Keller/Anderle attorneys selected for prestigious “CLAY Award”
For the second year in row, and the third time over this decade, Keller/Anderle attorneys have been honored with a prestigious Daily Journal CLAY Award – California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year. All trials were jury verdicts.
This year’s award was for Keller/Anderle’s successful defense in Yellowstone Women’s First Step House, Inc., et al. v. City of Costa Mesa. Keller/Anderle LLP secured a complete jury victory for the City of Costa Mesa in this federal lawsuit challenging its group home ordinance. Two sober living home operators and an industry trade group brought the suit in the Central District of California in 2014, arguing that any regulation, no matter how favorable to the disabled, was discriminatory. Other cities had lost lawsuits challenging their own ordinances, settled them, or had been intimidated into not passing ordinances at all. The Costa Mesa City Council hired Keller/Anderle in March 2018, when it was clear the City would need a complete victory at trial in order to preserve the ability to enforce reasonable regulations on group home operators. After a four-week trial before the Honorable James Selna, the eight person jury returned a unanimous verdict on all counts for the City of Costa Mesa. Jennifer Keller and Chase Scolnick were co-lead counsel and Anand Sambhwani was second chair, backed by Shaun Hoting, Nahal Kazemi and Michael Schachter.
This was Keller/Anderle’s third CLAY Award. The first CLAY Award was given to Jennifer Keller in 2012 for MGA Entertainment v. Mattel, a case she had entered as lead counsel just 12 days before trial. Ms. Keller earned a $170 million victory for her client MGA. The second CLAY award came in 2018, when Jennifer Keller, Stephen Larson and their trial team were honored for their successful defense of San Bernardino County developer Jeff Burum during a nine-month jury trial in 2017 in People v. Biane et al.
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Reuben Camper Cahn panelist at NAMWOLF 2019 Annual Meeting & Law Firm Expo
October 21, 2019
At the CLE Session, “Kicked For Cause: The Science of Getting Bad Jurors Out of the Jury Box,” Reuben Camper Cahn was a panelist, discussing how to get dangerous prospective jurors removed for cause and saving peremptory challenges to “fine tune” the jury box.
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Jesse Gessin certified by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law
October 19, 2019
Jesse Gessin, partner, has been certified by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law.
The State Bar certifies attorneys as specialists who have gone beyond the standard licensing requirements. The program was intended to provide a method for attorneys to earn the designation of certified specialist in particular areas of law, increasing public protection and encouraging attorney competence. In order to become a Certified Specialist, candidates must gain the requisite experience, complete education and secure references, and then pass an examination.
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Jennifer Keller presentation at “Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame” series at the California Lawyers Association annual meeting
October 17, 2019
Jennifer Keller made a presentation for the “Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame” series on the topic “Being Human in Trial: Establishing a Relationship with Your Jurors.”
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Nahal Kazemi publishes article – Leveraging Diversity – Lessons from War and Diplomacy
October 15, 2019
Nahal Kazemi, senior counsel, recently published an article in the Orange County Business Journal’s special issue on the “General Counsel Awards.”
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Jay Barron, Senior Counsel, publishes article in Orange County Lawyer
October 8, 2019
Excerpt from the article, “Foxing Your Way to Trial with Statutory Preference”: Given these circumstances, it’s hard to get your case to trial. An increasingly powerful tool is a statutory trial preference found in Code of Civil Procedure section 36 (Section 36), especially subdivision (a), which applies to litigants over seventy years of age.