Heather L. Rosing

Rosing is a shareholder and the chief financial officer of Klinedisnt PC, where she chairs the professional liability department. She was a leading advocate for splitting the State Bar into a licensing and disciplinary agency, along with a separate California Lawyers Association. Having accomplished the division at the start of 2018, she served as the CLA's inaugural president until October 2019.

"I won't take full credit, but it was me and a group of lawyers who believed we shouldn't have our trade association and our disciplinary arm in one organization," she said. "The State Bar is a public protective agency, and there was a lot of confusion about its roles. This has been one of the most fascinating parts of my career."

As her term as CLA president expired, she was presented with the prestigious Bernard E. Witkin Esq. Award for excellence in public service by the San Diego Law Library Foundation.

"The Witkin Award was a great honor," Rosing said. "I'm a big fan of law libraries for their work in helping self-represented litigants." In the public service arena, with courts closed in the era of Covid, Rosing continues to contribute by having helped establish Resolve San Diego to offer the free assistance of retired judges and qualified local lawyers to civil litigants to streamline the law and motion and mediation processes and move cases forward. "We want to help people achieve justice," she said. "We have more than 250 volunteer neutrals available. We believe it's the first program of its kind in the country."

In her work at Klinedinst, Rosing defends lawyers in complex malpractice and fraud cases and serves as an expert witness in attorney conduct, ethics, malpractice and professional responsibility litigation in proceedings before the State Bar, within the federal court system and with regard to internal processes at governmental agencies.

She doesn't name clients, but in a malicious prosecution case involving one of the world's largest law firms, she and her team secured a major victory on an anti-SLAPP motion, then successfully defended the win on appeal. "That entitled our client to apply for a significant amount in fees," she said.

Rosing has been defending judges before the Commission on Judicial Performance on misconduct charges for a decade. In March, in a matter that gained wide publicity, she steered Ventura County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey G. Bennett to acceptance of a public censure by the CJP for years of offensive comments from the bench. The commission had filed charges that could have led to his removal. Inquiry Concerning Judge Jeffrey G. Bennett, No. 206 (CJP, stip. filed March 10, 2020).

In defense of lawyers who face clients' malpractice claims after settling their cases, Rosing and colleagues in August filed an amicus letter with the state Supreme Court to argue that an appellate opinion affirming a jury's damages award to such a client be reversed. Masellis v. Law Office of Leslie F. Jensen, S263593 (Ca. S. Ct., rev. pet. Filed July 29, 2020).

"We believe the appeals court set a watered-down standard for suing lawyers who settle," Rosing said. "This is a big-ticket issue for the profession."

-- John Roemer