Deborah Chang

Chang’s historic wins have broken records and even set legal precedent.

In Katherine Rosen v. The Regents of the University of California, SC108504 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed June 22, 2010), her work helped establish the duty colleges and universities in the state have to protect students from known dangers in the classroom.

But her practice wasn’t always focused on plaintiffs’ work. Chang, who recently launched Athea Trial Lawyers LLP and is a partner at Chang | Klein LLP, began her career as a defense attorney, but said she has always focused on the plaintiffs in a case.

“It helps to know who the plaintiff is because we could assess them, we would know what makes them tick, we could settle, we could do a lot of things,” Chang said. “And I started getting the same comments from my opposing counsel, ‘You really are on the wrong side.’”

She leaped into plaintiffs work shortly after helping Brian Panish of Panish Shea & Boyle on a case in San Francisco in the early 2000s.

“I was doing a case in Miami and Brian had just broken off his firm and he said, ‘You need to get your mind off your trial. Why don’t you come help us on this one case in San Francisco?’ I was just helping in the background, but I thought, wow, this is really interesting and you know, I just never looked back,” she said.

Soon after, she joined Panish’s firm. She practiced law there for 15 years before departing earlier this year.

She is now handling two ongoing cases, one of which is Athea Trial Lawyers LLP’s first case since its launch, Hudson v. Northwest Hotel Corp., 30-2019-01052572 (O.C. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 19, 2019).

The personal injury case, which is in the closing arguments phase, involves a six-year-old, who suffered brain damage after almost drowning in an overheated spa at an Anaheim hotel. The lawsuit alleges various failures and a lack of an emergency plan resulted in the child’s injury.

Chang is also co-lead counsel on a lawsuit involving the family members of three women who were killed after blocks of sandstone from an urbanized cliff collapsed and crushed them on the beach below. The case recently survived a demurrer filed by the city and the state that claimed natural immunity, arguing the incident was a tragic accident that often occurs in nature. Chang successfully argued the incident was not a natural one and was caused by manmade decisions and conduct. Davis v. California, 37-2020-0003015 (S.D. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 25, 2020).

In addition to her trial practice, Chang holds leadership roles in various legal organizations, including as president of Consumer Attorneys of California and president-elect of the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

“Being on the defense side is so easy because you never worry, … but on the plaintiff’s side, everything we do matters so deeply, and it is such a responsibility,” Chang said.

“It keeps you up at night, but the rewards are so great,” she added. “We’re one of the few people in the world, who can honestly say after a case … that you really made a difference in someone’s life. There’s just no feeling like it.”

— Kamila Knaudt