Nahal Kazemi

Of Counsel

T: 949.476.8700
F: 949.476.0900
nkazemi@kelleranderle.com

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PRACTICE AREAS
Trials
Commercial Litigation
Insurance Recovery/Bad Faith
White Collar Criminal Defense
Legal Malpractice

EDUCATION
Harvard Law School, J.D.; cum laude; Harvard International Law Journal, Executive Editor

Harvard College, A.B., Government, magna cum laude

State Bar of California

State Bar of New York

Court of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York

Harvard Law School Association – Orange County Chapter President

Harvard Law School Association Women’s Alliance – Orange County Chapter President

Orange County Bar Association, Business Litigation Section

Iranian American Bar Association, Orange County Chapter

Pacific Council on International Policy

Vice President for Governance, Board of Directors, WisePlace

UCI Law/OC Bar Association: “Creating a Prison to University Pipeline: Prison Education and the New “Clean Slate” Laws,” moderator (February 7, 2023 panel).

Harvard Law School Association of Orange County, “Pitfalls and Perils of Workplace Investigations: Common Investigation Mistakes & How to Avoid Them,” moderator (January 18, 2023 webinar).

Harvard Law School Association of Orange County, “The Future of Affirmative Action in Higher Education,” moderator (May 25, 2022 webinar)

Northern District Practice Panel, “Civil Justice and the ADA,” panel discussion with R. Grewal, R. Williford, and T. Lange (November 9, 2021).

Pacific Council on International Policy, “The Future of US-Israeli Relations,” moderator (June 12, 2020 webinar)

Orange County City Attorneys’ Association, “Reasonable Regulations of Sober Living Homes: The Costa Mesa Case Study,” panel with Michael Schachter (April 18, 2019, Costa Mesa, CA)

National Association of Women Lawyers, 15th General Counsel Institute, “Eliminating Bias and Leveraging Diversity: Lessons for Lawyers from War and Diplomacy,” panel with Jennifer Keller (November 7, 2019, New York, NY)

“Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine:  It’s Not About NATO” (Pacific Council Magazine, March 2022)

“The Non-Controversy Over Birthright Citizenship: Defending the Original Understanding of Jus Soli Citizenship” (Chapman Law Review, November 2020) (with M. Stock)

“Leveraging Diversity: Lessons from War and Diplomacy,”  (Orange County Business Journal, October 14, 2019)

“Illiberal Democracy’s Challenge to European Security Policy” (The Foreign Area Officer Association Journal of International Affairs, Volume XIX, Number 2, p. 54, Fall 2016)

“Justifications for Universal Jurisdiction: Shocking the Conscience Is not Enough” (49 Tulsa L. Rev. 1, 2013)
“Lowering the Bar: The Unanticipated Consequences of the Trademark Dilution Revision Act for Search Engine Advertising” (J. of Internet L., Nov. 2005) (with R. Skibell)

“Ill at Ease: The Precarious State of the Biological Weapons Convention’s Proposed Enforcement Regime” (17 Florida J. of Int’l L. 137, 2005)

“Prospects for Justice and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone” (44 Harvard Int’l L. J. 287, 2003) (with L. Hall)

Foreign and International Source Citations, The Bluebook: Uniform System of Citation (18th Ed) (with E. Sherwin)

Farsi, Arabic and Hungarian (fluent); Spanish and French (conversational)

“Nahal immediately grasped the key issues, mastered the details, and treated my case like it was as important to her as it was to me. She helped me achieve an outstanding resolution to my case.”

– Hugh Pham, CEO, Western Insurance Marketing Corporation

Nahal Kazemi combines a strong background in broad, high-stakes litigation with extensive experience as a diplomat.

While at Keller Anderle Scolnick, Nahal has achieved outstanding results for her clients in major litigation matters, including successfully defending the City of Costa Mesa in federal litigation brought against it by sober living businesses.  Nahal and the Keller Anderle Scolnick team representing the City were honored with a “2019 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year” award for their victory in that case, which was also named one of the top defense verdicts of 2018 by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal.  Nahal worked closely with appellate counsel to defend this victory on appeal.  In September 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury’s verdict. Nahal was selected by Super Lawyers® as a Rising Star for Business Litigation in 2020 and as a Super Lawyer for Business Litigation in 2022.

On behalf of a plaintiff insurance agency, Nahal and the Keller Anderle Scolnick team obtained a highly-favorable settlement in a breach of good faith action.  The case was resolved after mediation following aggressive litigation in Orange County Superior Court.

In a breach of contract and bad faith case brought by a major fitness equipment company in Superior Court in Los Angeles County, Nahal and the Keller Anderle Scolnick team achieved a full victory on summary judgment.

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Nahal Kazemi

Of Counsel

EDUCATION

Harvard Law School, J.D.; cum laude; Harvard International Law Journal, Executive Editor

Harvard College, A.B., Government, magna cum laude

EXPERIENCE

Nahal Kazemi combines a strong background in broad, high-stakes litigation with extensive experience as a diplomat.

While at Keller Anderle Scolnick, Nahal has achieved outstanding results for her clients in major litigation matters, including successfully defending the City of Costa Mesa in federal litigation brought against it by sober living businesses.  Nahal and the Keller Anderle Scolnick team representing the City were honored with a “2019 California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year” award for their victory in that case, which was also named one of the top defense verdicts of 2018 by the Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journal.  Nahal worked closely with appellate counsel to defend this victory on appeal.  In September 2021, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the jury’s verdict. Nahal was selected by Super Lawyers® as a Rising Star for Business Litigation in 2020 and as a Super Lawyer for Business Litigation in 2022.

On behalf of a plaintiff insurance agency, Nahal and the Keller Anderle Scolnick team obtained a highly-favorable settlement in a breach of good faith action.  The case was resolved after mediation following aggressive litigation in Orange County Superior Court.

In a breach of contract and bad faith case brought by a major fitness equipment company in Superior Court in Los Angeles County, Nahal and the Keller Anderle Scolnick team achieved a full victory on summary judgment.

More

“Nahal immediately grasped the key issues, mastered the details, and treated my case like it was as important to her as it was to me. She helped me achieve an outstanding resolution to my case.”

– Hugh Pham, CEO, Western Insurance Marketing Corporation

Trials
Commercial Litigation
Insurance Recovery/Bad Faith
White Collar Criminal Defense
Legal Malpractice

Los Angeles Magazine, Southern California Super Lawyers® for Business Litigation (2022-2024)

Los Angeles Magazine, Southern California Super Lawyers® Rising Star for Business Litigation (2020)

California Lawyer Magazine CLAY Award (California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year), Municipal Law (2019)

The Los Angeles and San Francisco Daily Journals, “Top Defense Verdicts” (2018)

Fellow, National Defense University’s Program for Emerging Leaders

Naval War College 2016 Foreign Service Officers Association Prize for Outstanding Writing (2016), First Prize

Naval War College 2016 Admiral Richard G. Colbert Prize for Outstanding Writing

State Department Meritorious Honor Award, 2017, 2014

State Department Group Meritorious Honor Award, 2014

State Department Superior Honor Award, 2013, 2012

Represented three insurers from the AIG family of insurance companies, one of the world’s largest and most respected insurance groups, in defending against claims for bad faith and breach of contract brought by Victaulic Company of America in California Superior Court. The case was tried once before by different counsel, resulting in a $70 million verdict and three contempt actions against AIG. The California Court of Appeal vacated that decision in its entirety and remanded the matter for retrial. AIG retained us for the retrial. After five years and extensive discovery, we were able find evidence that Victualic’s valves were defective and the cause of the damage. We also discovered that Victualic knew about the defective valves before it applied for policies with AIG and before it made the claims at issue. As a result, the case settled for nuisance value.

Representing Jazz, a wafer foundry that is a wholly owned United States subsidiary of Israel-based Tower Semiconductor (Intel) as defendant and cross-complainant in a lawsuit against its real estate developer, landlord.  Wanting to build luxury condos, the developer sued to evict Jazz nine years before its lease was to end.  Jazz filed a cross-complaint for fraud and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Damages are approximately $500 million.  The case is set for trial in December 2023.

Represented I-Hsin Chen, a shipping container warehouse magnate, who was indicted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the “Varsity Blues” college admissions scandal.

Obtained favorable settlement for plaintiff client suing Fortune 100 insurance company for breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

Successfully represented former head of USA Swimming and Coach of US Olympic Swim Team on civil lawsuit alleging negligent supervision of an assistant.  Lawsuit was dismissed by plaintiff after intense litigation.

Achieved full defense verdict on all claims for the City of Costa Mesa in federal fair housing and disabilities law case brought by sober living businesses challenging the City’s right to set minimum health and safety standards for rehabilitation residences.

Achieved full defense victory on summary judgment for major insurance company in bad faith litigation brought in California state court.

Obtained emergency restraining order in federal court, preventing the state and federal governments from using a rundown building the state had declared unfit for human habitation as a coronavirus treatment facility.

Defended a major international engineering firm in connection with Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission investigations into allegations of corruption and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Defended a “Big Four” accounting firm in a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation regarding derivatives and hedge accounting, revenue recognition, and project accounting issues.

Successfully represented a major European bank in litigation arising from the acquisition of a regional U.S. bank immediately following the 2008 financial crisis.

State Bar of California

State Bar of New York

Court of Appeals for the Second and Ninth Circuits

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California

U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York

Harvard Law School Association – Orange County Chapter President

Harvard Law School Association Women’s Alliance – Orange County Chapter President

Orange County Bar Association, Business Litigation Section

Iranian American Bar Association, Orange County Chapter

Pacific Council on International Policy

Vice President for Governance, Board of Directors, WisePlace

UCI Law/OC Bar Association: “Creating a Prison to University Pipeline: Prison Education and the New “Clean Slate” Laws,” moderator (February 7, 2023 panel).

Harvard Law School Association of Orange County, “Pitfalls and Perils of Workplace Investigations: Common Investigation Mistakes & How to Avoid Them,” moderator (January 18, 2023 webinar).

Harvard Law School Association of Orange County, “The Future of Affirmative Action in Higher Education,” moderator (May 25, 2022 webinar)

Northern District Practice Panel, “Civil Justice and the ADA,” panel discussion with R. Grewal, R. Williford, and T. Lange (November 9, 2021).

Pacific Council on International Policy, “The Future of US-Israeli Relations,” moderator (June 12, 2020 webinar)

Orange County City Attorneys’ Association, “Reasonable Regulations of Sober Living Homes: The Costa Mesa Case Study,” panel with Michael Schachter (April 18, 2019, Costa Mesa, CA)

National Association of Women Lawyers, 15th General Counsel Institute, “Eliminating Bias and Leveraging Diversity: Lessons for Lawyers from War and Diplomacy,” panel with Jennifer Keller (November 7, 2019, New York, NY)

“Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine:  It’s Not About NATO” (Pacific Council Magazine, March 2022)

“The Non-Controversy Over Birthright Citizenship: Defending the Original Understanding of Jus Soli Citizenship” (Chapman Law Review, November 2020) (with M. Stock)

“Leveraging Diversity: Lessons from War and Diplomacy,”  (Orange County Business Journal, October 14, 2019)

“Illiberal Democracy’s Challenge to European Security Policy” (The Foreign Area Officer Association Journal of International Affairs, Volume XIX, Number 2, p. 54, Fall 2016)

“Justifications for Universal Jurisdiction: Shocking the Conscience Is not Enough” (49 Tulsa L. Rev. 1, 2013)
“Lowering the Bar: The Unanticipated Consequences of the Trademark Dilution Revision Act for Search Engine Advertising” (J. of Internet L., Nov. 2005) (with R. Skibell)

“Ill at Ease: The Precarious State of the Biological Weapons Convention’s Proposed Enforcement Regime” (17 Florida J. of Int’l L. 137, 2005)

“Prospects for Justice and Reconciliation in Sierra Leone” (44 Harvard Int’l L. J. 287, 2003) (with L. Hall)

Foreign and International Source Citations, The Bluebook: Uniform System of Citation (18th Ed) (with E. Sherwin)

Farsi, Arabic and Hungarian (fluent); Spanish and French (conversational)