JONATHON KAPLAN
PAUL Y. LEE
After graduating from Emory University with degrees in Russian and in Soviet and Eastern European Studies, founding partner Jonathon Kaplan entered Duke University's School of Law in 1987. At Duke, Jon authored his Master of Laws thesis on the Legal Aspects of the Reintegration of the Soviet Union Into the World Economy.
Jon started his legal career with the Los Angeles firm of Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard in 1990. He represented several multinational clients and rose to the level of equity partner at that firm. Jon acted as trial counsel on dozens of significant jury and non-jury cases involving franchising, product liability, consumer warranty claims, highway accidents, fraud claims, and business disputes. Jon served as appellate counsel on several matters, which resulted in published California opinions in the areas of environmental insurance coverage, attorney malpractice, civil penalties and consumer warranty claims. In recognition of his accomplishments, Jon was named one of the State's top 20 lawyers under age 40 by California's leading legal newspaper, The Daily Journal.
Jon is committed to his community
and has devoted countless hours to civic and charitable causes. He has sat
on the Board of Directors of the Aids Healthcare Foundation, the Board of
Governors of Emory University, and the Future Forum of Duke University
School of Law. He has served as a member of the Greater Griffith Park
Neighborhood Council, an official City of Los Angeles certified council. Jon has volunteered as a Court-appointed arbitrator,
mediator and temporary judge for the Los Angeles County Superior Courts. He
has sat on steering committees for several national political candidates and
routinely consults with State and local political candidates.
Having graduated with honors from Washington University in Saint Louis, founding partner Paul Lee later received his Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania in 1979. Practicing since 1980, Paul first entered the profession as Legislative Counsel to the State of Illinois General Assembly.
Paul and his wife moved to California in 1985, where he began his civil litigation practice with Morgan, Wenzel & McNicholas. Later he moved to Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, where he was elevated to partner status.
Paul is experienced in most facets of civil litigation, and widely participates in arbitrations and mediations. He is tremendously successful at shaping the course of litigation through strategical and precise discovery efforts and law and motion practice. A seminal published opinion from the Federal courts exemplifies Paul's superior litigation abilities. In a Uniform Commercial Code matter, Paul achieved a most successful result for his business client as reported in Bank of America NT&SA v. Allstate (C.D.Cal. 1998) 29 F.Supp.2d 1129.
Paul, his wife, and two children are deeply involved in community matters. Paul is an Elder and past president of Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church in Los Alamitos, California and frequently volunteers his services for and otherwise contributes to several charitable causes.
