Christine D. Spagnoli

Spagnoli has been a top trial lawyer for people harmed by defective vehicles and other auto accidents for many years. Among her cases, of course, many have involved child car seats.

So when a Florida lawyer she had worked with in the past called her late last year about a 4-year-old boy from Maryland who had died when his booster seat failed, she wasn’t surprised. She knew just what to do.

She called an expert on the East Coast she knew from other such cases. He looked into the case and discovered that Consumer Reports had faulted that model seat for breaking in test crashes.

“That really pricked up my ears that there’s a bigger problem here,” Spagnoli said.

Along with the Florida attorney and another Los Angeles attorney, she filed a proposed class action seeking compensation for consumers who purchased the seats. Stevens v. Britax Child Safety Inc., 2:20-cv-07373 (C.D. Cal., filed Aug 14, 2020).

Then, in late April, she and others filed against the car seat company on behalf of the boy’s mother. Little v. Owuor and Britax Child Safety Inc., C-21-CV-21-000163 (Washington Cnty. Circ. Ct., Md., filed April 27, 2021).

Spagnoli emphasizes product safety cases in her practice. For instance, she is wrapping up 20 years as the lead attorney overseeing all lawsuits coordinated in California against Cooper Tire and Rubber Co. for accidents caused by tread separation. Winston Tire Cases, JCCP4292, (L.A. Super. Ct., coor’d. March 28, 2003).

But she also expects to go to trial in October against a big-rig driver and trucking company over a rear-end crash that caused major injuries. Scanlon v C.R. England Inc., CIVDS1918714 (S.B. Super. Ct. filed June 25, 2019).

In addition to handling litigation, Spagnoli has been working with the Los Angeles Superior Court and with the national trial bar, the American Association for Justice, on efforts to keep courts functioning and civil cases moving during the pandemic. The AAJ task force has put on webinars featuring attorneys who have tried cases virtually, and it has circulated a draft brief on constitutional concerns about virtual jury selection.

She keeps busy, too, as a member of committees helping vet judicial candidates for Gov. Gavin Newsom and for Sen. Alex Padilla.

“It’s challenging in that there are many spots to be filled and many applicants who desire a spot on the federal or state bench,” Spagnoli said. “There’s a lot of pressure to do that fairly quickly.”

— Don DeBenedictis