Clerkships

• Hon. Ruggero J. Aldisert, U.S. Court of Appeals, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit (1996-1997)
• Hon. Eugene A. Wright, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1995) (extern)

Bar Admissions

• California
• Washington (Inactive)
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Professional Associations

• Association of Southern California Defense Counsel
• American Bar Association, Council of Appellate Lawyers, Chair of Long-Range Planning Committee (2004-2006), Member of Executive Board 2000-2003, Chair of Membership Committee 2001-2004, Judicial Division Lawyers Conference, Publications Chair 1999-2001, Litigation Section Appellate Practice Committee
• Federal Bar Association, Los Angeles Chapter

Curt Cutting

Curt Cutting joined the firm in 1997 and became a partner in 2005. He has been lead appellate counsel in cases spanning a wide array of subject areas, including contract disputes, insurance bad faith, inverse condemnation, products and premises liability, and toxic torts. 

Mr. Cutting has extensive experience in cases involving punitive damages, and has handled a number of appeals in which multi-million dollar punitive damage awards were reversed or sharply reduced. He has filed several amicus briefs in the United States Supreme Court in punitive damages cases and he is the primary contributor to the firm’s blog on punitive damages litigation.

In 2009, Mr. Cutting was lead appellate counsel for Northern Insurance Company of New York in Griffin Dewatering v. Northern Insurance Co., in which the California Court of Appeal reversed an $11.1 million judgment, including $10 million in punitive damages.  The case was featured in the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journal.

Mr. Cutting was also lead appellate counsel for the City of San Diego in Border Business Park v. City of San Diego, in which the California Court of Appeal reversed a $91.7 million inverse condemnation award against the City and ordered a new trial on a $30.8 million breach of contract award. In 2007, Mr. Cutting was honored with a CLAY award (California Lawyer Attorney of the Year) for his work on Border Business Park.

Mr. Cutting has been named a “Best Lawyer” by The Best Lawyers In America since 2009.  In 2008, he was profiled in the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journal’s 20 Under 40, which features outstanding lawyers under the age of 40.  He has been listed as a Super Lawyers “Rising Star” each year from 2006-2010.

Mr. Cutting is a founding member of the American Bar Association’s Council of Appellate Lawyers, the first national bench-bar organization for appellate lawyers. He served on the executive board of the Council from 2000-2003.

Mr. Cutting has been a frequent speaker on the subjects of appellate practice, punitive damages, and California's civil jury instructions.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Cutting was an attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service.