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OVERVIEW: MARGARET

Justice Margaret M. Grignon (Ret.) is a partner in the firm. She is retired from the California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Five, where she spent 14 years and authored in excess of 2,230 opinions, more than 160 of which have been published. Her work as an appellate practitioner has produced multiple precedential opinions from the state and federal courts, and resulted in her being named one of the Top Women Lawyers in California for 2010, 2013 and 2015 and rated in Band 1 by Chambers for Appellate Litigation in California. Margaret has considerable expertise in arbitration and mediation, business, employment, financial institutions, government/municipal, health care, insurance, intellectual property, product liability and pharmaceutical, professional responsibility, real estate, tax and tort law.

Margaret is the Immediate Past President of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a Board Member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a member of the California Women Lawyers Association and the National Association of Women Judges, and a member and former Board Member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. She has authored numerous articles on tax, business and appellate law, and is a frequent lecturer at education programs for judges and attorneys. Margaret continues to be active in the administration of the judicial system, and regularly serves as a judge of various law school moot court competitions; and is a consultant for continuing legal education publications.

Recognized as an excellent settlement judge on the Los Angeles Superior Court, Margaret continued to settle many cases on the Court of Appeal. After 20 years on the bench, Margaret returned to private practice where in addition to appellate law, she continued to employ her judicial skills as a well-respected mediator and arbitrator in a wide variety of practice areas, including business/commercial, complex litigation, employment, insurance, health care, legal and medical malpractice, and personal injury. As an appellate expert, she has worked to settle cases pending on appeal, acted as an appellate arbitrator, and sat frequently as a mock appellate justice for appellate moot courts.

Employment History

• 2016 - Grignon Law Firm LLP

• 2005 - Reed Smith

• 1990 - Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Five

• 1987 - Los Angeles Superior Court

• 1984 - Antelope Municipal Court

• 1981 - Gray, Cary Ames & Frye

• 1978 - O'Melveny & Myers

Honors & Awards

• Listed in Best Lawyers in America, Appellate Practice (2016-2019)

• Reed Smith's Pro Bono Honor Roll (2014)

• Listed in the Daily Journal as one of its Top Women Lawyers (2010, 2013, 2015)

• Listed, Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business, "Band 1" (6 bands with 1 being the highest) rating for Appellate Litigation (California) (2009-2017)

• Listed, California Super Lawyers, Appellate (2007-2019)

• Listed, California Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition, Appellate (2010)

Publications

• "You can't raise new legal theories on appeal...usually," Los Angeles Daily Journal, 1 October 2014 Co-Author(s): David J. de Jesus

• "Oral Argument: Facing the Challenge and Embracing the Opportunity," American Bar Association Litigation Section, 26 March 2014

• "Just How Mandatory Are Those Statutory Writ Deadlines," Los Angeles Daily Journal, 08 February 2012 Co-Author(s): Kasey J. Curtis

• "What a Difference a Day Makes," Los Angeles Daily Journal, 14 March 2011

• "Can Denial of Summary Judgment Based on Qualified Immunity Be Reviewed," Los Angeles Daily Journal, 25 February 2011

• "Saving Face," San Francisco Daily Journal, 3 February 2009

• "When Time's Not on Your Side," San Francisco Daily Journal, 20 May 2008

• "Ditching Class," Los Angeles Daily Journal, 30 January 2008

• "Objections to Evidence," Los Angeles Daily Journal, 29 November 2007

• "Strict Compliance," 1 May 2007 Co-Author(s): Zareh Jaltorossian

• "The Dynamics of Appellate Oral Argument," Certworthy, Summer 2006 Co-Author(s): Zareh Jaltorossian

• "Three Reasons for Thinking Twice Before Filing a Frivolous Appeal," April 2006 Co-Author(s): Zareh Jaltorossian

• "In Tricky Dance of Appeals, Timing of Filing Is Everything," Los Angeles Daily Journal, 1 November 2005

Speaking Engagements

• "The Strategic Use of Appellate Counsel to Win at Trial and on Appeal," Association of Corporate Counsel Annual CLE Event, Beverly Hills, California, 8 October 2014

• "Why You Should Learn To Stop Worrying And Love The California Supreme Court," ACCess MCLE, California, 19-20 February 2014

• "Why You Should Learn To Stop Worrying And Love The California Supreme Court," 2014 MCLE Day, Los Angeles, California, 14 January 2014

• Reed Smith's MCLE DAY 2011, 12 January 2011

• Reed Smith's "Consumer Litigation: Ripple Effect or Tsunami in the Consumer Finance Industry?" Teleseminar, 5 March 2008

Professional Affiliations

• American Academy of Appellate Lawyers - Board Member

• California Academy of Appellate Lawyers - Member and Immediate Past President

• Certified as a Specialist in Taxation Law, 1984

• California Women Lawyers - Member

• National Association of Women Judges - Member

• Association of Business Trial Lawyers - Member and Former Board Member