Roman M. Silberfeld

Silberfeld, the national trial chair at Robins Kaplan, is a 40-year veteran of business litigation on both the plaintiff and defense side. He is president-elect of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers; his elevation to that post has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

"I was to take office April 1, except they had to cancel the annual meeting," he said. "They decided to keep the current leadership in place for another year. My wife and I had planned a series of trips for the Academy to Vancouver, Amsterdam and Brussels. All canceled. The meeting next year is set for Memphis, but none of us has any real genuine confidence that we'll be gathering in 500-person ballrooms anytime soon."

He added in early August that he is still working remotely. "Today I went in early [to the office] to pick up some mail and Century City is a ghost town."

Among his current cases, Silberfeld serves as co-lead counsel representing nine California cities and counties in state court in connection with the opioid crisis and its associated health care costs. "We're waiting for our JCCP to get underway," he said, referring to a coordinated proceeding stalled while he litigated his right to peremptorily challenge both the judge who decided the cases should be combined and the judge assigned to hear the combined cases.

Silberfeld prevailed, but it took a trip to the state Supreme Court. Prescription Opioid Cases, S259626 (Ca. Sup. Ct., order with directions filed Feb. 11, 2020).

In June 2019 Silberfeld and co-lead counsel Roland K. Tellis of Baron & Budd PC settled for $423 million plus attorney fees and costs of $34.5 million, a national class action over a bank's business practice of manipulating auto insurance on financed vehicles. In re Wells Fargo Collateral Protection Insurance Litigation, 8:17-ml-02797 (C.D. Cal., filed Oct. 18, 2017).

"That was a great one," Silberberg said. "We're in claims administration and distribution, with more than $400 million being pushed out to consumers. I'm exceptionally proud of the work we did with Roland and Baron & Budd. It was one of the great professional collaborations between two firms."

Silberberg is acting as special counsel to the governor in long-running prison litigation over inmate mental health care. The pandemic has complicated matters, with the release of prisoners in the works. "How do you balance the safety of inmates and staff with the safety of the public," he said, pointing to a key current issue. "Of course, inmate mental health needs are made more acute by Covid. You may ask, what's a trial lawyer doing here? I'm trying to bring a courtroom perspective to my colleagues in Sacramento."

-- John Roemer