Deborah Chang

Chang’s major activities this year came in pairs. “I started two law firms and then became president of two organizations,” she said. “If you would have told me that, I would have said you’re nuts. But it really happened.”

The first of the law firms is Athea Trial Lawyers, which brings together six powerhouse women tort attorneys from around the country and is intended to show that women can try important cases and win record-setting verdicts, she said. As part of that goal, all six also lead their individual firms, which is why Chang left Panish, Shea & Boyle to open Chang Klein.

The two organizations are the statewide Consumer Attorneys of California and the Los Angeles chapter of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates. She took on the ABOTA top post six months early when her predecessor stepped down.

Fortunately, the goals of the two groups are completely in synch right now. “What we’re all interested in is getting our courts back to normal and making sure that things are running and not delayed, and the jury trial is preserved,” Chang said.

One particular problem is that minor’s compromise cases are not being heard, she said. “It’s a huge problem throughout the state.”

That issue struck home for Chang this year because she and her firms settled two cases on behalf of little girls who suffered traumatic brain injuries, one from a serious traffic accident and another from nearly drowning in a hotel hot tub.

She and Athea are pressing ahead with two high-profile cases. She blocked demurrers and now is in discovery in a case for the families of three women crushed under the sudden collapse of a sandy cliff at an Encinitas beach. In the other case, still in the pleadings stage, she represents the husband of Uganda’s young ambassador for women and girls, who was killed when a faulty gate at Arches National Park crashed through the couple’s windshield.

Her firms are jointly suing San Diego police for refusing a family’s demand to take their son, an 18-year-old YouTube star having “a meltdown,” in on a mental health hold. The young man then drove his sportscar at more than 100 miles per hour against traffic, killing a mother and daughter. Pizarro v. City of San Diego, 37-2019-00039360 (S.D. Cal., filed July 29, 2019).

— Don DeBenedictis