Education:

University of California at San Diego (1996 - Magna Cum Laude); BA in Political Science.

Admissions:

United States Supreme Court Bar: admitted in 2004
California State Bar; U.S. District Court Central District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California; United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Experience:

1999 - Present: Partner at Schonbrun, DeSimone, Seplow, Harris & Hoffman LLP

1998 - 1999: Taught Civil Rights Law to freshman students at UCLA.

1998: Special Assistant to the Honorable Cruz Reynoso at the United States Commission on Civil Rights

Awards/Distinctions:

Selected by Superlawyers.com as a "Rising Star" amongst Southern California lawyers for 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Practice Areas:

Appellate Law
Civil Rights (including Police Misconduct Cases)
Constitutional Law
Complex Litigation (including Class Actions)
Labor and Employment Law

Notable Cases:

1. Muehler/Brill v. Mena, 544 U.S. 93 (2004), (co-authored merits brief to the United States Supreme Court in this police misconduct case; authored successful merits brief after remand to the Ninth Circuit.

2. Macias v. County of Los Angeles, 144 Cal.App.4th 313 (2006) (briefed and argued this police misconduct case which was published by the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division 1 - see below for text of opinion).

3. Blankenhorn v. City of Orange, et al., 485 F.3d 463 (9th Cir. 2007) (briefed and argued this police misconduct case which was published by the Ninth Circuit - see below for text of opinion).

4. People v. Robert Blake (co-authored Petition for Bail to the California Supreme Court).

5. Dalkilic, Celik v. The Titan Corporation, SOS International, Inc., Case No. 05-CV 0916 JAH (AJB) (Day-to-day attorney on this extraordinary case involving two Turkish citizens hired by The Titan Corporation and its subcontractor SOS International to provide translation services to the United States Armed Forces during the Iraq War. Titan, without informing one of the Plaintiffs beforehand, required him to participate in the interrogation of Turkish special forces and civilians who were captured by the United States military in connection with a plot to assassinate the leading Kurdish political figure in Northern Iraq, the mayor of Kirkuk. As a result of Defendants' actions, Plaintiffs were branded as traitors and may never be able to return home to Turkey). Click for details.

6. Democratic National Convention Cases (successfully represented individual victims and organizations who were subjected to police brutality in connection with the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, California.

7. Cinquegrani, et al. v. Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California, et al. (2006) 63 Cal.App.4th 741: wrote and argued appeal whereby the Court of Appeal, in a published decision, affirmed the trial court's grant of a preliminary injunction restraining the DMV from illegally suspending the driver's licenses of motorists convicted of boating under the influence.

Published Opinions:

Blankenhorn v. City of Orange

Macias v. County of Los Angeles

Cinquegrani, et al. v. Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California, et al.