Alex A. Graft

Alex A. Graft is a partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith in San Francisco. He has been a professional liability lawyer since 2005. Graft said he appreciates working with sophisticated clients in a wide range of subject matter and finds that there is always something new to learn, which keeps his practice interesting.

“I’ve had recent success with a number of anti-SLAPP motions, both at the trial court level and on appeal, in which we were able to achieve dismissal and, in some instances, recoup attorney’s fees for our clients resulting from the Plaintiff attempting to chill the free speech and petitioning rights of clients,” he said. “One example resulted in the unpublished opinion Salazar v. Whelan, 2023 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 2800. I can think of at least three other anti-SLAPP victories over the past two years which resulted in entitlement to an attorney fee recovery.”

In the Salazar case, the anti-SLAPP motion was initially denied after a hearing before the trial court, despite an initial favorable tentative ruling, but was later reversed on appeal.

Graft believes that one trend in the field that needs to be addressed is lawyers relying on AI instead of actual legal research when evaluating cases and assessing the state of applicable law.

“I’ve had clients who have sent me AI-generated research in response to inquiries about underlying legal principles, which is a concerning trend,” said Graft.