KENNETH GARY RUTTENBERG

Mr. Ruttenberg received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of California at San Diego in 1989. He received his Juris Doctor degree in 1993 from Loyola Law School. While at Loyola Law School, he was a member of Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review.

Mr. Ruttenberg is an experienced civil litigator specializing in business, real estate, employment, and personal injury. He is "AV" rated by Martindale-Hubbell.® He has represented clients in litigation concerning real estate (including condominium law), construction and construction defect, mold claims, business torts, sexual harassment and discrimination, insurance bad faith, and contract. He is admitted to practice before all courts of the State of California and the United States District Court for the Central District of California.

In October 2006, Mr. Ruttenberg obtained a defense verdict at trial on behalf of an employer sued for wrongful termination in violation of public policy.  In November 2006, he obtained a defense verdict at trial on behalf of sellers of real property involving claims of specific performance and breach of contract.  In January 2007, he obtained a defense award in binding arbitration on behalf of a business owner involving claims of breach of contract and fraud.  In May 2007, Mr. Ruttenberg settled a multi-party construction defect lawsuit on behalf of seven homeowners for the total sum of $1,652,000.  One of his most memorable past victories was defending the State of Louisiana at the trial court level and on appeal.

When appropriate, Mr. Ruttenberg uses alternative dispute resolution techniques to settle cases, and has obtained numerous six-figure settlements over the past few years. In 2005, Mr. Ruttenberg lectured on the topic of how to handle a mold claim from the plaintiff’s perspective.

Mr. Ruttenberg is married, has a daughter and lives in Beverly Hills. In his spare time, he enjoys tennis, scuba diving, hiking, and traveling.

BRANDON M. TESSER

Mr. Tesser received his Bachelor of Arts degree in history from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1990. He received his law degree from Loyola Law School in 1993. While in law school, Mr. Tesser was an extern to Hon. Volney V. Brown, Jr., in the United States District Court and Hon. Lisa Hill Fenning in the United States Bankruptcy Court.

Mr. Tesser was recently featured in Los Angeles Magazine after being named a Rising Star in the latest edition of Southern California Super Lawyers. He has also been featured on the national television show Celebrity Justice. Mr. Tesser has been a Fee Dispute Arbitrator for the Los Angeles County Bar Association since 1996 and was previously a member of the Board of Governors for the Century City Bar Association during 2002-2003.

Mr. Tesser specializes in handling complex litigation matters, including business, intellectual property and employment disputes. He is known for his calm, clear and direct manner with clients, judges, jurors and opposing counsel. He has a reputation as a creative problem-solver and has successfully litigated and resolved many difficult cases. Although Mr. Tesser has successfully tried cases to verdicts in courtrooms throughout Southern California, he is a strong proponent of early confidential dispute resolution in appropriate cases.

Mr. Tesser is married and lives in Encino. In his spare time he enjoys surfing, skiing and listening to jazz music.

BRIAN M. GROSSMAN

Mr. Grossman was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1968. Mr. Grossman graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science, and received his Juris Doctor degree from UCLA School of Law in 1993, where he served as Co-Chief Justice on the Moot Court Honors Board.

Mr. Grossman is an experienced litigator and trial attorney specializing in entertainment-related and general business litigation. He has represented clients in litigation involving contract, copyright, trademark, real estate and construction disputes. In 2004, Mr. Grossman successfully represented the plaintiff and cross-defendant in a two-week jury trial, wherein his client was awarded both compensatory and punitive damages in a nuisance / harassment case between two neighbors. Later that year, Mr. Grossman successfully represented the defendant in a three-week bench trial, wherein the court found no liability against his client on a $1.6 million construction claim.  In 2006, Mr. Grossman successfully represented the plaintiffs and cross-defendants in a one-week jury trial, which resulted in a favorable settlement after the jury returned a malice verdict against one of the defendants.  Mr. Grossman was recently honored as a “Super Lawyer” by Los Angeles Magazine.

Published Decisions: Gottlieb vs. Kest (2006) 141 Cal.App.4th 110.

Mr. Grossman is admitted to practice before all courts of the State of California, the United States District Courts in California and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

In his free time, Mr. Grossman enjoys playing the piano, tennis, softball, and rooting for his beloved but often heart-wrenching New York Jets.

Email: bgrossman@tesser-ruttenberg.com

Ms. Turner received her Bachelor of Arts, with high distinction, from the University of Michigan in 1990. She received her Juris Doctor from Loyola Law School in 1994.

Ms. Turner represents management clients in labor and employment related matters. She defends private sector employers before state, federal and administrative agencies. Her experience includes defending claims of breach of contract, fraud, discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment (including sexual harassment), retaliation, wage and hour violations and unfair competition. A substantial part of Ms. Turner’s practice involves counseling senior executives, human resources managers and in-house attorneys regarding all aspects of human resources issues and legal compliance to help clients avoid litigation. She provides day-to-day advice to clients on hiring and firing, employee discipline and termination, personnel policies and procedures, wage and hour laws, benefits, leaves of absence, workplace investigations, corporate restructuring, layoffs and protection of trade secrets.

Ms. Turner drafts and updates employment agreements, separation agreements, consulting agreements, confidentiality agreements, waiver and releases and employee handbooks.

Ms. Turner also conducts investigations of employee complaints (including harassment and discrimination complaints and claims asserted in administrative proceedings, such as DFEH and EEOC charges), and provides training programs for management and employees.

Prior to joining Tesser & Ruttenberg, Ms. Turner was a partner with Riordan & McKinzie and Bingham McCutchen.

Ms. Turner lives in West Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

Email: aturner@tesser-ruttenberg.com

JASON J. LIBERMAN

Mr. Liberman received his Bachelor of Science with a degree in Finance and Business Economics in 1991 from the University of Southern California. He received his law degree from Pepperdine Law School in 1993, where he where he was on the Deans List in 1991-1992, won a scholarship award in 1993 and was a member of the Moot Court Board. While in law school, Mr. Liberman was an extern to Hon. Joseph Reichmann in the United States District Court.

Mr. Liberman specializes in handling business transactions and intellectual property matters, frequently on behalf of musicians and bands. His practice includes advising clients regarding intellectual property matters such as trademark and copyright selection and the creation, protection, registration, exploitation and enforcement of intellectual property rights. Mr. Liberman has extensive transactional experience and has negotiated and drafted hundreds of deals for his clients.

Mr. Liberman is a member of the Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County and Century City Bar Associations. Prior to joining Tesser & Ruttenberg, Mr. Liberman was an associate with the national law firm Holland & Knight.

Mr. Liberman is married and lives in Thousand Oaks. In his spare time he enjoys golfing and riding mountain bikes.