Deborah S. Chang

In a long-running negligence case, Chang and colleagues at Panish Shea & Boyle established for the first time that public colleges have a duty to protect students from foreseeable violence in classrooms and elsewhere. That important outcome -- aided by the appellate advocacy of sole practitioner Alan Charles Dell'Ario, who argued the matter before a state appellate panel and at the state Supreme Court--stemmed from the 2009 stabbing of pre-med student Katherine Rosen by a UCLA classmate.

The high court's decision returned the case to a Los Angeles County trial court, where Chang and colleagues, after a decade of litigation, settled the matter for a confidential amount earlier this year.

"It was an amicable agreement," Chang said. "And Rosen is now an MD completing her residency out of state." Rosen wishes to maintain as low a profile as possible, Chang added. Katherine Rosen v. The Regents of the University of California, SC108504 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 22, 2010).

Chang moved to of counsel status at the Panish firm this year to concentrate on a new venture: She and five other nationally prominent women trial attorneys have put together a virtual law firm with the goal of empowering women while managing significant cases together. The new firm, Athena Lawyers LLP, will make a formal announcement when it files its first case, which Chang said will be a blockbuster California wrongful death suit involving numerous plaintiffs and female decedents.

"Women are leaving the profession in droves. It's alarming," Chang said in explaining why she hopes to encourage many to stay in the law. "Eighty percent of all trials are tried by men. Only 20 percent of equity partners in big firms are women. We want to change that by promoting and motivating women."

Back at Panish, Shea & Boyle, Chang last year settled for $20 million a negligence suit on behalf of bicyclist Sheng Du, who will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair after he broke his neck when he rode his bike into an unmarked open construction trench in San Diego County in 2017. Du v. City of San Diego, 37-2018-00010639 (S. Diego Super. Ct., filed March 2, 2018).

"Dangerous conditions of public property cases are never easy," Chang said of the challenges she faced in the litigation. "The first thing a defense lawyer on this case said to me was, 'He drove right into an open trench in daylight!' But when they saw the complete evidence picture, they knew they were going to get killed in court. Mr. Du is a remarkable man, and he and his family and we wanted to make a point about public safety. This case has sure changed the way I look out for bikers when I'm driving."

-- John Roemer