Lawyers

Steven A. Blum has litigated some of California’s largest eminent domain cases. He has obtained substantial verdicts and settlements in many landslide, subsidence, and construction defect cases. He recently orchestrated the successful defense of a Los Angeles financier in two large lawsuits in which an investment bank and a manufacturer alleged $165 million in losses. In a business fraud case,
Mr. Blum litigated and won the rights to a large film library that had been illegally transported from the U.S. to London. He represented CEO’s and directors of large corporations in financial litigation. Mr. Blum is a 1987 graduate of Yale Law School and a 1984 graduate of UCLA (summa cum laude). He formerly practiced at Berger and Norton and at Heller Ehrman. He has been adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

Craig M. Collins, a former shareholder at Berger & Norton, has been specializing in eminent domain law for 18 years. His trial experience includes major landslide and flooding cases throughout Southern California. He has helped Malibu homeowners collect over $30 million in earth movement cases. Mr. Collins assists developers in Northern and Southern California to exercise their property rights to the fullest extent of the law. In 2008, Mr. Collins won a major victory in the Court of Appeal against the California Coastal Commission. In a business dispute, he recently won a mid six-figure settlement for two former shareholders of a software firm who were being defrauded of their company stock holdings. He graduated from the University of Chicago in 1980 with an honors degree in Economics and received his law degree from Indiana University (magna cum laude) in 1983. Mr. Collins also practiced in Chicago with Mayer Brown as a real estate transactional lawyer.

Douglas L. Thorpe, of counsel, is the former managing partner of the Perkins Coie, LLP Los Angeles office and was a founder of Johnson, Manfredi & Thorpe. His practice has focused on engineering and science-oriented cases as well as large business cases. His clients include many Fortune 500 companies and he frequently represents other attorneys. He received a B.S. in Engineering from the University of Nebraska in 1959 and a law degree from Southern Methodist University (cum laude) in 1968.

Paul D. Cass, of counsel, has obtained multi-million dollar construction defect settlements and awards on behalf of homeowners associations. He has litigated complex multi-party commercial cases dealing with real estate, insurance coverage and intellectual property. Mr. Cass has international experience and speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese. He graduated from Reed College (B.A., Phi Beta Kappa, 1970) and Yale Law School (J.D., 1981).