February 5, 2015 – Irvine, California – Umberg/Zipser is pleased to announce that Brent S. Colasurdo has joined the firm as a litigation associate.

Mr. Colasurdo previously served as a law clerk to the Honorable Cormac J. Carney and the Honorable Alicemarie H. Stotler in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from 2013 to 2015. Before his two-year clerkship, he was a litigation associate with Rinos & Martin, LLP in Tustin.

“We are very pleased to have Brent join our busy litigation practice coming out of his clerkship,” said Dean Zipser, co-founding partner of Umberg Zipser. “Brent’s a skilled lawyer and his experience in the Central District will help him hit the ground running,” added co-founder Tom Umberg.

Mr. Colasurdo received a J.D. from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 2011 and a B.S. cum laude from Santa Clara University in 2008. He is a member of the Orange County Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, and the American Bar Association.

Umberg/Zipser is a premier business litigation boutique firm located in Irvine, California. Drawing on decades of experience in some of the nation’s largest and most prestigious law firms, as well as national and state government service, Umberg/Zipser provides clients with unparalleled legal services. For more information visit www.umbergzipser.com

Dean Zipser has been named co-vice-chair of the recently formed California State Bar Commission for the Revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

Justice Lee Edmon, Presiding Justice of the Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three, will chair the 18-member commission to revise California’s ethical rules for attorneys. Jeffrey L. Bleich, a former California State Bar President who recently served as ambassador to Australia, is the other co-vice-chair.

According the State Bar press release: 

“The current rules have been in effect since 1987. A previous State Bar commission had proposed a new set of rules. However, last year the bar requested the recommendations be returned. The Supreme Court granted the request in September 2014 and called for the appointment of a new commission to finish the work by March 31, 2017. . . The commission’s proposed rules must undergo public comment, be adopted by the State Bar Board of Trustees and approved by the Supreme Court before they go into effect.”

Zipser is a recognized leader in the Orange County legal community, having served as President of the Orange County Bar Association and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers-Orange County Chapter, and, most recently, as chairperson of the Orange County Bar’s Masters Division (serving those in practice 25 years or more). He continues to be chair and serve on a number of OCBA committees, and continues to serve on the boards of the Orange County chapter of the Federal Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Foundation, and the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Orange County, among others.

U/Z’s Tom Umberg, former Chair of the California High Speed Rail Authority, was on the scene in Fresno with Governor Jerry Brown and a host of other dignitaries on January 6, 2015 to help break ground on the state’s high speed rail project that promises to transform the transportation scene in California as it rolls out over the next 15 years.

Along with Governor Brown and many others, Tom signed the project’s first rail as captured on the Governor’s Facebook page.

Umberg/Zipser partner Adina Stowell currently serves as President of the Constitutional Rights Foundation, Orange County (CRF-OC) – a non-profit, non-partisan education organization dedicated to empowering Orange County youth to be active, responsible citizens.

For over 34 years, CRF-OC has been the only provider of high-quality, interactive civic and law-related education programs to all high school students in Orange County, regardless of ability to pay. CRF-OC’s programs include Mock Trial and Peer Court, as well as Law Day, Constitution Day and Career Forum conferences. These programs and conferences serve nearly 10,000 local teens and adult volunteers each year.

Adina began volunteering for CRF-OC early in her legal career and has been on CRF-OC’s Board of Directors since 2006. Needless to say, she is very committed to the organization and a huge fan of its programs. “All of CRF-OC’s programs encourage active participation by students in civic affairs and the legal system,” Adina noted “It is truly rewarding to be part of an organization that addresses the critical need for civic learning and in the long term hopefully inspires the next generation of legal professionals and community leaders.”

During Adina’s term as President, CRF-OC has focused, among other things, on strengthening its Peer Court program. Peer Court is a juvenile crime diversion program that offers a second chance to first-time juvenile offenders who have committed nonviolent misdemeanors and an educational opportunity for high school students who serve as jurors or observers.

Operating since 1994, Peer Court was started in collaboration with the Orange County Superior Court, Orange County Probation Department, Orange County Department of Education, and local lawyers. The loss of a grant in 2008 and budget cutbacks at local government agencies have curtailed its scope over the last few years. Adina and her colleagues at CRF-OC are working hard to extend its reach.

Currently, 14 high schools throughout Orange County participate in Peer Court. Sitting judges preside and high school students designated as “jurors” assess the cases presented and assign appropriate sanctions assisted by volunteer attorneys. “The Peer Court process is a very sobering and impactful experience for the young offenders who are being cross-examined by their peers, as well as for the high school students who observe the sessions, said Adina. “We’re hoping to be able to offer more Peer Court sessions in the future.” CRF-OC will be honoring some special Peer Court supporters at its Annual Benefit on October 22, 2015, which will be held at the Center Club in Costa Mesa.

Adina’s colleagues at Umberg/Zipser are also long-time supporters of CRF.  Dean Zipser continues to serve on the CRF board.  Tom Umberg has been a speaker at various CRF events, most recently in April at CRF’s 2015 Orange County Career Forum.

As Adina concludes her term as President, she’s excited about the future of CRF-OC. “It’s a joy and a privilege to see CRF’s programs in action,” she said. “I’m very proud to be part of an organization that plays such an important role in engaging students in civic affairs here in Orange County.”

An article in the Daily Journal on March 2, 2015, “Program brings Afghani law students to Chapman University,” highlights the ongoing success of the U.S. State Department’s Public Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, which is co-chaired by U/Z’s Tom Umberg.

The program is designed to support the rule of law in Afghanistan by bringing young Afghan lawyers to participating U.S. law schools for a year of study.  According to the article, approximately 45 students have successfully completed the program so far.  Tom, along with Jones Day partner Pete Garvin and Arnold & Porter partner Charles Blanchard, is in Afghanistan this week interviewing applicants with the goal of selecting up to 20 students to come to the U.S. this August.

Tom is quoted in the DJ article: “We’ve been blessed to have really courageous people who literally risk their lives to participate in the program and return to Afghanistan.”  He goes on to highlight the five-year connection of the program to Orange County’s Chapman University School of Law: “Umberg describes Chapman as the ‘gold standard’ because it provides the law students with mentoring and housing, and its leaders ‘really go out of their way to make the students feel accepted and acclimate them to the U.S.'”

For information about the challenges of establishing rule of law in Afghanistan, see “A Patchwork Strategy of Consensus: Establishing Rule of Law in Afghanistan,” co-authored by Tom and published in Joint Force Quarterly in 2010.

Umberg/Zipser has received a “Tier One” in the 2015 “Best Law Firms” list by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers® in the Orange County metropolitan area in both the Commercial Litigation and Intellectual Property Litigation practice areas. The firm also was recognized for its excellence in Real Estate Litigation and Banking & Finance Litigation. Formed in January, Umberg/Zipser has received this prestigious recognition in its first year of existence.

Firms included in the 2015 “Best Law Firms” list are recognized for professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

According to one client who provided input for the “Best Law Firms” process: “Simply put, these are some of the best lawyers in the state.  They are effective, honest and hardworking.  Having been involved in the legal field for more than thirty years, I can state without any equivocation Umberg/Zipser would be my go to firm within their areas of practice.  They represent everything good about the legal profession.”

The U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings, for the fifth consecutive year, are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. Clients and peers were asked to evaluate firms based on the following criteria: responsiveness, understanding of a business and its needs, cost-effectiveness, integrity and civility, as well as whether they would refer a matter to the firm and/or consider the firm a worthy competitor.

In addition to the firm’s ranking, Umberg/Zipser lawyers have been recognized individually as the “Best Lawyers in America®” for many years. Dean Zipser was named Best Lawyers’ 2014 “Lawyer of the Year” for Bet-the-Company Litigation in Orange County and recently has been recognized again as a Best Lawyer in the categories of Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Intellectual Property Litigation, Real Estate Litigation, and Banking & Finance Litigation. Tom Umberg has again received a Best Lawyers’ recognition for Commercial Litigation, and Carole Reagan has once again been recognized as a Best Lawyer in Intellectual Property Litigation.

Umberg/Zipser is a complex commercial litigation firm known for exceptional client service, creative thinking, problem solving, and decades of proven success, and its lawyers are actively involved as leaders of multiple professional, pro bono, and charitable organizations, as well as governmental positions.

The President’s Page of the November 2014 issue of Orange County Lawyer magazine is devoted to thanking attorneys in the Orange County community who served in the U.S. armed forces.

In his column, entitled “Thanking Our Veteran Colleagues,” Orange County Bar Association President Thomas H. Beinert, Jr., notes that “Orange County’s U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter, Appellate Justice Eileen Moore, and Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseño are among the decorated veterans who became attorneys and now preside over our cases.”

The column also highlights the careers of several other Orange County lawyers, including Umberg/Zipser founding partner Tom Umberg:

“Tom Umberg is a business litigator at Umberg Zipser, after previously working as an Assistant United States Attorney, a two-time state assembly member, and a partner with Morrison & Foerster and then Manatt Phelps. Tom’s first career was in the military. Upon graduating from UCLA, he was commissioned Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and then promoted to Captain. His service included stints in South Korea, with NATO forces in Europe, and as a paratrooper with the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, among others duties. While still in the military, he obtained his law degree and served as a JAG, acting as a prosecutor, defense counsel, and judge. After leaving active duty, Tom remained with the U.S. Army Reserves and rose to the level of Colonel.

Tom has been recalled to military service twice. First, as part of the U.S. War Crimes Commission to prosecute a very small set of Guantanamo detainees accused of committing war crimes. Second, he spent an eleven-month tour as Chief of the Anti-Corruption force in Afghanistan, working with the Afghan army and police to stop corruption in their ranks. Tom was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in Afghanistan. Tom treasures his time in the military, noting there is “no tighter bond than being in the military with those you are deployed with.” The military instills “devotion to group mission and a sense of camaraderie,” characteristics that have remained important to Tom in his civilian practice.”

Umberg/Zipser partners Carole Reagan, Tom Umberg and Dean Zipser have been selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^© 2015.  Carole was selected  in the field of Litigation – Intellectual Property and has been on the “Best Lawyers” list since 2013.  Tom was selected for Commercial Litigation and has been on the list since 2008.  Dean, who was first named to Best Lawyers in 2008, was selected for Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Banking and Finance, Litigation – Intellectual Property, and Litigation – Real Estate.