Elliot R. Peters

Peters, the former prosecutor turned defense counsel and Keker name partner, has tried over 50 cases on behalf of CEOs, leading law firms and major corporations. His enjoyment of his work and the personalities he meets, he said, matches the pleasure he takes in reading about the offbeat, colorful hustlers, gamblers and con men that populate Damon Runyon short stories.

“It’s fun,” he said. “I like it. Like Runyon’s characters, I encounter some whose motives aren’t entirely pure.” Law partner and firm founder John W. Keker told him long ago, Peters added, “to consider the possibility that your client might be a criminal—and not be put off by that.”

He’s not naming names, but his long client list includes cyclist Lance Armstrong, plaintiff attorney Bill Lerach, investment banker Frank Quattrone and several law firms.

Peters stressed he wasn’t thinking of anyone on his current roster of defendants. And when he has determined that a client is factually innocent, it’s an even greater burden, he said. “The responsibility of representing someone who is not guilty is huge. The deck is stacked, you have an uphill battle and you can’t rest.”

So it was a satisfying outcome last December when Peters persuaded a judge in Riverside County to dismiss a 10-count felony indictment against local real estate developer John E. Wessman, accused of paying bribes in connection with the redevelopment of a Palm Springs shopping mall. People v. Bougnet, Meaney & Wessman, RIF1700618 (Riverside Co. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 14, 2017).

“Here’s a guy in his 80s who started with nothing, swinging a hammer, who became a huge Coachella Valley success and still rides his bike 30 miles a day,” Peters said. Wessman and two others—who remain scheduled for trial—were enmeshed in one of the most significant cases of alleged public corruption in Palm Springs history.

That was before Peters successfully argued that the case against Wessman was fatally flawed. “The [prosecution] made up for deficiencies in the proof against Mr. Wessman by relying on inadmissible and improper evidence and argument to make their showing stronger,” Peters contended to Riverside County Superior Court Judge Harold W. Hopp. Wessman faced a possible 12-year prison sentence.

“He’s a tough guy, but he is also a wonderful elderly man who was fearful of this ending his life,” Peters said. “He was pretty emotional when I told him the news.”

The prosecution appealed the dismissals and asked to keep the trial date on ice in hopes of reviving its case against Wessman. “I don’t think we’ll lose on appeal,” Peters said.

Meanwhile, he leads a Keker team defending Nixon Peabody LLP against malpractice claims over a tax shelter scheme involving a solar power business. Solar Eclipse Investment Fund III LLC v. Cohnreznick LLP, 19STCV45775 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 17, 2019).

“I feel strong loyalty to my clients, because the power of the government to crush people is so immense,” Peters said.

- John Roemer