David M. deRubertis 

To represent plaintiffs in employment cases, David M. deRubertis founded The deRubertis Law Firm APC in 2000 after graduating summa cum laude from Loyola Law School and magna cum laude from UCLA. He is the sole shareholder and lead trial lawyer.

“Hard work serves a lot better than brains in what we do,” he said, downplaying his academic achievements. “There are no shortcuts in trial prep. You put in the time, learn the case and master the law, then you’re ready.”

DeRubertis said he’s cut his firm from five or six lawyers to two over the past several years. He’s looking to hire one more attorney. “Some people believe in leveraging your reputation and building a firm, but I hated the administrative headaches and the feeling of being spread too thin. Cases didn’t have my personal touch, so I scaled back. We are selective. We take cases with significant harm and the truth on our side.

“Now I have cases stacked up, and this is what I signed up for,” he continued.

In mid-July, deRubertis was readying for an August civil rights trial in San Francisco for a hotel concierge who claims that his employer’s failure to accommodate his disability led to serious medical problems. Callahan v. Marriott Marquis Hotel et al., CGC20584599 (S.F. Super. Ct., filed May 28, 2020).

“He became semi-paralyzed from a surgical procedure gone bad and he tried to get Marriott to provide him with a proper workstation. When they wouldn’t, it pushed him into stress overload that triggered a heart condition. Now, he needs a heart transplant,” deRubertis said. “It gets my blood boiling. This is the tragic story of a great human being.”

DeRubertis was brought into the case by original counsel as the trial approached. “This is the overwhelming part of what I do,” he said. “Trial prep and the trial itself are where I jump in. I seriously love what I do.”

He and co-counsel were a Daily Journal Top Verdicts winner for their $464.6 million dollar harassment and retaliation verdict in 2022 for workers at a major utility. It was the largest employment law verdict in U.S. history, deRubertis said. To avert an appeal, he and the defendant reached a confidential post-trial settlement that included his fees following a multiday mediation. Martinez and Page v. Southern California Edison Co. et al., BC670461 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 1, 2017).

—John Roemer