Stephen G. Larson

Larson recently resolved a trial in its eighth month with a fast acquittal for his client, a developer accused of bribing county officials in San Bernardino to push through a large civil settlement to his company. The case involved state and federal investigations, along with an underlying civil suit. All three suits were ultimately resolved on behalf of Larson’s client. Gov. Jerry Brown, then the attorney general, once called the case possibly the biggest corruption case in the state’s history and swore to pursue it.

“It was a huge victory for our client, who has gone through so much over the past five or six years,” he said. “The eight-month trial was a very difficult experience, and it’s great to have him vindicated at the end of the day.”

Larson said that he does a lot of work involving public corruption defense, including working with a former Drug Enforcement Agency special agent accused of fraud, but still finds himself moving between it and civil work.

In one case, he won a fee dispute for a plaintiff’s attorney who worked on a class action over mismanagement of trust funds. In another, he was appointed liaison counsel in a federal consumer class action against Apple Inc. Another saw him represent victims of the San Bernardino terror attacks, submitting an amicus brief to support the unlocking of the accused terrorists’ iPhones by Apple for investigation. Larson’s practice is international, with myriad issues. He said he relishes the challenge it presents.

“It’s a challenge that I enjoy. One of the things I enjoyed as a federal judge is the diversity of cases, and now I’m enjoying that in private practice,” he said. Despite leaving the bench, Larson often finds himself working in federal court as a private attorney, which he said he prefers.

“Many practitioners prefer state court. Obviously, it’s an honor to serve in any courtroom, but I feel most comfortable in a federal courtroom going all the way back to my days at O’Melveny & Myers,” he said.

“I enjoy the structure and formality of federal court. It allows the focus to be on the arguments and not theatrics,” he said. On top of exhaustively long trials and wide-ranging practice, Larson’s firm has doubled in size in the past year. He founded the full-service boutique firm Larson O’Brien in 2016 with Robert C. O’Brien.

“We’ve been extraordinarily blessed with the firm,” he said. “Not only is our core group fantastic, but so are the people who’ve joined us. They’re great people and hard workers with sharp intellect.”

— Andy Serbe