Norman H. Pine

Pine said he and his firm have secured at least seven major wins since last summer. Two are particularly noteworthy. In the first, a state appellate decision held for the first time that public-sector employees can sue their employers under California’s Private Attorneys General Act. Sargent v. Board of Trustees of California State University, 2021 DJDAR 2150 (Cal. App. 1st Dist., filed March 5, 2021). In the other, the state Supreme Court opinion found the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department wholly liable for an $8 million judgment — even though a jury determined the sheriff deputies were only partially responsible for a Black man’s death. B.B. v. County of Los Angeles, S250734 (Ca. S. Ct., op. filed Aug. 10, 2020)

Recognized as a Certified Appellate Law Specialist by the State Bar, Pine has long been known for his work on defining employment decisions. But in the near future, at least, he’s turning his attention to another subject altogether.

At press time, Pine was preparing for an upcoming oral argument in an attorney’s fees matter. Litigating the subject is a passion project of his, Pine said.

“I’ve been having this battle with courts since 2015,” he said. “There’s a real misperception by many courts that if a lawyer works on a case on a purely contingent basis, the trial court is free to award a multiplier solely if the court wants to. And the court simply isn’t answerable to anybody else if it elects not to award a multiplier for contingent risk.”

“I think that it’s time for appellate courts to say, ‘You can’t just do that,’” he said. “If the person worked on a contingency basis and you’re not going to give them any type of multiplier for contingent risk, you need to at least give a rational reason for why you’re not doing so.”

Pine co-founded Pine Tillett Pine LLP in 2016 with his wife Beverly Pine and his stepson, Scott Tillett. In recent years, Pine has been working closely with Tillett, he said.

Pine said part of the pleasure of his work stems from taking on cases where he’s helping people in need, he said. But that pleasure also stems from “getting these great results with a close family member who has more than carried his weight, and in fact has taken the lead on some of the most important cases.”

--Jessica Mach