Appeals


Tesser & Ruttenberg handles all types of civil appeals in the state and federal courts. The Firm’s broad based appellate practice includes the prosecution and defense of civil appeals, writ of mandate and other extraordinary writ petitions, stay orders, and appellate motions. The Firm's lawyers have appeared before the California Supreme Court, the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel, and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.

Business & Commercial Litigation


Tesser & Ruttenberg prosecutes and defends most types of business, commercial and civil litigation in state and federal courts within the state of California. The depth of the experience of our litigators ensures that we can successfully serve all of our clients’ litigation needs, whether they involve business matters, real estate issues, employment-related claims, copyright disputes, unfair competition claims, business torts or insurance matters. We serve as vigorous and effective advocates for our clients, striving to meet their needs and involving them at every stage of the proceedings.

Condominium Law
The Firm represents both homeowners and residential developments throughout Southern California in litigation and non-litigation matters concerning enforcement of CC&R’s, associations’ and directors’ fiduciary obligations, construction defects, construction disputes, insurance issues, and mold claims.

Construction and Construction Defect Litigation


Tesser & Ruttenberg’s construction practice draws on its attorneys’ considerable experience in all aspects of construction law, including residential and commercial construction defect litigation, arbitration and mediation. The Firm represents residents, homeowners’ associations, landlords, tenants, builders and contractors. We have successfully prosecuted, defended and mediated complex construction claims involving both public and private projects. We are familiar with all elements of these claims, including defective specifications, differing site conditions, suspension of work, mechanic’s liens, payment issues, excess changes, labor inefficiency and delay claims, as well as other construction-related issues.

The firm’s expertise in the construction area includes:

• Preventive counseling
• Preparation, prosecution, defense and mediation of claims
• Construction defect cases of all types
• Public works projects
• Insurance counseling and litigation

Copyright and Enterainment


The Firm’s entertainment litigation practice runs the gamut from invasion of privacy and right of publicity actions to suits concerning idea submission claims, and litigation of recording, film, distribution, and talent contracts. We also represent clients in all phases of copyright litigation, and have successfully represented clients in copyright disputes against some of the largest media companies in the world.

Employment


Tesser & Ruttenberg provides superior representation of both employees and management in all types of employment and employment-related disputes. The Firm has particular expertise in the representation of victims of harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Recognizing that employment disputes are inherently invasive, costly and disruptive, in appropriate cases the Firm utilizes pre-litigation dispute resolution to successfully resolve employment claims without protracted litigation. When employment disputes cannot be resolved, we aggressively litigate our clients’ cases in state and federal court.

• Sexual harassment
• Assault and battery
• Gender discrimination/harassment
• Race discrimination/harassment
• Wrongful termination
• Breach of contract
• Wage and hour disputes
• Overtime wage claims

Insurance


The Firm has far-reaching experience in litigating a wide variety of insurance issues, including disputes involving differing coverage forms and exclusions. Businesses and individuals named as defendants in complex business litigation often retain the firm to assist them in pursuing coverage under policies of commercial general liability insurance, and umbrella and excess liability insurance. When necessary to obtain policy benefits, the Firm has successfully represented insureds in “bad faith” litigation against their insurers.

In addition to directly representing clients in coverage and bad faith litigation, we also draw on our expertise to provide our clients with advice on underlying claims. The Firm also assists clients in evaluating their insurance needs before losses occur or claims have been asserted by reviewing a client's current coverage and evaluating whether it provides sufficient protection against loss and liability.

Intellectual Property


Our intellectual property litigation practice covers intellectual property, trademarks and copyrights, the protection of trade secrets, and unfair competition issues.

Mold Claims



The firm’s attorneys have been handling mold exposure claims since 1998. Since that time we have developed a reputation as one of the premier firms in Southern California which handle mold claims on behalf of homeowners, tenants, and insureds. Our expertise in construction, insurance, personal injury, real estate, and condominium law make us uniquely qualified to successfully prosecute mold claims. The firm’s track record of success speaks for itself as we have been successful in every mold claim we have handled.

The Firm has been recognized by its peers for its expertise in handling mold claims and partner Ken Ruttenberg recently lectured to a mixed group including attorneys, insurance personnel and mold abatement contractors on the subject of handling mold claims from a plaintiff’s perspective.

The Firm also has extensive experience prosecuting first-party mold bad-faith actions.

Personal Injury


The Firm’s members are highly experienced in handling personal injury claims. Over the years the Firm has established an exceptional record of success in achieving outstanding results for its clients.

We are not your typical personal injury lawyers. We do not handle a high volume of personal injury cases. Rather, we pick and choose our cases carefully, only handling a relatively small number of cases at any given time. This ensures we have sufficient time and resources to give each case the personalized attention it deserves. The Firm also distinguishes itself from other personal injury firms by treating its clients in a dignified and respectful manner and by responding promptly to client inquiries.

We do not handle cases with the sole purpose of reaching a quick and easy settlement which does not adequately compensate our clients for their injuries and damages. The Firm works hard to obtain the maximum compensation available, whether through settlement or trial. Our attorneys are not afraid to go to trial, when necessary, to obtain the best results for our clients. In many cases the Firm works with a team of professionals, expert witnesses, doctors, and investigators in order to achieve the best outcome.

Our personal injury practice includes representation in the following types of matters:

• Automobile Accidents
• Asbestos Exposure
• Construction Accidents
• Defective Products
• Mold Claims
• Premises Liability
• Sexual Harassment
• Toxic Torts (Including Mold and Asbestos Exposure)
• Wrongful Death

Real Estate


Our firm handles a wide variety of real estate litigation matters, including non-disclosure claims, landlord/tenant issues, construction disputes, construction defect claims, neighbor disputes, and eminent domain cases.