Castella Civil Rights Lawyers

Christian Uehlein is of counsel to Thornton Law Firm LLP. He joined the firm as an associate in 2006. Mr. Uehlein is a graduate of Colorado College (B.A. 2002) and New England School of Law (J.D. 2006). He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 2006, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2007, Montana in 2016, and Wyoming in 2020, and the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts in 2007. Mr. Uehlein focuses his practice on representing victims of toxic exposures as well as employers and business in insurance premium disputes. Since...

Joseph F. Klatt is a veteran California litigator with demonstrated expertise representing individual and institutional clients in complex civil litigation matters. He is skilled in handling all facets of litigation, including initiating and planning a case, managing discovery, drafting dispositive motions and briefs, conducting depositions, trying and resolving cases, handling complex writs and appeals, and negotiating significant settlements in high stakes cases. He is recognized for handling complex, unique, and troublesome cases, providing innovative litigation strategies, looking at legal issues from multiple and unorthodox angles, and cost-effectively achieving his clients’ objectives.

Joseph was the Valedictorian of his law school...

Alana Yakovlev is a stellar trial lawyer with a heavy emphasis on criminal defense and civil rights. Rated one of the top trial attorneys in the country, Ms. Yakovlev's advocacy leads to immediate and effective results for her clients.

William D. Ausman, Esquire Attorney at Law 8320 Morro Road Atascadero, CA 93422 Phone: 805-466-4800 Fax: 805-466-4802 Avvo LinkedIn William D. Ausman, Attorney and Counselor at Law is a lawyer based in San Luis Obispo County, California and founded 805 Law Group. He is an experienced family, civil and criminal defense attorney who has an excellent legal team that has obtained outstanding results for his clients. Mr. Ausman is a seasoned family law attorney who has successfully represented client in over 3000 cases. Mr. Ausman has extensive experience in handling high...

From 1987 to 1990, he was a staff attorney at Westside Legal Services, in Santa Monica, California where he was the lead trial lawyer representing lower income families and individuals who could not afford a lawyer. In 1990, DeSimone founded the cutting edge civil rights law firm Schonbrun & DeSimone. Later known as Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman, the firm established a reputation as one of the most prestigious civil and employment rights law firms in the State of California and in the entire country.

After twenty-five years as a partner, Jim decided to carve out his own path by...

Scott Cole is the founder and principal attorney at Cole & Van Note, one of California's best-known and most highly-respected employment and consumer rights class action law firms. He is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law (1992), and San Francisco State University (B.A., Speech Communications; 1989). He is a member of the California State Bar and the State Bar’s Labor and Employment Law Section, is admitted to practice before all California federal courts (including the 6th and 9th Circuit Court of Appeals), has prosecuted cases in numerous states including New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida,...

DISMISSALS. ACQUITTALS. CHARGE REDUCTIONS. MILLIONS RECOVERED. Named a Top California Criminal Defense and Civil Rights Attorney, Mr. Sterling is an accomplished trial lawyer with an extensive track record of winning in both federal and state court. In addition to defending his clients in criminal court, Mr. Sterling has also recovered millions of dollars for his clients who have been victimized and unlawfully targeted by law enforcement.

The Law Offices of Justin E. Sterling is a top-rated law firm committed to the exclusive practice of criminal trial defense and civil rights litigation. The firm brings high-end and aggressive representation to...

Joseph L. Richardson leads the Racial & Economic Justice practice at McCune Law Group. This practice group is designed to be a voice for the community; it is intentionally and uniquely positioned to bring actions against entities and institutions whose policies disproportionately harm people of color in the workplace and the consumer/small business marketplace. The group encompasses areas including employment, civil rights, and consumer and small business class actions. Joe graduated from the University of Redlands and Northwestern University School of Law. In addition to litigation, Mr. Richardson also leads the department in advocacy – partnering with leaders (business, community, political,...

Mike attended law school on a merit-based scholarship and graduated with honors. Since joining the firm in January 2001, Mike’s practice has been dedicated solely to representing plaintiffs. Mike specializes in litigating serious injury and wrongful death cases. He has extensive experience handling cases involving personal injury, product liability, automotive defect/crashworthiness, medical malpractice, elder abuse, civil rights, fire claims, insurance bad faith as well as government entity liability. Mike’s practice also focuses on representing property owners, both residential and commercial, in construction defect matters. He has successfully represented hundreds of homeowners and businesses in Northern California seeking recovery for defective...

Howard Rutten is consistently rated by his peers as a top employment lawyer in Los Angeles and throughout California. He has been selected for inclusion in the Super Lawyers list for six consecutive years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018). Super Lawyers is a patented selection process and demonstrates credibility as an impartial rating given to less than 5 percent of attorneys in the state. Howard Rutten is AV Preeminent peer-review rated,* the highest rating attainable through Martindale-Hubbell.

Born: Los Angeles, California, July 19, 1948; admitted to bar, 1981, California and U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Education: University of Southern California; California State University of Northridge (B.A., 1976); Southwestern University (J.D., 1980). Emergency Trauma Technician, UCLA School of Medicine Emergency Department, 1973-1979; Santa Monica Hospital Emergency Department, 1973-1977. Past Personal Counsel for the Following: Director of Emergency Medicine, County of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles, Emergency Medicine Program; Director of Emergency Medical Care, County of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles, Fire Department Paramedic Program; Director of Pharmacology, Cedars Sinai Medical Center....

The first 15 years of my legal career were spent as an investigator for the in-house law firm of a major nationwide non-profit organization. I managed up to 20 other investigators on complex, often high-profile, civil, criminal and tax litigation. In the 1980's I attended law school and settled in Visalia California, were I was a partner in a law firm focusing was on criminal and civil litigation in state and federal courts. I successfully obtained a LIFE verdict in a double homicide death penalty case. I handled many appeals for criminal defendants on an appointed independent basis for the...

Ms. Janeen Steel has 21 years of advocating on behalf of students with disabilities. She uses a variety of approaches to fight for justice for students. Having a learning disability herself, which was not diagnosed until she was 27 years old, she knows the struggle those with learning disabilities must experience in order to obtain an education. While at UCLA Law School, Ms. Steel founded Learning Rights and obtained an Echoing Green Fellowship in 1999 to start fighting for the rights of students with disabilities living in poverty. In 2005, Learning Rights Law Center was launched as a...

The Law Offices of Charles S. Roseman & Associates is dedicated to providing justice and damages to all injury victims resulting from the negligent and careless conduct of professional and non-professional people. In particular, my law office represents the disabled in disability litigation who have been injured as a result of violations of the Federal ADA, the California Disabled Persons Act and the California Unruh Act involving disability access violations and discrimination based on disability and various medical conditions (the deaf, the blind, the handicapped, etc...) Currently a mediator with ADR Services.

Mr. Rager is committed to holding entities accountable for their actions. By doing so, it discourages future bad actions, resulting in further litigation, and burdening society as a whole. Mr. Rager’s trial record against the largest corporations and insurance companies speaks for itself. His last 7-figure trial verdict was in 2015. In the last two decades. he has achieved several multimillion dollar verdicts.

Melody Trujillo is a graduate of McGeorge School of Law who brings to her clients 28 years of legal practice. She and her partner have successfully litigated thousands of cases in Southern California. Ms. Trujillo practices primarily in Family Law representing clients in Hemet, Riverside, San Bernardino, Victorville and all of the San Diego Courts. She is dedicated to her clients. The attorneys and paralegals at Trujillo & Trujillo, APLC are all caring individuals who put their client's needs as paramount. Each paralegal has at minimum a paralegal certificate and an Associate Degree. The...

Too often, workers are mistreated by their employers. It is important to retain a Los Angeles employment attorney who understands how crucial it is that justice is secured in discrimination and unpaid wage disputes between employers and employees. James A. De Sario is an attorney at the Nourmand Law Firm who has successfully handled cases in the areas of employment discrimination, wage and hour, and personal injury. He takes great satisfaction from advocating on behalf of workers because he comes from a working class background.

Mr. De Sario is dedicated to securing justice and compensation for people wronged by an employer,...

Daniel Horowitz is Contra Costa County's "Top 100 Trial Lawyer". Daniel is an active community member serving on the Lafayette Crime Prevention Commission and a strong supporter of LPIE, Generations in Jazz and the Acalanes and local sports programs. His law group, Lawyers in Lafayette is a community law firm handling all types of cases "in house" or assisting in a referral to the best attorney for your needs. Daniel Horowitz and his legal team have exceptional qualifications in targeted areas. His group of affiliated attorneys includes a licensed physician who practices as a lawyer, a licensed...

Afshin Mozaffari is the founder and principal of Mozaffari Law. Mr. Mozaffari's practice focuses on employee rights litigation, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, disability accommodation, and wrongful termination. Prior to the founding of Mozaffari Law, Mr. Mozaffari represented numerous corporations, schools, and non-profits in employment law, business litigation, and class action cases. He recently left the defense side to follow his long-held passion for representing the rights of employees and other individuals. Mr. Mozaffari graduated Magna Cum Laude from Whittier Law School, where he served as Articles Editor on Whittier Law Review. During law school, he worked as a Judicial Extern to the...

Getting her start in the trenches as a legal aid attorney, Erika has years of experience in seeking justice for employees and consumers against unfair practices. She has fought off debt collectors, obtained justice for wrongfully terminated employees, and untangled thorny credit reporting issues. She has taken on local government for refusing proper restroom access to transgender people. In 2015, she even had a federal court declare a state's garnishment statute unconstitutional for violating the rights of low-income debtors.

Whether your case is just starting, or whether you are up on appeal, Erika has the experience and...

Richard has been representing Plaintiffs against insurance companies his entire career and specializes in litigating a variety of personal injury cases including automobile collisions, slip-and-falls, and sexual assault cases. Richard was trained by a former insurance defense attorney so he has intimate knowledge of how insurance companies evaluate claims, and uses that knowledge against them the ensure his clients get the maximum compensation. Richard became passionate about representing plaintiffs after experiencing first-hand the tricks and tactics insurance companies and defense attorneys use to avoid paying the fair value of claims. He now works tirelessly on behalf of his clients to ensure...

Mr. Tabayoyon is an experienced trial attorney that focuses on personal injury and family law matters, including federal and state trial litigation.

The skillful attorneys at Kokozian Law Firm handle litigation arising out of all types of workplace misconduct. We have secured settlements and verdicts in the millions of dollars for employees in Los Angeles County. Some of the cases that we have handled have involved discrimination based on protected characteristics, such as disability, pregnancy, medical condition, sexual orientation, race, and age. We also consistently handle cases for wrongful termination, sexual harassment, and retaliation lawsuits, as well as claims based on a failure to provide medical leave of absence. Our attorneys can represent workers in wage and hour or overtime claims, failure...

For nearly 25 years, Sa'id Vakili has represented businesses and individuals in litigation matters involving complex business and contract disputes, business torts, direct and derivative shareholder disputes, intellectual property disputes, and all forms of employment claims. He has also handled a variety of serious injury tort claims including those arising under maritime and aviation law. Mr. Vakili is admitted in California, New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. and has handled cases in various other jurisdictions such as Florida, Nevada, Ohio, South Dakota, and Virginia through associations with local law firms in those locations. Mr. Vakili has also served...

Christopher Whang is a Civil Litigator representing clients in a wide range of litigation matters, particularly commercial landlord-tenant issues, contract disputes, bankruptcy, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) claims. Most notably, Christopher has worked with several, high-profile, Fortune 500 companies in the Bay Area in various litigation matters. Christopher has extensive experience in the full spectrum of litigation, including pre-lawsuit investigations, drafting pleadings, conducting discovery, taking and defending depositions, performing legal research, motion practice, trial preparation, negotiations, and client interaction. Prior to becoming a Civil Litigator, Christopher worked at various Public Defender offices all across the Bay Area and Sacramento....

Scott R. Ames has been a practicing employment law attorney in Los Angeles for over 25 years. Through dedication, rigorous investigation, and comprehensive knowledge of California employment law, Mr. Ames has won over one hundred million dollars for his clients through settlements and trial verdicts. He has been instrumental in helping people obtain justice for wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, trade secret disputes, wage and hour issues, and other forms of employee mistreatment. For several years, Mr. Ames has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Southern California by SuperLawyers and Los Angeles Magazines. Free consultations are offered...

Mr. Lewis’ main area of practice is civil litigation. He has litigated diverse subject areas such as First Amendment Rights, Americans with Disabilities Act, Fair Employment and Housing Act, wage laws, trade secrets, contracts, securities laws and real property laws, as well as many others. Mr. Lewis’s central area of practice involves business and employment related issues and real estate matters. Mr. Lewis also represents clients regarding homeowner's association disputes.

Mr. Lewis is also a trainer in areas of employment law for organizations with an emphasis on prevention. He has taught hundreds of courses in subject areas that include sexual harassment...

Karina N. Lallande received Bachelor of Arts Degrees in Sociology and Global Studies with a Socio-Economic and Political Emphasis from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of California Hastings, College of the Law in San Francisco, California. Her practice focuses on litigating personal injury and wrongful death cases, primarily involving claims of premises liability; trucking accidents; collisions between automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians; defective products; civil rights; and medical malpractice. Ms. Lallande represents victims who have suffered catastrophic injuries, such as brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, birth injuries, amputations, and traumatic...

Mr. Tade is an experienced civil litigator specializing in personal injury, workers' compensation, labor and employment law.

Criminal Defense Lawyer and Civil Litigator for over 40 years in Santa Barbara, California; Certified Criminal Law Specialist (The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization); Past President of California Attorneys for Criminal Justice (CACJ).

Mr. Sanger has handled numerous high profile cases, death penalty and other homicide cases as well as complex criminal white collar and civil litigation in state and federal courts.

Mr. Sanger is also a Professor of Law and Forensic Science at the Santa Barbara College of Law and consults on forensic issues on a selected basis. He is an opponent of the death penalty...

In the last seventeen years, Law Offices of Joseph Salama has helped companies and individuals navigate successfully through the legal system. For some, this meant going before a jury, whether in federal or state court, or before an administrative law judge. For some, it meant getting out of the case as quickly and painlessly as possible. For some, it meant putting the right knowledge, documents, and systems in place to minimize the risk of litigation. But for all of them, it meant listening, understanding, and then making the commitment to meet their needs such that they could begin to outsource...

Bryan Schwartz is an Oakland, California-based attorney dedicated to helping employees protect their rights in the workplace. He has fought prohibited discrimination, retaliation, and harassment, obtained reasonable accommodations for disabled employees, vindicated whistleblowers' rights, and ensured that corporations pay workers all wages they are owed. He has successfully litigated individual and class action complaints nationwide, helping to recover millions of dollars for thousands of employees, forcing corporations and Government agencies to change their practices and punish wrongdoers. Bryan Schwartz is also one of the few Bay Area-based attorneys with extensive experience representing Federal employees in their unique Merit Systems...

Though he began his career practicing Entertainment Law in Los Angeles, Mr. Fink and his wife traded the glamour of Hollywood for the San Jose area' s charms. That early exposure to big city, high-pressure civil cases has served him well, particularly when dealing with the complex issues involved in contemporary employment cases. Mr. Fink is a partner in Mesirow & Fink, a small but energetic and creative law firm founded in 1976. Mr. Fink is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall, and he has six times been selected by San Jose Magazine as one of the...

Since starting Varlack Legal Services in 2009, I have been on the front lines of litigation as a trial attorney. Valuable experience in the courtroom was gained as a member of the Alameda County Bar’s CAAP program and Lawyer Referral Service. These programs helped me grow my practice as a young attorney while allowing me to grow as a litigator. As a graduate of Howard Law School, I chose to become “a social engineer” rather than a “parasite on society.” After law school, I served on the Charles Houston Bar Association’s Board of Directors, as membership...

Judith Yedidsion is a native of Los Angeles and received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychobiology from UCLA. She then went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from Fordham University School of Law in New York City. Prior to founding Yedidsion Seber LLP, Ms. Yedidsion worked at the law firm of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP, which is consistently recognized as one of the most esteemed law firms in the world. There, Ms. Yedidsion assisted in the areas of investment management and alternative investment vehicles for firm clients including hedge funds, private equity funds, family corporations, and more. Ms....

John Hyland is a partner with Rukin Hyland & Riggin LLP. He practices exclusively in the area of employment law. John was Of Counsel with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in the firm’s San Francisco office where he advised and represented companies in State and Federal court actions covering all areas of employment law, including wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, disability law, employee privacy, employee leaves, and wage and hour issues. John regularly conducts training seminars and presents on a wide array of employment law issues. Law & Politics Magazine selected John as one of its Northern California Super Lawyers...

For more than twenty five years I have represented investors and consumers in class-action litigation, focusing primarily on federal civil appeals. I have briefed and argued appeals before all but two of the thirteen federal circuits, and was intimately involved in briefing the merits in three cases before the United States Supreme Court. My pro bono work has included writing and filing amicus curiae briefs on behalf of religious organizations and faith leaders opposing discrimination and supporting religious liberty and equal rights for all.

Charles “Chuck” Piccuta is a founding partner of the Piccuta Law Group, LLP and has practiced law for more than forty years. He attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois on a full-ride athletic scholarship for football and graduated with highest honors with a major in Political Science. He then attended Northwestern University, School of Law in Chicago on an academic scholarship. He was a member of the prestigious Northwestern University Law Review and earned his law degree in 1972 graduating with honors.

After graduating from law school, Chuck made the decision to serve his country and proudly joined the U.S. Navy...

If you need representation hire an experienced trial attorney that provides aggressive representation with proven results. Call us today (858)-768-0080. Jivaka Candappa is the principal of the Candappa Law Firm. He is an aggressive and passionate trial lawyer with 18 years of experience in civil rights, employment, health care, personal injury, criminal defense, and public entity litigation. He has tried over 50 cases to verdict in federal and state courts. In 2012 and 2013, he was named a Rising Star by the Super Lawyers Magazine, an honor that recognizes only 2.5% of attorneys in California for attaining a high degree of...

THE OKOROCHA FIRM ADDRESS ...