Mark C. Holscher

Holscher handles commercial litigation and white collar defense cases. Over the past five years he has obtained verdicts and settlements worth more than $1.1 billion; he has defended clients against multiple claims in excess of a billion dollars.

He said some younger lawyers may be conflicted about whether remote work’s advantages outweigh the lure of returning to the office, but that attorneys he has mentored who have attained partnerships, are leading teams and are eager to get back to the shop. “Sierra Elizabeth just won a big 3M trial, for example,” he said of a Kirkland commercial litigation partner’s defense verdict in a bellwether combat earplug case. “My prediction is coming true: you’ll be writing more about her than me pretty soon.”

In December, Holscher, as liaison counsel for developer plaintiffs in the big 2015 Porter Ranch natural gas well blowout litigation, succeeded in keeping Southern California Gas Co.’s parent, Sempra Energy, in the case despite its effort to elude liability for the disaster. Holscher is trial counsel to Toll Brothers, a luxury home builder, and the Porter Ranch Development Co. Southern California Gas Leak Cases, JCCP 4861 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 2, 2016).

Holscher noted that the development, in which the trial judge denied Sempra’s motion for summary judgment, is important as the case moves toward trial. “The parent was involved in the post-blowout conduct at issue here,” he said.

In a pro bono case, he represents a group of parents in a proposed class action alleging that the Los Angeles Unified School District’s plans for distance learning deprives students—especially Black and Latino students—the basic education equality guaranteed by the California Education Code and the California Constitution. Shaw v. LAUSD, 20STCV36489 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Sept. 24, 2020).

“The problem with remote instruction is made worse by already poor educational opportunities offered children from disadvantaged backgrounds,” the complaint states. Even under normal conditions, “the LAUSD has been unable to close gaps caused by widely disparate access to educational opportunity as well as inequitable access to support and enrichment outside of school for the most vulnerable.”

In February a trial judge granted Kirkland’s request for expedited discovery in connection with its upcoming preliminary injunction motion.

Holscher said the problem is acute. “Ten to 15 percent of these kids have just checked out [of the school system] altogether. And the defendants want no one but LAUSD deciding what to do. We are really focused on getting relief for these kids.”

--John Roemer