Ethics 2004 - Keeping Current in a World of Change

Jeffrey Tidus graduated from U.C. Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and received his bachelor¿s degree from the University of California, San Diego (Revelle College) with a joint degree in history and economics.

He started practice at Lewis D¿Amato Brisbois & Bisgaard in Los Angeles, California, handling complex legal malpractice and securities fraud cases. Since that time Mr. Tidus has handled all types of financial institutions litigation, insurance coverage and bad faith cases, complex business and securities cases, entertainment and trademark matter (principally in the video and computer game field), construction defects, professional malpractice and personal injury cases. Mr. Tidus has practiced in both State and Federal Court, and is admitted to all district courts in California as well as the Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Tidus has tried a number of lengthy complex matters, including a 240-day trial in a securities and real estate fraud case.

Mr. Tidus also has an active practice as an arbitrator and mediator over a wide-range of civil disputes. He is a graduate of the Straus Institute for Mediation¿s Basic and Advanced Mediation training program. He is a member of the American Arbitration Association Commercial Mediation Panel. He also has testified as an expert witness on matters involving legal ethics and billing practices. He is also the author of the CEB Action Guide on Discovery and Discovery Motions.

Mr. Tidus¿ present and former clients include Hawthorne Savings, New Century Financial, Thales Navigation, Isuzu Motors of America, California Federal Savings, Aames Financial, First Alliance Mortgage Company, First Los Angeles Bank, and Tokai Bank.

Joel D. Ruben has practiced law in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, California since 1977. Joel practices primarily in the areas of business litigation and real estate litigation and transactions. With an extensive background in trials, arbitrations and mediations arising from business and real estate transactions gone awry, Joel has used this experience in negotiating and drafting real estate contracts that maximize the protection of his client's interests and minimize the risks of future litigation.

In 1971, Joel graduated from U.C.L.A. with a B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. In 1977, he was awarded the degree of Juris Doctor from U.C. Davis School of Law where he graduated Order of the Coif.

Since 1977, Joel has been admitted to practice before the California Supreme Court and all other Courts of the State of California, and the Federal District Court for the Central District of California. He began his legal career with Greenberg & Glusker in Century City where he was an associate between 1977-1984. Thereafter, for 18 years, Joel was a partner of Lipofsky & Ruben.

Joel is dedicated to professional excellence, the highest ethical standards and civility in his professional relationships. Martindale-Hubbell, the preeminent directory of lawyers, has awarded Joel its highest rating for legal and ethical standards (AV). He is a member of the Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

His versatility and creativity set Joel apart from his peers; he is a skilled negotiator and a seasoned litigator who has also handled and successfully closed over one hundred million dollars in real estate transactions in recent years. Joel has prosecuted and defended complex real estate, environmental, commercial and general business litigation matters on behalf of corporate, institutional and individual clients, and he has helped his clients achieve a number of settlements valued in excess of one million dollars.

Joel is a frequent lecturer for other lawyers and real estate agents on subjects such as real estate purchase and sale agreements, real estate disclosures and legal ethics.

Judge Michael Marcus (Ret.), who received his B.A. from the University of California at Berkeley in 1964 and his J.D. in 1967 from the UCLA School of Law, brings an extraordinarily broad legal background and experience to mediations, arbitrations and discovery reference.

Before becoming a full-time neutral in January 2002 with ADR Services, Inc., he was a very successful trial lawyer, a former law firm partner and a judge. He has also taught at law schools, is a legal author and a bar leader.

Mr. Goldich's bankruptcy practice encompasses representation of all major constituencies in business reorganizations under chapter 11. His recent work includes representations of telecommunications, steel, and aerospace companies. In addition to playing a lead role as debtor's counsel in many successful chapter 11 reorganizations and going-concern sales, Mr. Goldich's creditor committee practice includes the chapter 11 proceedings of B.U.M. International and American Adventure, where committee-sponsored plans of reorganization were confirmed. He is a graduate of Trinity College and received his J.D. from Stanford University Law School. Mr. Goldich is admitted to practice in California and is a resident in our Los Angeles office.

Bar Admission:

1980, California.

Professional Affiliations:

Chair, Los Angeles County Bar Association Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee (1997-98).

Judge pro tem, Small Claims Court, Temporary Judge Program, Los Angeles Municipal Court (1988-93).

Education:

Trinity College, B.A., 1976.

Stanford University, J.D., 1979.

Richard J. Burdge, Jr. founded The Burdge Law Firm PC in April 2011 after almost twenty-five years as a business litigation partner in the Los Angeles offices of the international law firms of Howrey LLP and Dewey Ballantine LLP. His practice for more than thirty years has been in business litigation matters. He served on the risk management team and the professional responsibility groups at Howrey. He has litigated a number of cases involving professional liability claims involving lawyers and has been a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s (LACBA) mandatory fee arbitration panel for more than ten years. Mr. Burdge is a current member of the LACBA’s Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee (PREC) and is a former chair and vice chair of its Judicial Election Evaluation Committee. He is a former President of the Association of Business Trial Lawyer’s Los Angeles Chapter and a former Chair of LACBA’s Litigation Section. He is currently LACBA’s President-Elect and will become its President in July 2012. He is a member of the boards of directors of Public Counsel and the Friends of the Los Angeles County Law Library. Mr. Burdge is a contributing editor of Weil & Brown, CALIFORNIA PRACTICE GUIDE: CIVIL PROCEDURE BEFORE TRIAL (The Rutter Group 2010 & 2011) and a contributing author of BUSINESS AND COMMERCIAL LITIGATION IN FEDERAL COURTS (ABA/Thomson West, 2d ed. 2005 & 3d ed. 2011). He graduated from Yale University and the UCLA School of Law with honors.

JOHN W. AMBERG is a partner in the litigation section of the international law firm Bryan Cave LLP, resident in the Los Angeles office. His practice spans commercial litigation (including commercial contract disputes, unfair competition, and intellectual property), product liability litigation (including toxic tort) and probate litigation. He is the associate risk manager partner for Bryan Cave, and the former managing partner of the Los Angeles office. Mr. Amberg is the former Chair and present advisor to the California State Bar¿s Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct (COPRAC), and a current member and former Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Association¿s Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee. He lectures and writes frequently on professional responsibility, ethics and risk management, and has coauthored the annual review of ethics developments for the Los Angeles Lawyer for seven years. He is a member of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers and the ABA¿s Center for Professional Responsibility. Mr. Amberg received his B.A. from Princeton University and his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.

For his complete bio, please visit his bio page at http://www.bryancave.com/people/bio.asp?id=2515

Mr. Parker's trial practice includes commercial litigation, the defense and prosecution of professional liability and malicious prosecution cases, insurance coverage and bad faith. He has served as an expert witness in legal malpractice cases in state and federal courts involving standard of care issues in litigation and insurance matters, as well as standards of conduct, including conflicts of interest.

Mr. Parker has tried as sole, lead, or co-lead counsel more than more than two dozen jury and bench trials, in the state and federal courts, as well as various judicial, commercial, Cumis and mandatory fee arbitrations, on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, in a broad range of cases in the areas of commercial disputes, professional liability, malicious prosecution, attorneys fees, insurance coverage and bad faith, family law, labor and employment law, unfair competition, securities, intellectual property and other business torts.

A graduate of UCLA Law School 1976 where he graduated Order of the Coif and served as Associate Editor of the Law Review, Mr. Parker has been actively involved in serving the legal profession as the past Chair of both the Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee and the Attorneys Errors & Omissions Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, a member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers and an active member of the Lawyers Professional Liability Bar Association. He has also authored and co-authored numerous publications and is a frequent speaker on the subjects of professional liability, legal ethics, and insurance coverage, including directors and officers insurance.

Mr. Parker Identified as among the California's "Super Lawyers" (Los Angeles Magazine and Www.superlawyers.com), both in 2004 and 2005, and as one of the leading experts on legal malpractice in "Who You Gonna Call?" in California Lawyer, p. 25 (February 2002) and "The Lawyers' Lawyers" issue the Daily Journal's California Law Business (November 30, 1998) in the article "The Malpractice Practice" by Pearl J. Piatt.

Ms. Karpman has counseled lawyers for two decades. She defends lawyers in attorney discipline and regulatory proceedings before State Bar Court and in ethics litigation support (motions to disqualify, breach of fiduciary duty, conflicts, etc.). An established authority in the areas of attorney ethics and standards of professional care, she is frequently retained as an expert witness in legal malpractice actions and related proceedings. A.V. rated. Martindale-Hubbell.

Recent appointments include: Western State University College of Law Alumni of the Year (2004); ABA/BNA Lawyers' Manual on Professional Conduct, Chair Editorial Board (2004); Member, National Organization of Bar Counsel (2001-2004); A.B.A.'s House of Delegates (2004); A.B.A.'s Co-Vice Chair, Center for Professional Responsibility Publications Board (1997-1998); A.B.A.'s Standing Committee on Lawyer Responsibility for Client Protection (1996); President, Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (2000); Chair-Corporate Responsibility Committee, SEC Sarbanes-Oxley Committee (2004); ALI-Members Consultant Group, Restatement of the Law of Lawyering (1998-2001); Elected to American Law Institute (1997); Trustee, Los Angeles County Bar, Chair, Professional Responsibility Committee (2001); Commissioner, Judicial Nominees Evaluation Committee (JINE) (1998-2000); Chair, California State Bar Minimum Continuing Legal Education Committee (1996); Liaison to State Bar of California's Discipline Committee (LACBA, BHBA, SFVBA); Beverly Hills Bar Association, Chair Ethics 2004-05 Committee, Delegates to State Bar Convention; Adjunct Professor Ethics, UCLA Attorney Assistant Training Program; and Court Appointment "Ethics Expert" by Los Angeles Superior Court in a Class Action.

Ms. Karpman has written and lectured extensively for the ABA, State Bar Educational Symposiurns, State Bar Conventions, Los Angeles Trial Lawyers, Los Angeles County Bar, and local bar associations in the area of professional responsibility arid legal ethics.

Ms. Karpman is a contributing editor for Bender's Attorney Ethics (competency and trust account management); coauthor of the California Lawyer's Guide to Professional Responsibility, publish (1994-1996), by Shepard¿s/McGraw-Hill, Inc., and associate editor of the Cornell Ethics Project with Professor Roger Cramton at law.cornell.edu/ethics. She writes a monthly column called "Ethics Byte" for the Cal Bar Journal at calbar.org, since 1997.