Angela C. Agrusa

Los Angeles

Class Action Litigation

Angela C. Agrusa is the managing partner of DLA Piper's Los Angeles office, co-chair of the class action and mass action litigation group and co-chair of the food and beverage sector. She is the first Latinx member of the firm's executive board.

Early in her career, at another firm, she got a crash introduction to what has become a specialty: representing brands in trouble, "when a client is alleged to have done something unpalatable," as she put it. The job: defending an oil company on price-fixing claims that allegedly shortchanged California by as much as $750 million. A Los Angeles jury in 1999 voted for a defense verdict.

Along with a crowded schedule aiding clients, she has grown DLA Piper's Los Angeles office to 120 attorneys and tripled its revenue over the last four years. She serves on the boards of Loyola Law School and Public Counsel. She joined the firm in 2017 after working at Liner LLP and Baker & Hostetler LLP.

In first-of-its-kind impact litigation, Agrusa represents yogurt maker Danone U.S., Silk plant-based milks, Horizon Organic Milk and Evian Waters from accusations that their packaging contributes to the plastic pollution crisis. Ten of the nation's largest makers of consumer products are defendants, including Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Proctor & Gamble. Earth Island Institute v. Danone U.S. et al., RG18912553 (S. Mateo Co. Super. Ct., filed Feb. 26, 2020).

The challenge is to manage the case as it proceeds slowly while media attention threatens to swamp justice, Agrusa said.

The same is true of her work for Motel 6, an economy lodging sector leader, in dozens of actions across the U.S. that accuse it of complicity in human trafficking. She has mostly reached resolutions that avoid the revictimization of survivors and allow the direction of resources to programs that support victim advocacy.

"Legally, this is an existential problem in the hotel industry," Argusa said. "It's unprecedented to hold hotel operators responsible for this, and we proceed on two tracks: We ensure that we have policies and practices in place that capture the risk -- it's really satisfying to learn to counteract traffickers' tactics. And we defend the cases in a way that is respectful to the rights of survivors."

Agrusa also sponsors her firm's Hispanic Latino Resource Group. "After all the time I've spent building my practice, I want a legacy to keep the work going," she said.

--John Roemer