Freddie Fender Verified Attorney
James DeSimone (Jim)
Employment Law
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James DeSimone Built His Career Taking On Power
Power has lawyers. James DeSimone—Jim to colleagues and clients—built his career representing the people standing on the other side.
For more than four decades, DeSimone has taken on employers, corporations, police departments, and government agencies in cases involving workplace discrimination, retaliation, civil-rights violations, police misconduct, catastrophic injury, and wrongful death. His Marina del Rey practice is built around a straightforward principle: constitutional and workplace protections matter only when someone is prepared to enforce them.
That commitment began at Westside Legal Services, where DeSimone served as a staff attorney and lead trial lawyer for individuals and families who could not afford private counsel. In 1990, he co-founded Schonbrun & DeSimone, which grew into the nationally respected civil- and employment-rights firm Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman. After 25 years as a partner, he established V. James DeSimone Law and continued representing individuals against institutions with vastly greater resources.
His record is measured in more than years. DeSimone has served as counsel in wage-and-hour class actions producing settlements of $17 million, $16 million, $12.5 million, and $10.5 million. He obtained a $7.39 million employment-retaliation verdict for Yowan Yang, including $5 million in punitive damages, after Yang was terminated following a workplace assault. In 2024, DeSimone secured a $6 million federal civil-rights settlement in a positional-asphyxiation case that led the City of Stockton to reform its mental-health response policies.
The individual victories are equally significant: a $4 million wrongful-death settlement arising from an LAPD officer’s unjustified use of force; a $2.1 million false-arrest verdict; a $1.686 million excessive-force verdict for a disabled man; and a $1.576 million employment-discrimination verdict for a UCLA hospital employee terminated after reporting discrimination and harassment.
But DeSimone’s influence is not confined to dollar figures. In Mogilefsky v. Silver Pictures, he served as lead counsel in the first published California decision recognizing same-sex workplace harassment under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. In Griffith v. Davis, he helped compel the federal government to produce internal investigative materials and a law-enforcement officer’s recorded statement. His appellate work in Xue Lu v. United States and Johnson v. United Cerebral Palsy further strengthened the rights of civil-rights and employment plaintiffs.
The profession has repeatedly recognized that work. DeSimone received the 2014 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award for Civil Rights, was named the Westside Bar Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2017, and earned Best Lawyers’ 2024 “Lawyer of the Year” recognition for Civil Rights Law. He has been selected to Southern California Super Lawyers every year from 2009 through 2026, including multiple Top 100 selections.
Beyond the courtroom, DeSimone has taught trial advocacy through CELA, NELA, and CAALA; contributed legal commentary to KNX, KABC, and KFWB; and served as an honorary board member of Los Angeles Trial Lawyers’ Charities. His multilingual staff provides assistance in English, Spanish, and Farsi. The firm is also available seven days a week—an unusually practical commitment for clients whose workplace or civil-rights crises rarely arrive on a convenient schedule.
For consumers, the significance is clear: DeSimone has the experience to recognize leverage, the record to make opponents take it seriously, and the resolve to keep going when a case becomes difficult.
That combination of experience, reputation, verified professional standing, and public credibility is why James DeSimone was included on FreddieFender.com.
Credentials
- Juris Doctor, UCLA School of Law (1985)
- Bachelor’s degree, Johns Hopkins University (1981)
- Admitted before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, U.S. Supreme Court, and all four U.S. District Courts in California
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, California
- Employment Lawyers Association
- National Employment Lawyers Association
- Santa Monica Bar Association
Career Highlights / Proven Experience
Career Highlights
- More Than 40 Years of Experience: Has represented individuals in employment, civil-rights, police-misconduct, catastrophic-injury, and wrongful-death litigation since 1985.
- Firm Founder: Founded Schonbrun & DeSimone in 1990, later known as Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman, and remained a partner through 2015 before establishing V. James DeSimone Law.
- Public-Interest Foundation: Served as a staff attorney and lead trial lawyer at Westside Legal Services from 1987 through 1990, representing individuals and families unable to afford private counsel.
- Civil Rights Lawyer of the Year: Received the 2014 California Lawyer Attorney of the Year Award for Civil Rights.
- Best Lawyers Recognition: Named the 2024 Best Lawyers “Lawyer of the Year” for Civil Rights Law and recognized in The Best Lawyers in America since 2017.
- Super Lawyers Recognition: Selected to Southern California Super Lawyers every year from 2009 through 2026 and named to its Top 100 list in 2013 and annually from 2018 through 2024.
- Trial-Lawyer Honors: Named Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Westside Bar Association in 2017 and nominated for CAALA Trial Lawyer of the Year in 2008 and 2017.
- Legal Educator: Served as a speaker and instructor at the California Employment Lawyers Association’s Trial Lawyer College from 2015 through 2019 and has presented programs for CELA, NELA, CAALA, and other bar organizations.
- Media and Publications: Has contributed legal commentary to KNX and KABC News and appeared regularly on KFWB’s Money 101. His work has appeared in CAALA’s Advocate, CAOC’s Forum, the ABA’s Small Practice and Solo Practitioner Journal, the Daily Journal, and CELA publications.
- Community Leadership: Serves as an honorary board member of Los Angeles Trial Lawyers’ Charities and supports the Venice Community Housing Corporation.
Proven Experience
- $17 Million Wage-and-Hour Class-Action Settlement: Served as counsel in major litigation involving unlawful wage-and-hour practices.
- $16 Million Wage-and-Hour Class-Action Settlement: Achieved a substantial recovery for employees in class-action litigation.
- $12.5 Million Wage-and-Hour Class-Action Settlement: Represented workers pursuing compensation for alleged labor-law violations.
- $10.5 Million Wage-and-Hour Class-Action Settlement: Helped secure a significant class recovery for affected employees.
- $7.39 Million Employment-Retaliation Verdict: Represented Yowan Yang after his employer terminated him following a workplace assault; the verdict included $5 million in punitive damages.
- $6 Million Civil-Rights Settlement: Secured a 2024 federal settlement in a positional-asphyxiation case that prompted the City of Stockton to reform its mental-health response policies.
- $4 Million Police-Misconduct Settlement: Obtained a wrongful-death settlement arising from an LAPD officer’s unjustified use of excessive force.
- $2.9 Million Police Chokehold Settlement: Secured a wrongful-death recovery in a case involving a police chokehold.
- $2.5 Million Police-Shooting Settlement: Obtained a wrongful-death settlement for the family of a mentally ill graduate student shot by university police.
- $2.1 Million False-Arrest Verdict: Served as lead trial counsel for a woman whose civil rights were violated after she was falsely arrested and jailed.
- $1.686 Million Excessive-Force Verdict: Served as lead trial attorney for a disabled man subjected to excessive force by LAPD officers.
- $1.576 Million Employment-Discrimination Verdict: Served as lead counsel for an African American UCLA hospital employee terminated after reporting discrimination and harassment.
- $1.5 Million Defamation Verdict: Represented a transplant surgeon defamed after raising ethical concerns about a hospital’s transplant program.
- $1.2 Million Civil-Rights Verdict: Served as lead trial counsel for two asylum applicants subjected to demands for sex and money by a federal asylum officer.
- $885,000 Civil-Rights Judgment: Obtained a judgment against the City of Los Angeles involving an assault and arrest by an off-duty police officer acting under color of law.
- $515,000 Wrongful-Termination Verdict: Represented an employee terminated after developing cancer.
- Precedent-Setting Appellate Counsel: Served as lead counsel in Mogilefsky v. Silver Pictures, the first published California decision recognizing same-sex workplace harassment under the Fair Employment and Housing Act.
- Civil-Rights Discovery Precedent: Served as counsel in Griffith v. Davis, compelling the federal government to produce internal investigative materials and a law-enforcement officer’s recorded statement in a civil-rights action.
- Additional Appellate Victories: Obtained significant published decisions in Xue Lu v. United States and Johnson v. United Cerebral Palsy, strengthening remedies and evidentiary rights for civil-rights and employment plaintiffs.
- Disability-Access Class Relief: Obtained class certification and meaningful injunctive relief improving wheelchair access and amenities at Angel Stadium.
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