John C. Taylor

Manhattan Beach

Personal Injury, Wrongful Death, Child Sexual Abuse, Police Excessive Force & Sexual Harassment

As a tireless fighter for justice, John C. Taylor has a reputation that extends well beyond the boundaries of the courtroom.

He has dedicated his career to representing victims in a wide range of cases, from police misconduct and civil rights violations to childhood sexual abuse, complex personal injury and wrongful death.

Over the years, Taylor has represented clients in more than 125 jury trials.

In just the last year, Taylor started six jury trials that have all yielded positive outcomes.

"Our team has been working on a series of challenging cases against Los Angeles Unified School District involving five different teachers who abused students over a 10-year period at one high school. The trials for each of these cases took place from January 2023 until last week, with the fourth settling after the completion of jury selection," Taylor explained. "Interestingly, right before opening statements, LAUSD decided to resolve the cases, which was a significant development after years of hard work. This brought a sense of relief and satisfaction to our client."

Taylor also represented Latoya Reinhold and her children, whose husband, Kurt Andras Reinhold, had been killed in a police shooting by the Orange County Sheriff's deputies.

"He was homeless living in Orange County when he became a target of racial profiling by the deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department, incredibly, members of the Homeless Outreach Team. Claiming to have a pretextual reason to stop him, the deputies harassed Reinhold, escalating the interaction," Taylor explained.

Tragically, during the afternoon encounter in San Clemente, deputies threw him to the ground, engaged in a struggle, and ultimately shot him twice, killing him. Latoya Reinhold v. County of Orange, 8:20-cv-02369 (O.C. Super., filed Dec. 17, 2020).

"Our pursuit of justice for this family led to the settlement of this case, which involved the largest payout Orange County had ever made in a police excessive force lawsuit," he said. "The resolution brought solace to the family. We are very proud of the positive outcomes we achieved for our clients in these cases."

--Douglas Saunders