Garcia & Artigliere

Litigation

Long Beach • Los Angeles

Garcia & Artigliere have made it a mission to bring awareness to elder rights and abuse, while securing victories in high-profile cases the last two years that resulted in more than $151 million for consumers.

Senior partner Stephen M. Garcia and partner William M. "Bill" Artigliere deal with people differently. Artigliere is in contact with clients, and Garcia's job is to think at a "much higher level" than the clients so he can provide the best results.

"As well as for me to satisfy their needs," Artigliere said. "Managing expectations is something I take great pride in."

The firm has been headquartered at its original location in Long Beach since 2003, according to Garcia. Prior to forming the firm, Garcia was trying criminal cases out of his Manhattan Beach office. It was there where he took on an elder abuse case on behalf of a Latino family whose mother was being abused in a long-term health care facility. He empathized with the family because they did not speak English. It opened his eyes to elder abuse law as he felt there were more people being taken advantage of, he said. This was the first case Garcia tried under the elder abuse statute and won.

Along with Long Beach, the firm has offices in the Century City area of Los Angeles, Phoenix, Winter Park, Florida and Lexington, Kentucky. The firm also works on wrongful death cases and truck accidents. Garcia said he met Artigliere through a former president of the American Trial Lawyers Association, with whom he practiced elder abuse law.

"I was fortunate to have them call me back to ask me if there was a spot for Bill," Garcia said. "What started as him being here simply as an associate is to where now he literally runs the firm. I'm more Stephen Garcia, emeritus."

It started with the two attorneys and today there are about 57 attorneys and staff in the Long Beach office. Garcia said the firm's growth has been significant in its ability to litigate any size case.

"We're in a position now that because of the successes over the last two decades-plus, that we can fight any size firm no matter how big or the tactics used, and do so on a regular basis," he added.

Many of the recent notable victories for the firm in the last year involve high-profile clients and health care facilities.

In June 2017, the firm obtained a $53.6 million settlement with a large long-term care company based in Lake Forest. The plaintiff had filed a False Claims Act suit against the facility, alleging it fraudulently billed for Medicare and Medicaid/Medi-Cal reimbursement. The U.S. Justice Department also conducted an investigation into the facility's billing practices.

This summer, the firm won a multimillion-dollar settlement over allegations of medical negligence, loss of consortium and violations of the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act against an academic institution and a Southern California medical center and its doctors.

Garcia said he battled big firm defense lawyers in another elder abuse and negligent hiring and supervision case against a Fresno nursing facility. The firm obtained a policy limit of $1 million in recovery in January.

"They were being obfuscators," he said. "They wanted to spend all the money in the world on defense lawyers and none of that money was to take care of their people."

-- Matt Sanderson