Animal Law Guild Conference 2014
Private Practice Trailblazers
Private Practice Trailblazers
Bruce Wagman, Partner, Schiff Hardin LLP
Bruce Wagman is a partner in Schiff Hardin’s San Francisco office, with an almost exclusive focus on animal law matters, including litigation, legislative drafting and counseling, education, and private consultation. He has been active in animal law since 1992. He is a coeditor of the casebook Animal Law, and coauthor of A Worldview of Animal Law. He has been teaching Animal Law since 1996 and currently teaches on a rotating fashion at three Bay Area law schools. Bruce’s clients include numerous animal protection organizations as well as private individuals. He has worked on behalf of birds, cats, chickens, chimpanzees, cows, deer, dogs, dolphins, ducks, elephants, elk, gorillas, horses (domestic and wild), lions, mice, monkeys, pigs, sharks, turkeys, whales and wolves. The areas covered by his litigation/legislative practice have included the use of animals in entertainment, biomedical research, animal agriculture/food production, animal cruelty, animal shelters, private ownership, dog bites, animal custody, endangered species, wild horses, horse slaughter and biomedical research and wildlife control, as well as individualized cases involving injuries to, and caused by, animals. (Read more about Bruce's accomplishments for animals here.)
Bruce Wagman is a partner in Schiff Hardin’s San Francisco office, with an almost exclusive focus on animal law matters, including litigation, legislative drafting and counseling, education, and private consultation. He has been active in animal law since 1992. He is a coeditor of the casebook Animal Law, and coauthor of A Worldview of Animal Law. He has been teaching Animal Law since 1996 and currently teaches on a rotating fashion at three Bay Area law schools. Bruce’s clients include numerous animal protection organizations as well as private individuals. He has worked on behalf of birds, cats, chickens, chimpanzees, cows, deer, dogs, dolphins, ducks, elephants, elk, gorillas, horses (domestic and wild), lions, mice, monkeys, pigs, sharks, turkeys, whales and wolves. The areas covered by his litigation/legislative practice have included the use of animals in entertainment, biomedical research, animal agriculture/food production, animal cruelty, animal shelters, private ownership, dog bites, animal custody, endangered species, wild horses, horse slaughter and biomedical research and wildlife control, as well as individualized cases involving injuries to, and caused by, animals. (Read more about Bruce's accomplishments for animals here.)
David Casselman, Principal Trial Partner, Casselman Law Group
David Casselman is a highly regarded civil trial lawyer, having secured literally hundreds of millions of dollars of verdicts and settlements. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants, with remarkable success. He may be the only lawyer to hold two of the top ten largest verdicts in one year in the State of California. Remarkably, in one of those cases he represented the plaintiff and in the next, he represented the defendant, cross complainant.
Mr. Casselman is the past Los Angeles President of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); past California President of ABOTA; and a National Board member of ABOTA. The American Board of Trial Advocates is an elite organization of jury trial lawyers, each with a minimum of 20 jury trials. As the National Chair of the Civility & Professionalism Committee, Mr. Casselman wrote, produced and directed “Civility Matters” which is a video used by ABOTA and Inns of Court across the country to teach young lawyers and law students about the importance of Civility in the practice of law.
Mr. Casselman is a former law school professor, a frequent public speaker, and an original author of the 3 volume Rutter Book on California Insurance Litigation. He was also a co-author of the materials used at the Judicial College to train new judges regarding issues of California Insurance law. He has also co-authored legislation (including the Hayden Law) as well as several other bills which are now part of the California statutory law. For over 30 years, Mr. Casselman was the Senior Trial Partner in the firm of Wasserman, Comden & Casselman in Tarzana. He has recently formed The Casselman Law Group, where he continues to try cases.
Recognizing the need, and tapping into his passion as an animal welfare advocate, for thirty years Mr. Casselman has found the time to lend his legal expertise, pro bono, to help animals throughout Los Angeles. Recognizing that they are the truly voiceless among us, he has consistently found creative ways to protect animals, fighting where ever possible to stop animal cruelty.
One of his more high profile cases involves a 6 year crusade to close the Elephant Exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo. The case was dismissed on Summary Judgment, but reversed by the Court of Appeal. Then, Mr. Casselman successfully took the case to trial. After losing multiple mandatory injunctions, the City elected to appeal the adverse trial judgment. In behalf of the elephants, Mr. Casselman cross-appealed, continuing to fight to close the exhibit. That case is still pending. Mr. Casselman has also recently taken up the case of two White Tigers, denied a permit to allow them to live in a remote area of Malibu.
Apart from his legal work, Mr. Casselman is the founder and co-director of the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS). CWS is partnering with the Cambodian government to protect the last remaining one million acres of unmined jungle land in Cambodia. Their goal is to protect the critically endangered habitat of Cambodia and its animals. To accomplish this, the Wildlife Sanctuary is fighting logging and poaching on a daily basis, while developing a world class eco-tourism facility. Mr. Casselman is also a founder and co-director of Elephants In Crisis, an organization focused on the plight of elephants worldwide. Over the years, Mr. Casselman has also been the recipient of various animal advocacy awards.
David Casselman is a highly regarded civil trial lawyer, having secured literally hundreds of millions of dollars of verdicts and settlements. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants, with remarkable success. He may be the only lawyer to hold two of the top ten largest verdicts in one year in the State of California. Remarkably, in one of those cases he represented the plaintiff and in the next, he represented the defendant, cross complainant.
Mr. Casselman is the past Los Angeles President of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); past California President of ABOTA; and a National Board member of ABOTA. The American Board of Trial Advocates is an elite organization of jury trial lawyers, each with a minimum of 20 jury trials. As the National Chair of the Civility & Professionalism Committee, Mr. Casselman wrote, produced and directed “Civility Matters” which is a video used by ABOTA and Inns of Court across the country to teach young lawyers and law students about the importance of Civility in the practice of law.
Mr. Casselman is a former law school professor, a frequent public speaker, and an original author of the 3 volume Rutter Book on California Insurance Litigation. He was also a co-author of the materials used at the Judicial College to train new judges regarding issues of California Insurance law. He has also co-authored legislation (including the Hayden Law) as well as several other bills which are now part of the California statutory law. For over 30 years, Mr. Casselman was the Senior Trial Partner in the firm of Wasserman, Comden & Casselman in Tarzana. He has recently formed The Casselman Law Group, where he continues to try cases.
Recognizing the need, and tapping into his passion as an animal welfare advocate, for thirty years Mr. Casselman has found the time to lend his legal expertise, pro bono, to help animals throughout Los Angeles. Recognizing that they are the truly voiceless among us, he has consistently found creative ways to protect animals, fighting where ever possible to stop animal cruelty.
One of his more high profile cases involves a 6 year crusade to close the Elephant Exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo. The case was dismissed on Summary Judgment, but reversed by the Court of Appeal. Then, Mr. Casselman successfully took the case to trial. After losing multiple mandatory injunctions, the City elected to appeal the adverse trial judgment. In behalf of the elephants, Mr. Casselman cross-appealed, continuing to fight to close the exhibit. That case is still pending. Mr. Casselman has also recently taken up the case of two White Tigers, denied a permit to allow them to live in a remote area of Malibu.
Apart from his legal work, Mr. Casselman is the founder and co-director of the Cambodia Wildlife Sanctuary (CWS). CWS is partnering with the Cambodian government to protect the last remaining one million acres of unmined jungle land in Cambodia. Their goal is to protect the critically endangered habitat of Cambodia and its animals. To accomplish this, the Wildlife Sanctuary is fighting logging and poaching on a daily basis, while developing a world class eco-tourism facility. Mr. Casselman is also a founder and co-director of Elephants In Crisis, an organization focused on the plight of elephants worldwide. Over the years, Mr. Casselman has also been the recipient of various animal advocacy awards.