSTONHARRIS Genie Harrison GENIE HARRISON LAW FIRM LOS ANGELES Dean M. Harvey LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Alexandra Harwin SANFORD HEISLER NEW YORK Michael Hausfeld* WASHINGTON,HAUSFELD D.C. Jeremy Heisler SANFORD HEISLER NEW YORK Matthew Helland NICHOLS KASTER SAN FRANCISCO

192 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Gregory D. Helmer HELMER FRIEDMAN BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF. David Henderson ELLWANGER LAW AUSTIN Marisel Hernandez JACOBSCHICAGOBURNS Adam Herzog KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C. Eve Hill BROWN GOLDSTEIN LEVY BALTIMORE Janet E. Hill HILL & ATHENS,ASSOCIATESGA. Anita Hill* COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Kristina Hillman WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Kent Hirozawa GLADSTEIN REIF NEW YORK Laura Ho GOLDSTEINOAKLANDBORGEN Steven K. Hoffman JAMES & WASHINGTON,HOFFMAND.C. Sarah Riley Howard PINSKY SMITH GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Evan Hudson-Plush COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Susan Huhta OUTTEN & WASHINGTON,GOLDEND.C. Kristen Hurley GORDON LAW BOSTONGROUP Daniel Hutchinson LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Chris Hwang LEONARD CARDER SAN FRANCISCO John F. Hyland RUKIN HYLAND SAN FRANCISCO

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 193 Jeremiah Iadevaia VLADECK RASKIN NEW YORK Lee W. Jackson JAMES & WASHINGTON,HOFFMAND.C. Edgar N. James JAMES & WASHINGTON,HOFFMAND.C. Toni Jaramilla TONI JARAMILLA LOS ANGELES Jason Jasmine MESSINGSACRAMENTOADAM Pamela Jeffrey LEVY RATNER NEW YORK William Jhaveri-Weeks THE JHAVERI-WEEKS FIRM SAN FRANCISCO Jocelyn Jones SEGALBOSTONROITMAN Stephen Jordan ROTHMANPITTSBURGHGORDON Lisa Joslin GLEASONALBANYDUNN Alan Kabat BERNABEI & WASHINGTON,KABATD.C. James Kan GOLDSTEINOAKLANDBORGEN Walter Kane CARY KANE NEW YORK Roberta A. Kaplan KAPLAN HECKER NEW YORK James Kaster NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Lucas J. Kaster NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Debra S. Katz KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C. Paul Kelly SEGALBOSTONROITMAN

JW: The work I’ve done to ensure that blind voters have equal access to elections has been among the most interesting issues I’ve handled. I’ve had to take a deep dive into election technology, concerns around THE FIRM

Lawdragon: Can you describe for our readers the mix of work you do within your practice?

WEBER BY JOHN MANYRYANYOUNG

Jessie Weber: My practice focuses on workers’ rights and civil rights, with some other plaintiffs’ side cases mixed in. The types of cases currently on my plate include disability rights cases pushing for accessible information technology for the blind in retail, medical and governmental settings; a case involving the rights of students with disabilities; an employment discrimination case involving sexual harassment and retaliation; a personal injury case where I represent the family of a slain Uber driver; and a national fair housing case against Bank of America for racially discriminatory practices. I also enjoy handling collective wage and hour cases. I think the common thread in my work – and what makes it so rewarding – is ﬁghting for the rights of individuals and marginalized groups against large and powerful opponents.

JESSIE(BALTIMORE)GOLDSTEIN

LD: What draws you to those ﬁghts?

LD: Out of all the work you’ve done in your career, what would you say is the most interesting matter you’ve handled?

PHOTO PROVIDED BY

I love diving into a new substantive area with each case and immersing myself in the particular subject matter at issue. All of that is intellectually satisfying for me, but what has given me the greatest personal satisfaction are the results. My clients have collectively secured million-dollar settlements against employers who failed to pay them all wages due, making employees whole and sending ripples throughout their respective industries. They have succeeded in changing the way elections are conducted throughout this country to ensure that people with disabilities have all the same options for voting privately and independently as everyone else. They have reformed prisons, school and government programs to ensure fair and equitable treatment for themselves and others. And they have stood up to large employers, publicly sharing their stories of discrimination, and prevailed.

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JW: I am drawn to both the interesting subject matter of my cases and the tremendous outcomes so many of my clients have been able to achieve, both for themselves individually and on a systemic level. Through my work, I’ve learned about accessible technology for the blind (like what needs to happen to allow a blind individual to use a touchscreen kiosk), election technology and security issues, the intersection of disability rights and copyright law, best practices for working with students with disabilities affecting their behavior, and the nuances of timekeeping and pay structures for workers in various industries, among other topics.

ATTORNEYS ENTER THE LEGAL profession out of a passion for social justice, but few make the type of impact that Jessie Weber has since graduating from Yale Law School in 2009. Even fewer, of course, get to litigate on the most critical issues of the day. In Weber’s work, that has involved advocating for blind voters in a constantly shifting election landscape as part of her plaintiff-side practice focusing on civil rights and employment law. While taking on powerful interests takes tenacity, Weber also credits her success in court and negotiations to being true to her nice personality. That combination has found a longterm home at Brown, Goldstein & Levy in Baltimore, where Weber has worked since 2011 and appreciates for making her a more-rounded litigator.

Jessie Weber BROWN

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 195 election security and the politics surrounding the administration of elections. The way we vote has changed so much over the past decade – and especially over the past two years with Covid-19. Ensuring that voters with disabilities are not overlooked and left behind in this quickly-changing landscape requires deep substantive knowledge and the ability to stay on top of all the changes. It’s been a fascinating area of the law to work in and incredibly rewarding when I hear from former clients who are now able to have equal voting experiences, sometimes for the ﬁrst time in their lives.

JW: I think of myself as a warm and friendly person. When I started practicing law, I thought I had to hide those attributes and present myself instead only as stern and tough to be taken seriously by my opponents. But I learned quickly that I am most effective as a lawyer when I bring my full, authentic self to my work. I produce better results for my clients when I have a good working relationship with opposing counsel – and where, despite my best efforts, I don’t have that good relationship, then at least I usually come off as the reasonable, professional one when the judge needs to intervene in some way. And my “niceness” has proven valuable in depositions or in cross-examining a witness, when the witness feels so comfortable with me that they maybe open up a little more than they should. I think my personality also makes me a natural consensus-maker, which comes in handy when working to ﬁnd non-adversarial solutions to my clients’ problems. Even in situations where the litigation has grown quite heated, I have often managed to successfully engage my opposing counsel to switch gears and join me in thinking through creative solutions that result in settlement. I take particular pleasure in the settlements reached in the most hard-fought cases, where no one would have guessed that consensus could ever be obtained.

MY CLIENTS HAVE COLLECTIVELY SECURED MILLION-DOLLAR SETTLEMENTS AGAINST

JW: I have had the privilege of serving on the board of FreeState Justice for many years now. FreeState is Maryland’s statewide LGBTQ equality group and provides free legal services to the most underserved members of the LGBTQ community. As a member of the queer community myself, it’s been incredibly rewarding to support this organization’s critical mission and growth. I have also served on the board of the ACLU of Maryland and currently serve on the board of Disability Rights Maryland. I enjoy working to support organizations doing such important and groundbreaking work to uphold civil rights and liberties. I am also grateful that I’ve been able to take on many fulﬁlling pro bono matters, particularly in the area of immigrant rights. I worked with a gay Central American couple to help them obtain asylum and have assisted children in securing legal immigration status. Crying alongside my clients at the asylum ofﬁce as we received a favorable decision allowing them to remain safely in this country was a moment that will always stay with me. EMPLOYERS WHO FAILED TO

JW: I have always known I wanted a career where I could help advance social justice. Becoming a lawyer allowed me to pursue that goal in a very concrete way and suited my strengths. What I did not anticipate though when I began law school was how wonderful it would be to practice in a small law firm that includes a diverse array of practice areas, with a strong focus on workers’ rights and civil rights. This has meant learning how to litigate across different areas of the law and applying lessons learned from one area to another. This opportunity for cross pollination has made me a more creative litigator. On top of that, I genuinely enjoy working alongside my colleagues, who are smart, passionate and kind individuals – with rich and fulfilling lives outside of work. Each of us is heavily involved in our communities, and it’s definitely part of our firm ethos.

LD: Are you involved in any pro bono or public interest activities? Please tell us what you ﬁnd meaningful about your time serving them.

LD: How would you describe your style as a lawyer? Or, how do you think others see you?

LD: Please describe your career path and how you arrived at your current position. What do you like about where you currently practice in terms of culture or other characteristics?

PAY THEM ALL WAGES DUE, MAKING EMPLOYEES WHOLE AND SENDING RIPPLES THROUGHOUT THEIR RESPECTIVE INDUSTRIES.

196 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Therese Lawless LAWLESS & LAWLESS SAN FRANCISCO Barbara Lawless* LAWLESS & LAWLESS SAN FRANCISCO Wendi Lazar OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Dolores Leal ALLRED MAROKO LOS ANGELES Caryn C. Lederer HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL Andrew P. Lee GOLDSTEINOAKLANDBORGEN Michelle G. Lee RUDY EXELROD SAN FRANCISCO Zachary Leeds COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Jane Legler NEILL LEGLER COLE DALLAS Danielle Leonard ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Dinah Leventhal O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Ethan Levin-Epstein GARRISONNEWLEVIN-EPSTEINHAVEN Michael Levin-Gesundheit LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Carl Levine LEVY RATNER NEW YORK Andrew Levy BROWN GOLDSTEIN LEVY BALTIMORE Stacey Leyton ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Valdi Licul NEWWIGDORYORK Brooke Lierman BROWN GOLDSTEIN LEVY BALTIMORE

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 197 Steve Kelly SANFORDBALTIMOREHEISLER Katherine Smith Kennedy PINSKY SMITH GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Diane S. King KING & DENVERGREISEN Paul Kiyonaga KIYONAGA & WASHINGTON,SOLTISD.C. Adam Klein OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Hanan Kolko COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Russell Kornblith SANFORD HEISLER NEW YORK Kalpana Kotagal COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Sharon Krevor-Weisbaum BROWN GOLDSTEIN LEVY BALTIMORE Kathy Krieger JAMES & WASHINGTON,HOFFMAND.C. Scott Kronland ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Kellee Boulais Kruse THE EMPLOYMENT LAW GROUP WASHINGTON, D.C. Avi Kumin KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C. Louis Kushner ROTHMANPITTSBURGHGORDON Holt Lackey ELLWANGER LAW AUSTIN Nathaniel Lambright BLITMAN & SYRACUSEKING Jocelyn Larkin THE IMPACT BERKELEYFUND Nancy B.G. Lassen WILLIGPHILADELPHIAWILLIAMS

198 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Arthur Liou LEONARD CARDER SAN FRANCISCO Daren Lipinsky RIZIO LIPINSKY CHINO HILLS, CALIF. Jennifer Liu THE LIU LAW FIRM MENLO PARK Jennifer Lord PITT MCGEHEE ROYAL OAK, MICH. Dana E. Lossia LEVY RATNER NEW YORK David A. Lowe RUDY EXELROD SAN FRANCISCO Conchita Lozano-Batista WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Paul Lukas NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Nikki Velisaris Lykos RAMAGEPITTSBURGHLYKOS Ilann Margalit Maazel EMERY CELLI NEW YORK Brian MacDonough SHERIN & BOSTONLODGEN Richard G. Mack Jr. MILLERDETROITCOHEN Samuel O. Maduegbuna MADUEGBUNA COOPER NEW YORK Emily Maglio LEONARD CARDER SAN FRANCISCO May Mallari TONI JARAMILLA LOS ANGELES Louis P. Malone III O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Jannah Manansala WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Chaya Mandelbaum RUDY EXELROD SAN FRANCISCO

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 199 Deborah Marcuse SANFORDBALTIMOREHEISLER Beth Margolis GLADSTEIN REIF NEW YORK Michael Maroko ALLRED MAROKO LOS ANGELES David J. Marshall KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C. Francis Martorana O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Tammy Marzigliano OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK William S. Massey GLADSTEIN REIF NEW YORK Laura Mattiacci CONSOLEPHILADELPHIAMATTIACCI Deborah A. Mattison WIGGINS BIRMINGHAM,CHILDSALA. Joshua Matz KAPLAN HECKER NEW YORK Cary McGehee PITT MCGEHEE ROYAL OAK, MICH. Joseph McKenna Jr. SEGALBOSTONROITMAN John McKnight SANFORD WASHINGTON,HEISLERD.C. H. Vincent McKnight Jr. SANFORD WASHINGTON,HEISLERD.C. Christopher M. McNerney OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Matthew S. McNicholas MCNICHOLAS & MCNICHOLAS LOS ANGELES Patrick McNicholas MCNICHOLAS & MCNICHOLAS LOS ANGELES Walter “Terry” Meginness GLADSTEIN REIF NEW YORK

lawyers started on the defense side before finding their true calling. Not so with Emile Davis, who has spent his career in court opposing the Goliaths of the world in employment and personal injury cases. Davis worked at Dolan Law Firm right after graduating from Golden Gate University School of Law in 2000. He then joined the firm led by John Winer (now Winer, Burritt & Scott) before eventually setting up his own practice in Southern California. But the idea of returning to Northern California proved to be a winning one for Davis’ family, as well as for his old firm. “I called Chris Dolan to get the band back together,” Davis explains. “He liked the idea. I manage the employment team and the Oakland office for the Dolan Law Firm.”

EMILE DAVIS BY JOHN RYAN MANY OF THE NATION’S LEADING PLAINTIFFS’

Lawdragon: How did you first become interested in developing this type of practice? Emile Davis: I have always identified with the underdog – the lone person up against a corporation or insurance company. Plaintiffs’ side law in general and employment law in particular fi t right in with that mindset.

ED: We had a human traffi cking matter, where a fellow literally stumbled into the fi rm after leaving the hospital. It was a complicated matter that required intellectual rigor and the determination to fi ght a company that was ultimately based in another country. It required involving immigration attorneys, getting visas to take depositions in another country and to pour over thousands of pages of documents. In the end, seeing the plaintiff, who had trusted us, receive justice and be able to bring his family here was very rewarding.

LD: Out of all the work you’ve done in your career, what would you say is the most interesting matter you’ve handled?

PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FIRM

200 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM Emile Davis DOLAN LAW FIRM (SAN FRANCISCO)

LD: What has kept you excited about it over the years? ED: We all have to work, but unlike the rest of life, we don’t get to choose with whom we associate. When that relationship goes bad, particularly when based upon a protected classification, there is little resource for an individual. Knowing that we can restore dignity and help them stand up to, and bring down, the big guys is a prime motivator.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 201 Andrew Melzer SANFORD HEISLER NEW YORK Gary Messing MESSINGSACRAMENTOADAM Ellen J. Messing* MESSINGNEWTON,RUDAVSKYMASS. Thomas Mew BUCKLEYATLANTABEAL Ossai Miazad OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Kim Michael HARRIS ST. LAURENT NEW YORK Donna Mikel MIKEL & CHATTANOOGAHAMILL Bruce A. Miller* MILLERDETROITCOHEN Dale Minami* MINAMI TAMAKI SAN FRANCISCO Renee Mochkatel ALLRED MAROKO LOS ANGELES Matthew Morgan NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Eleanor Morton LEONARD CARDER SAN FRANCISCO Laurence S. Moy OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Kate Mueting SANFORD WASHINGTON,HEISLERD.C. John Mullan RUDY EXELROD SAN FRANCISCO Meredith Munro KING & DENVERGREISEN Rahul Munshi CONSOLEPHILADELPHIAMATTIACCI Matthew Murray ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO

ED: In medical malpractice cases, the defense often hired Ralph Lombardi, who is now retired and acting as a neutral, to represent them. He had the ability to be pleasant and deadly in deposition. Clients would not even know the extent of damage he inﬂicted on their case.

LD: There are many high-quality ﬁ rms out there.

LD: What did you learn from Chris Dolan or other mentors in those early years?

LD: How would you describe your style as a trial lawyer? Or, how do you think others see you?

LD: Can you share a lawyer you have come up against whom you admire?

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ED: I worked for Chris Dolan for the first time right out of law school. Doing trials in those early days with somebody with that level of skill was great training. I recall, very early on, as I was prepping Chris to argue a motion while we walked to his motorcycle. He looked at me and said, “You are going to be dangerous!” I have always taken that as a compliment and a challenge. Later, John Winer took a chance on me and made me a partner in his firm. I learned a level of management that gave me the knowledge and skills that allowed me to run my own firm and then where I am now, running a large office for Dolan Law Firm after returning here. I have always been a plaintiffs’ trial attorney. I never looked at the defense side. When I ran my own fi rm, I did some criminal defense, but other than that I have always been focused on employment discrimination and catastrophic injury.

HAVING TRIED ON DIFFERENT STYLES OVER THE YEARS, IT IS CLEAR THAT I CATCH MORE FLIES WITH HONEY THAN VINEGAR. I GET FAR SUPERIOR RESULTS FROM WITNESSES, DEFENSE COUNSEL, JUDGES AND COURTS WHEN THEY SEE THAT I AM ATTEMPTING TO BE REASONABLE – EVEN IF WE COMPLETELY DISAGREE. ATTORNEYS HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE THIS SYSTEM FUNCTION.

What do you think makes the Dolan Law Firm unique when trying to recruit new lawyers or get new cases? ED: We have some incredible attorneys working for the fi rm and on my team. We don’t try to sell new recruits on us; hopefully, they know the firm’s reputation. We are large enough that no defendant is too big or expensive for us to fight. That is a huge plus that allows us to move cases forward where others may be drowning. That ability mixed with the passion to represent people, from all walks of life, that have been wronged by others leads good attorneys to us. LD: What advice do you have now for current law school students? ED: Keep your interests and opportunities open. The law is a giant field. Find the place where you can enjoy what you do and push to change not just the clients, but the law and how people think about the law.

ED: I attempt to be as reasonable and straight up as possible in a given situation. I am friendly by nature and having tried on different styles over the years, it is clear that I catch more ﬂies with honey than vinegar. I get far superior results from witnesses, defense counsel, judges and courts when they see that I am attempting to be reasonable – even if we completely disagree. Attorneys have to work together to make this system function. We can argue on paper to a judge, or put the whole matter in front of a jury to resolve, but there is rarely a reason not to act with ﬁrm resolution in one’s convictions, yet with an eye toward amicable resolution.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 203 Wendy Musell LAW OFFICES OF WENDY MUSELL OAKLAND Beth R. Myers BURNSBOSTONLEVINSON Christine Neill NEILL LEGLER COLE DALLAS Anthony Nguyen SHEGERIAN & ASSOCIATES SANTA MONICA Michael Okun PATTERSON HARKAVY CHAPEL HILL Monique Olivier OLIVIER SCHREIBER & CHAO SAN FRANCISCO Brian Olney HADSELL & PASADENA,STORMERCALIF. Ernest Orsatti QUATRINIPITTSBURGHRAFFERT Jennifer Ostertag GENIE HARRISON LAW FIRM LOS ANGELES R. Scott Oswald THE EMPLOYMENT LAW GROUP WASHINGTON, D.C. Wayne N. Outten OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Cliff Palefsky* MCGUINN HILLSMAN SAN FRANCISCO Zoe Palitz ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Joseph Paller Jr. GILBERT & SACKMAN LOS ANGELES Michael D. Palmer SANFORD HEISLER NEW YORK Robert Palmer PITT MCGEHEE ROYAL OAK, MICH. Lawrence Pearson NEWWIGDORYORK Lorrie T. Peeters CAFFARELLI & CHICAGOASSOCIATES

204 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Kathleen Peratis OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Rebecca Peterson-Fisher THE LIU LAW FIRM MENLO PARK Sean Phelan FRANKSEATTLEFREED Patricia Pierce GREENBLATTPHILADELPHIAPIERCE Matthew Piers HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL Joshua Piovia-Scott CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OAKLAND Nina T. Pirrotti GARRISONNEWLEVIN-EPSTEINHAVEN Micheal Pitt PITT MCGEHEE ROYAL OAK, MICH. Peggy Goldberg Pitt PITT MCGEHEE ROYAL OAK, MICH. P. Casey Pitts ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO David P. Pogrel LEONARD CARDER SAN FRANCISCO Anna Prakash NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Erin Pulaski RUDY EXELROD SAN FRANCISCO Daniel Purtell ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Jonathan Puth CORREIA & WASHINGTON,PUTHD.C. Jani Rachelson COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Colleen Ramage RAMAGEPITTSBURGHLYKOS Debra Raskin VLADECK RASKIN NEW YORK

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 205 Daniel Ratner LEVY RATNER NEW YORK Michael Ravalli GLEASONALBANYDUNN Caroline Rdzanek ABRAHAMSONCHICAGORDZANEK Charlotte Redo SCHWARTZATLANTAROLLINS James Reif* GLADSTEIN REIF NEW YORK Randy Renick HADSELL & PASADENA,STORMERCALIF. Kalman Resnick* HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL Stephanie Reynolds BERGER WILLIAMS SAN DIEGO Janet Rhodes BURNETTE COLUMBIA,SHUTTS.C. Gregory A. Rich DOBSON GOLDBERG ST. LOUIS Kai Richter NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Lori Rifkin RIFKIN LAW BERKELEYOFFICE Jessica Riggin RUKIN HYLAND SAN FRANCISCO Elizabeth Riles BOHBOT & OAKLANDRILES Thomas J. Riley TOBIN CARBERRY NEW LONDON, CONN. David M. Ring TAYLOR & RING MANHATTAN BEACH Mark Risk MARK RISK NEW YORK Susan Ritz RITZ CLARK & BEN-ASHER NEW YORK

206 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Beth M. Rivers PITT MCGEHEE ROYAL OAK, MICH. Elizabeth Rodgers GORDON LAW BOSTONGROUP James E. Rollins Jr. SCHWARTZATLANTAROLLINS Peter Romer-Friedman GUPTA WASHINGTON,WESSLERD.C. Alan Romero ROMERO LAW PASADENA, CALIF. Alexis Ronickher KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C. James R. Rosen ROSEN SABA LOS ANGELES Sanford Jay Rosen* ROSEN BIEN SAN FRANCISCO Katherine Rosenfeld EMERY CELLI NEW YORK David Rosenfeld* WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Danny Rosenthal JAMES & WASHINGTON,HOFFMAND.C. Tad Roumayah SOMMERS SOUTHFIELD,SCHWARTZMICH. Michael Rubin ALTSHULER BERZON SAN FRANCISCO Dahlia Rudavsky MESSINGNEWTON,RUDAVSKYMASS. Antonio Ruiz WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Peter Rukin RUKIN HYLAND SAN FRANCISCO Ryan Saba ROSEN SABA LOS ANGELES Martin Saenz SAENZ & AVENTURA,ANDERSONFLA.

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 207 Jahan Sagafi OUTTEN & GOLDEN SAN FRANCISCO Susan M. Saint-Antoine CONSOLEPHILADELPHIAMATTIACCI Yaman Salahi LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Laura Salerno-Owens MARKOWITZ & HERBOLD PORTLAND, ORE. Richard A. Salzman HELLER WASHINGTON,HUROND.C. Zoe Salzman EMERY CELLI NEW YORK David Sanford SANFORD HEISLER NEW YORK Jim Sanford GILLESPIE & DALLASSANFORD Cynthia Sass SASS LAW TAMPAFIRM Jessica M. Scales SEDEY HARPER ST. LOUIS David E. Schlesinger NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Laura Schnell EISENBERG & SCHNELL NEW YORK Christian Schreiber OLIVIER SCHREIBER & CHAO SAN FRANCISCO Robert L. Schug NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Amy Schulman OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Aniko Schwarcz COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Bryan Schwartz BRYAN SCHWARTZ LAW OAKLAND Debra Schwartz SCHWARTZATLANTAROLLINS

JS: Losing your job can take away your income, your health insurance, your reputation and your sense of worth. I always say that I meet a lot of nice people at the worst time of their lives, and it’s extremely satisfying to guide people through these tough times. I also like the “David v. Goliath” aspect of this type of law – the employers control the witnesses, have more favorable law and deeper pockets, which makes a win in my cases especially rewarding.

LD: Is this the type of practice you imagined yourself practicing while in law school?

JS: Employment law ﬁrms are still deeply impacted by Covid-related matters. We get hundreds of callers asking about vaccine mandates in their workplace. We have also seen an uptick in the number of noncompete matters coming through the door as the economy has opened back up in some industries and people began moving.

LD: Are there any trends you are seeing in your practice in terms of the types of matters keeping you busy these days?

JOYCE(ANNAPOLIS,GROUPMD.)SMITHEYBYJOHNRYANLABORANDEMPLOYMENTATTORNEY

JOYCE Smithey didn’t know what type of practice she wanted as a student at Boston University School of Law. She considers herself lucky for finding her passion for employment law as a young lawyer – a sentiment that is surely echoed by her many employee-side clients over the years. An early victory as a litigator revealed the intense commitment required for success in such complex cases. “I won a large case against a Fortune 500 company very early in my career,” Smithey recalls. “It was my first trial I handled on my own, and I tried the case three times, as it was appealed twice. I won it the third time and realized how critical it was that employment lawyers need to be ready to fight.”

These days, Smithey is not only a busy trial lawyer but a ﬁrm manager, as well. She left Rifkin Weiner Livingston to open her own ﬁrm, Annapolis, Md.based Smithey Law Group, in 2018.

PHOTO BY EDDIE ARROSSI

Joyce Smithey: Almost everyone has employment relationships of some sort in their lives at one time or another. We spend much of our waking hours at work, and it is deeply important how people are treated during those hours.

Lawdragon: How did you become interested in employment law?

JS: I had no idea what area of law I wanted to pursue after law school. I knew I liked reading and writing, and I had a passion to make a difference. I was very lucky to have stumbled into employment law after law school, as it almost immediately became my passion. After that, I never looked back.

LD: Was there a course, professor or experience that was particularly memorable or important?

208 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM

LD: What do you ﬁnd satisfying about this type of practice?

JS: I represented a group of John Doe minor firefighters who had been sexually assaulted while working for a local fire department. I still keep in touch with the young men I represented, and at least one of them used the proceeds from the lawsuit to get a stellar education. He graduated from MIT and still looks me up when he is back in town.

LD: Out of all the work you’ve done in your career, what would you say is the most interesting matter you’ve handled?

Joyce Smithey SMITHEY LAW

I am proud to say that my ﬁrm lives up to the spirit I envisioned – even if women had to claw their way to the top in my generation and those before me, it doesn’t mean that was right. It’s my job and other lawyers’ jobs to help the new generation of lawyers and give them opportunities and advice that we may not have had.

JS: I spent decades in law ﬁrms before eventually opening my own law ﬁrm three years ago. We started as two attorneys and a staff member, and now we have nine attorneys and four staff members. This growth has occurred through the start-up years and during a pandemic.

LD: What advice do you have now for current law school students?

JS: I once had an age discrimination client who was shown the door after years of successfully leading the organization. The employer would not budge on offering any severance. We brought suit and the depositions felt like taking a body count, and it was very clear “the emperor had no clothes,” so to speak. She felt very validated watching those depositions and even wrote a poem about me after the case concluded. She then followed her dreams and opened a boutique instead of going back into the cut throat corporate world. She’s still living her best life and keeps in touch.

LD: What are some of the challenges you face as the ﬁrm’s founder and leader?

LD: How has your practice changed since the early part of your career?

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 209

LD: How would you describe your style as a litigator?

LD: Can you talk about starting your own ﬁrm and what that has been like?

JS: There are never enough hours in a day. I love being a lawyer, but managing a law ﬁrm is a very large time investment. It’s a challenge to wear multiple hats as a business owner and a busy trial lawyer.

LD: What do you do for fun when you’re outside the ofﬁce?

LD: Is there a matter or client in your career that stands out as a “favorite” or one that is more memorable for certain reasons?

JS: We focus exclusively on labor and employment law and have literally “written the book” on some employment law topics. We have been recognized by our peers with numerous awards, and we are involved in every arena where we can advocate for employees, from the legislature to the courts to the media.

LD: There are many high-quality ﬁrms out there. How is Smithey Law unique?

JS: It’s a great education, and you are not stuck in a particular career path. Think broadly with what you can do with the degree, and be brave to take some risks in that regard.

JS: More cases settle. The courts have intensiﬁed their focus on mandatory ADR programs for the most part, and our magistrate bench is incredibly effective in getting cases settled. I’m lucky if I get to try a couple of cases each year. The costs of litigation along with fee-shifting in my practice area tend to drive parties to settlement.

JS: I still remember my evidence professor saying that you could use a pizza to refresh someone’s recollection.

JS: Collegial. Two good lawyers should be able to argue the merits and damages of a case in a civil and thoughtful way. Nastiness and lack of professionalism generally only hurts the clients in drawing matters out and costing more in legal fees.

JS: I am a mom to 13-year-old twins and love (almost) every minute of it.

LD: Are you involved in any pro bono or public interest activities? JS: I volunteer on the Employment Law Hotline for the Women’s Law Center. This is a wonderful service where employees who may not have a matter large enough to attract lawyers to the case can still get advice and answers to their questions.

IT’S MY JOB AND OTHER LAWYERS’ JOBS TO HELP THE NEW GENERATION OF LAWYERS AND GIVE THEM OPPORTUNITIES AND ADVICE THAT WE MAY NOT HAVE HAD.

210 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Jennifer Schwartz OUTTEN & GOLDEN SAN FRANCISCO Kate Schwartz HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL Michael Scimone OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Judith A. Scott JAMES & WASHINGTON,HOFFMAND.C. Keith Secular COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Mary Anne Sedey* SEDEY HARPER ST. LOUIS Scott M. Seedorf O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Joseph Sellers COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Derek Sells THE COCHRAN FIRM NEW YORK Sam Shapiro EMERY CELLI NEW YORK Heidi Sharp THE SHARP FIRM CLINTON TOWNSHIP, MICH. Kevin Sharp SANFORDNASHVILLEHEISLER Ann Shaver LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Carney Shegerian SHEGERIAN & ASSOCIATES SANTA MONICA Nancy Shilepsky* SHERIN & BOSTONLODGEN Nekki Shutt BURNETTE COLUMBIA,SHUTTS.C. Nicholas H. Sikon OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Jill Silverstein SILVERSTEIN WOLF ST. LOUIS

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 211 Jennifer R. Simon O’DONOGHUE & WASHINGTON,O’DONOGHUED.C. Kristen Sinisi BERNABEI & WASHINGTON,KABATD.C. Jay Smith GILBERT & SACKMAN LOS ANGELES Joel Smith KAHNBALTIMORESMITH Mary-Kate Smith LEWISSTAMFORDCHIMES Paul E. Smith PATTERSON HARKAVY CHAPEL HILL Steven Andrew Smith NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Joyce Smithey SMITHEY LAW GROUP ANNAPOLIS, MD. Debra Soltis KIYONAGA & WASHINGTON,SOLTISD.C. Margery Somers ALLRED MAROKO LOS ANGELES Lisl Soto WEINBERG ROGER LOS ANGELES Brock Specht NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Caren Spencer WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Marcus Spiegel ALLRED MAROKO LOS ANGELES Rachhana Srey NICHOLSMINNEAPOLISKASTER Kerianne Steele WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Melissa Lardo Stewart OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Matthew S. Stiff KATZ MARSHALL & BANKS WASHINGTON, D.C.

212 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Kevin Stoops SOMMERS SOUTHFIELD,SCHWARTZMICH. Dan Stormer* HADSELL & PASADENA,STORMERCALIF. Robert Stroup LEVY RATNER NEW YORK Robert Stulberg STULBERG & WALSH NEW YORK Adam Sturdivant DREW COOPER GRAND RAPIDS, MICH. Michael Subit FRANKSEATTLEFREED Dana Sullivan BUCHANANPORTLAND,ANGELIORE. Geraldine Sumter FERGUSON CHAMBERS & SUMTER CHARLOTTE Curt Surls CURT MANHATTANSURLSBEACH Daniel Swanson SOMMERS SOUTHFIELD,SCHWARTZMICH. Justin M. Swartz OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Sarah Swatosh SEDEY HARPER ST. LOUIS Van Swearingen ROSEN BIEN SAN FRANCISCO Sean Tamura-Sato MINAMI TAMAKI SAN FRANCISCO John C. Taylor TAYLOR & RING MANHATTAN BEACH Jonathan Taylor GUPTA WASHINGTON,WESSLERD.C. Matthew Taylor MESSINGSACRAMENTOADAM Gabrielle E. Tenzer KAPLAN HECKER NEW YORK

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 213 Joyce Thomas FRANKSEATTLEFREED Raymond P. Tolentino KAPLAN HECKER NEW YORK Vincent Tong TONG OAKLANDLAW Allan Townsend MAINE EMPLOYEE RIGHTS GROUP PORTLAND, MAINE Laurie Traktman GILBERT & SACKMAN LOS ANGELES Amelia Tuminaro GLADSTEIN REIF NEW YORK Anne Vladeck VLADECK RASKIN NEW YORK Michael Vogelsang THE EMPLOYMENT LAW GROUP WASHINGTON, D.C. Sherrie Voyles JACOBSCHICAGOBURNS David Wachtel TRISTER WASHINGTON,ROSSD.C. Kenneth Wagner BLITMAN & SYRACUSEKING Mark T. Walsh GLEASONALBANYDUNN Patrick Walsh STULBERG & WALSH NEW YORK Susan J. Walsh VLADECK RASKIN NEW YORK Earl S. Ward EMERY CELLI NEW YORK Melissa E. Washington OUTTEN & WASHINGTON,GOLDEND.C. Natalie Weatherford TAYLOR & RING MANHATTAN BEACH Christine Webber COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C.

Alan Romero ROMERO LAW (PASADENA, CALIF.)

LD: Can you describe a recent case for our readers that stands out?

AR: Current litigation relating to a violent gang of deputies at Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department Compton Station called “The Executioners.” The gang has been involved in various killings of young men of color under highly dubious circumstances, and has engaged in widespread timecard fraud and even violence against other deputies who have resisted the group’s control over the station.

LD: What is the potential impact of the case?

LD: Is there a speciﬁc lesson from this type of case?

PHOTO BY DAWN BOWERY

AR: There has been a watershed in terms of police whistleblowers coming forward to allege misconduct

ALAN ROMERO

LD: Are there more general trends in your practice?

Lawdragon: How did you ﬁrst become interested in developing an employee-side practice?

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 215

AR: Never give up! Taking on the establishment is no easy task, as even our judge in the case had a vested interest in maintaining the racist status quo, having taken extreme efforts to also cover-up the violence committed by the Executioners. It can get very lonely making history, especially when you’re up against a deeply entrenched racist power structure.

Alan Romero: After a few years in practice, I happened upon a few employment cases, and I found that employment cases often involve not only an adverse employment action, but usually a coverup. To that extent, every case is like solving a puzzle, which greatly appeals to me. There are few experiences in life that can be more punishing than being mistreated at work. Everyone has a horrible boss story. I have also been a whistleblower and lost my job because of it – over billing fraud at a law ﬁrm – so I am able to meaningfully connect with my clients.

The case is Austreberto Gonzalez v. County of Los Angeles. A hero Sheriff’s deputy came forward to allege a pattern of killing and violence by members of a deputy gang, the so-called Executioners. His conﬁdential call to Internal Affairs was immediately leaked to the gang and he was targeted for reprisal. Even Sheriff Alex Villanueva went on TV to denounce Deputy Gonzalez and say that he was no whistleblower. Deputy Gonzalez’s career has been destroyed as a result of his reporting an act of deputy-on-deputy violence engaged in by the Executioners in furtherance of their gang. Then to add insult to injury, the judge in our case engaged in a cover-up by refusing to permit any discovery into the Executioners gang, refused to let me speak in court, and dismissed the case on Summary Judgment in order to protect the Sheriff’s Department. Thankfully all of the appellate lawyers who we have spoken to have agreed that the dismissal was an absolute and unmitigated abuse of discretion. Law enforcement ofﬁcers coming forward to shine light on illegality within their departments are facing extreme retaliation from their departments for crossing “the thin blue line,” and in Gonzalez, even the judge went out of his way to sanction and punish the plaintiff in order to deter future whistleblowers. Departments will uniformly lodge fabricated charges against the whistleblowers and take every measure available to them in order to destroy the whistleblower’s career.

BY JOHN RYAN TAKING ON CORRUPTION AND RACISM IN law enforcement agencies takes a unique blend of courage and tenacity, which is why there are few true leaders in the field. Among them is Alan Romero, whose Pasadena, Calif.-based practice is devoted exclusively to representing whistleblowers and victims of workplace discrimination and retaliation. Inspired to pursue a legal career from his time as a social worker assisting severely disabled adults, Romero attended Southwestern Law School’s accelerated two-year SCALE program. His success since building his own firm at Romero Law in 2012 has led to intense growth in recent years, which Romero expects is a sign of things to come. “We would like to grow to be one of the largest employee-side law firms in the United States,” Romero says.

AR: The deputy gang litigation is one of the most important pieces of social justice litigation currently being undertaken in the United States. It pits a hero whistleblower, a Marine combat veteran and a marginalized community of color against the largest Sheriff’s department in the country as well as a cadre of lawyers who are making money off of perpetrating a coverup of the murders committed by The Executioners. Even the judge went out of his way to make a political decision to not permit any discovery related to the deputy gang and dismissed the case despite overwhelming evidence of illegality and violence by the Executioners.

AR: I had a wills and trusts professor who was the most engaging professor I ever had in my life. Every class, in a quite boring area of law, was exciting and engaging. It really made a big impact on my storytelling approach.

216 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 and illegality within their departments. Due to our historic $8.1M whistleblower verdict against the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department in 2019, more and more deputies and police ofﬁcers have come forward to blow the whistle on racism and corruption within their departments.

LD: As you recruit more talent, what do you try to “sell” about your ﬁrm to potential recruits – how is it unique?

AR: Dealing with explosive growth has been challenging, as I had to take a step back from my intended role as a trial lawyer to learn how to effectively manage work and intake processes. I went solo in 2012 and have had perhaps one or two associates at a time during that period, but within the last year, the ﬁrm has experienced 500 percent growth in employees and 1,500 percent growth in caseload. However, I feel now I am currently in a better position where I can focus again on trying cases exclusively, with practice management and intake taking a secondary role due to our exceptional support staff.

AR: Watch foreign ﬁlms, read, explore esoteric music on YouTube.

AR: I am on the alumni board of directors of my two alma maters: Southwestern Law School and the California State University, Los Angeles. I have also represented the City of Compton on a highly discounted fee in litigation against the County of Los Angeles with respect to tens of millions of dollars in fraudulent billings submitted by the Sheriff’s Department to the City of Compton.

LD: Do you have a favorite book or movie about the justice system?

AR: I try to meet all of our new clients, and connect with them in an authentic and meaningful way. I let them know that we will always put their interests above those of our own, and that we will do everything in my power to achieve the best possible results in their case. The recent, historic $8.1M verdict against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is another big selling point resulting in a lot of phone calls.

AR: Prior to law school, I was a social worker who worked with adults with severe disabilities. That experience — more than anything — has guided my philosophy in terms of practice and client management. Traits such as compassion, caring and commitment to the best interests of the client are lessons I learned before I ever set foot in law school. I began to advocate for severely disabled adults in the context of criminal cases, and the judges really seemed to care about what I had to say. I worked with several attorneys during this period of time and I quickly learned that I possessed the necessary acuity to pursue law as a career.

LD: What are some of the challenges of this growth?

AR: I was a late bloomer, and frankly didn’t have graduate school in mind when in college. I started college when I was 15, but coming from an underprivileged background, distractions were such that I was set adrift and didn’t take my studies seriously until right before applying to law school.

LD: Are you involved in any pro bono or public interest activities?

AR: “The Fortune Cookie” with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.

LD: What advice do you have now for current law school students?

LD: Did any experience from your undergraduate work push you towards a career in the law?

AR: Don’t get too locked into an area of law that you think you want to pursue – you may ﬁnd life taking you in a completely other direction.

LD: Do any courses from law school stand out as particularly memorable?

Also, in the past year, the firm has gone from a solo practice to a bustling seven-attorney firm. We will soon be adding more attorneys and have moved into much larger offices.

LD: What do you do for fun when you’re outside the ofﬁce?

LD: If you weren’t a lawyer, what would you be doing now? AR: Wishing I was a lawyer!

LD: What pushed you towards a legal career?

AR: To my clients, a friend and champion. To the courts, an intellectual, ethical, and most importantly, engaging, advocate. To opposing parties: I will give back exactly what I get from them.

LD: How would you describe your style as a lawyer? Or, how do you think others see you?

500 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 217 David G. Webbert JOHNSON PORTLAND,WEBBERTMAINE Jessie Weber BROWN GOLDSTEIN LEVY BALTIMORE David Wechsler HARRIS ST. LAURENT NEW YORK Jillian Weiss LAW OFFICES OF JILLIAN WEISS NEW YORK James Weliky MESSINGNEWTON,RUDAVSKYMASS. Raymond A. Wendell GOLDSTEINOAKLANDBORGEN Matt Wessler GUPTA CAMBRIDGE,WESSLERMASS. John West ALLRED MAROKO LOS ANGELES Benjamin Westhoff SEDEY HARPER ST. LOUIS Peter Whelan BERNABEI & WASHINGTON,KABATD.C. David Gray Wright KAHNBALTIMORESMITH Twila White LAW OFFICE OF TWILA WHITE LOS ANGELES Douglas Wigdor NEWWIGDORYORK Gregory Wiggins WIGGINS BIRMINGHAM,CHILDSALA. Michael Willemin NEWWIGDORYORK Timothy G. Williams BERGER WILLIAMS SAN DIEGO Deborah Willig* WILLIGPHILADELPHIAWILLIAMS Alaine Willilams WILLIGPHILADELPHIAWILLIAMS

218 LAWDRAGON ISSUE 25 | WWW.LAWDRAGON.COM 500 Christopher Wilmes HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL O. Andrew F. Wilson EMERY CELLI NEW YORK Janet Wise SASS LAW TAMPAFIRM Micah Wissinger LEVY RATNER NEW YORK Ferne Wolf SILVERSTEIN WOLF ST. LOUIS Nicholas Woodfield THE EMPLOYMENT LAW GROUP WASHINGTON, D.C. Melissa Woods COHEN WEISS NEW YORK Charlie Wysong HUGHESCHICAGOSOCOL Stephanie Yasuda YOON LAW LOS ANGELES Michelle C. Yau COHEN WASHINGTON,MILSTEIND.C. Anne Yen WEINBERG ROGER ALAMEDA, CALIF. Kenneth Yoon YOON LAW LOS ANGELES Chauniqua D. Young OUTTEN & GOLDEN NEW YORK Jeffrey Neil Young JOHNSON PORTLAND,WEBBERTMAINE Joshua F. Young GILBERT & SACKMAN LOS ANGELES Tiseme Zegeye LIEFF CABRASER SAN FRANCISCO Steven G. Zieff* RUDY EXELROD SAN FRANCISCO Keith Jay Zimmerman KAHNBALTIMORESMITH Ellen J. Zucker BURNSBOSTONLEVINSON Jennifer D. Zumarraga SASS LAW TAMPAFIRM