
Dean Bochner defends manufacturers, hospitals, universities, and other entities in high exposure litigation.
At trial, Dean assists clients by preparing dispositive motions and preserving critical issues for appeal. On appeal, Dean serves as lead counsel in cases covering a wide range of practice areas, including products liability, medical malpractice, premises liability, defamation, and employment disputes.
Dean is a partner at the firm, where he has been practicing law since 2004. Before joining the firm, Dean served as executive vice president of a financial services company that purchases assignments of civil judgments pending on appeal. In that capacity, Dean evaluated hundreds of civil appeals in state and federal courts throughout the country.
Dean previously worked as a litigation associate at the law firm of Tuttle & Taylor, where he handled a variety of civil litigation matters in the trial and appellate courts. He also clerked for two federal judges, worked as a staff attorney at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and taught legal research and writing at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law.
In 2013, the Board of Trustees of the State Bar of California appointed Dean to serve a three-year term on the State Bar’s Standing Committee on Appellate Courts. That committee initiated and commented on proposed rule changes and legislation affecting appellate court operations and appellate practice, and provided continuing legal education to lawyers in the field of appellate law. In 2017, Dean was selected to serve on the Committee on Appellate Courts of the California Lawyers Association’s Litigation Section. Dean served as chair of that committee in 2021 and 2022.
Representative Matters
Morgenthaler v. Zircon Corporation (2024)
California Court of Appeal affirms summary judgment for shipper of goods that hired trucking company whose driver caused an accident.
Read MoreLi v. Cole Haan LLC (2024)
California Court of Appeal affirms summary judgment for owner of retail store in premises liability action.
Read MoreElizondo v. Riverside Community Hospital (2023)
California Court of Appeal affirms judgment on jury verdict in favor of hospital in medical malpractice action.
Read MoreHoffmann v. Young (2022)
California Supreme Court rejects lower court’s expansive reading of the “express invitation exception” to California’s recreational use immunity statute.
Read MoreEstate of Lamerle Johnson, Sr. v. Mayacamas Holdings LLC (2021)
California Court of Appeal affirms summary judgment for resort operator and property owners in a wrongful/death survival action arising out of a tragic canoe accident.
Read MoreSwanson v. The Marley-Wylain Company (2021)
California Court of Appeal reverses $5.5 million judgment in mesothelioma case due to instructional error
Read MoreDoe v. Department of Children and Family Services (2019)
Horvitz & Levy persuades Court of Appeal to affirm nonsuit for foster family agency in negligence case
Read MoreSteele v. Bell-Carter Foods (2019)
California Court of Appeal affirms summary judgment in products liability and warranty action against olive producer.
Read MoreHuerta v. Kava Holdings, Inc. (2018)
California Court of Appeal affirms judgment for hotel in FEHA case.
Read MoreHake v. Allied Fluid Products Corp. (2018)
Court of Appeal affirms nonsuit on ground that plaintiff's "every exposure" theory was insufficient to prove causation under Kansas law.
Read MoreCollin v. CalPortland Company (2014)
California Court of Appeal affirms summary judgment in asbestos injury action against joint compound manufacturer.
Read MoreGarcia v. ConMed Corporation (2012)
California Court of Appeal affirms judgment in favor of medical device manufacturer in products liability action.
Read MoreMolina v. Shell Oil Co. (2010)
California Court of Appeal affirms defense verdict in product defect action against chemical manufacturers, rejecting plaintiffs' attempt to use jury instructions developed for asbestos litigation.
Read MoreCredentials
Education
- University of Michigan Law School
J.D., cum laude, 1994 - Stanford University
A.B., Phi Beta Kappa, with distinction, 1990
Clerkships
- Hon. Barry G. Silverman, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- Hon. Elaine E. Bucklo, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois
Bar Admissions
- California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
Professional Associations
- California Lawyers Association, Committee on Appellate Courts, Chair (2021-2022), Vice Chair (2020-2021), Treasurer (2019-2020), Member (2017-present)
- State Bar of California, Standing Committee on Appellate Courts (2013-2016)
- Los Angeles County Bar Association, Appellate Courts Section
- The Bar Association of San Francisco, Appellate Law Section
- DRI
- Association of Southern California Defense Counsel
- Association of Defense Counsel of Northern California
Awards
- Super Lawyers (2014-2025)
Publications
- Editor, California Lawyers Association Litigation Update (2018–present)
- Revisiting California’s No-Citation Rule (2021) California Litigation, Vol. 34, No. 2, p. 27 (with David S. Ettinger)
- Co-Author, California Litigation Review, Appeals and Writs section, 2024 edition
- Co-Author, California Litigation Review, Appeals and Writs section, 2023 edition
- Co-Author, California Litigation Review, Appeals and Writs section, 2022 edition
- Co-Author, California Litigation Review, Appeals and Writs section, 2021 edition
- Co-Author, California Litigation Review, Appeals and Writs section, 2020 edition
- Co-Author, California Litigation Review, Appeals and Writs section, 2019 edition
- Co-Author, California Litigation Review, Appeals and Writs section, 2018 edition
- Co-Author, Characteristics of Medical Liability Claims Against Dermatologists from 1991 through 1995 (Feb. 2018) JAMA Dermatology; 154(2); 160-166. PubMed PMID: 29214284
- Is That Your Final Judgment? (2016) California Litigation, Vol. 29, No. 1, p. 22
- The Safety Dance (4th Quarter 2006) Verdict, p. 43
Put Our Proven Appellate Expertise to Work for You.
For over 60 years, we've preserved judgments, reversed errors, and reduced awards in some of California’s most high-profile appellate cases.
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