The deRubertis Law Firm

View the profile as it appeared in Southern California Rising Stars 2008 (PDF)

A recent day illustrates why David deRubertis has been voted to Southern California Super Lawyers® - Rising Stars for the last four years. In the morning, deRubertis secured a victory for his client from the California Supreme Court in a landmark employee medical leave case. Later that same afternoon, deRubertis listened in a Los Angeles courtroom as a jury returned a verdict for another of his clients in a retaliation case—a six-figure compensatory damage award and a finding that the defendant employer should pay punitive damages. This day exemplifies what deRubertis loves about his profession: “A jury verdict in a client’s favor helps that client regain control of his or her life—emotionally and financially. A favorable decision from an appellate court helps all employees at a broader level,” deRubertis explains.

Employee Advocate

The deRubertis Law Firm concentrates on employee rights cases, both for individual plaintiffs or as class actions. While he handles all types of employee rights cases, deRubertis’ particular niche is reasonable accommodation, disability discrimination and family/medical leave cases.

deRubertis’ clients benefit from the combination of a successful trial lawyer who is at the cutting edge of the development of the law. Using this unique skill set, over the past few years he has consistently won cases at trial, established new law through published appellate decisions and achieved settlements as high as more than $4 million in an individual employment discrimination case. deRubertis is especially proud of his work as co-counsel for Charlene Roby, whose $19 million jury verdict is California’s largest disability discrimination jury verdict. Roby’s case is now pending before the California Supreme Court, where deRubertis leads the appellate efforts on her behalf.

Lawyers’ Choice

A substantial portion of deRubertis’ practice involves stepping in to try employment cases on short notice. “Jumping into a case shortly before trial is often a huge advantage,” he says. “A fresh set of eyes or a new perspective can focus on the key issues and simplify the story for the jury.” deRubertis’ theory has proven true. In every such case, he has either prevailed at trial or achieved a settlement well beyond the offers made before he signed on to the case.

Giving Back deRubertis is committed to giving back to his profession. He is on the executive board of the California Employment Lawyers Association, active in the Consumer Attorneys Associations of Los Angeles and California, frequently lectures and publishes on employment law and trial strategies, and is a founding director of the Los Angeles Trial Lawyers’ Charities.