Christopher D. Hu

SAN FRANCISCO - Christopher D. Hu is an associate at Horvitz & Levy LLP, which he joined in 2019 and where he specializes in appellate law.

Following his graduation from Stanford Law School, where he was president of the law review and worked at the Supreme Court Litigation Clinic, he clerked for Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and for Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu at the state Supreme Court.

"I was fortunate to do two appellate clerkships and especially fortunate that I graduated just at the time when Justice Liu had joined the court and was reviving the practice of hiring law school graduates as his clerks," instead of relying on the court's staff lawyers Hu said. "I gained a lot of knowledge about how the state court system works."

At Horvitz, Hu has five merits cases pending before the state Supreme Court. In June 2022, he made his first oral argument before the justices.

"It was a little surreal to go back there to argue before the people I'd worked for," he said.

The case raised an important question about the scope of the state statute that shields property owners from liability for injuries sustained by individuals who enter their property for recreational activities. The court will decide whether an invitation by a nonlandowner made without the landowners' knowledge or approval is sufficient to strip the landowners of immunity under the statute. Hoffman v. Young, S266003 (Ca. S. Ct., rev. granted Feb. 10, 2021).

The court's opinion is pending. "I got a lot of questions--it was a very active bench," Hu said. "I like the back and forth. I'm not so good at delivering a monologue. Justice [Leondra R.] Kruger had some really smart questions, and I tried to give straight answers instead of argument."

Hu added that the hardest part of this and most Supreme Court cases is getting the justices to grant review in the first place. "They take less than 5% of cases, so getting a grant of review isn't easy." In a rare state Supreme Court case where the defendant failed to enter an appearance, the justices appointed Hu to brief and argue on a pro bono basis in support of the Court of Appeal's position. The question: does a state whistleblower statute protect an employee from retaliation for disclosing unlawful activity to a person or agency that already knows about the activity. The state appellate panel answered in the negative. Briefing is in progress. People ex rel. Garcia-Bower v. Kolla's Inc., S269456 (Ca. S. Ct., rev. granted Sept. 1, 2021).

"It's cool to experience a case where the Supreme Court appointed me," Hu said.