A P R O F E S S I O N A L C O R P O R A T I O N
Y O U R H O M E C O U R T A D V A N T A G E TM
A B O U T U S
Doug Rothschild, Esq.
Attorney Doug Rothschild has built a solid reputation in the California legal community as a premier personal injury lawyer. His years of experience and skill allow him to move cases forward and help people overcome the physical and financial burdens caused by injury cases. The type of compensation may include doctor and hospital bills, rehabilitation/physical therapy costs, and loss of income from work.
Through courtroom victories, including verdicts against tobacco giants Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, and many hard fought settlements, Doug Rothschild has earned the respect of clients and adversaries alike. For over 10 years, Doug has taken the fight to powerful insurance companies, asbestos suppliers, and corporate giants and obtained extraordinary results for his clients.
Doug was born in New York City and raised in Burlingame, CA. He received his law degree from Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. He attended the University of Southern California, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and a Minor in Business Administration.
Doug is a member of the State Bar of California and the Central, Eastern, and Northern Districts of the U.S. District Court. Doug is a proud member of Consumer Attorneys of California, and currently sits on its Board of Governors.
Madelyn J. Chaber, Esq., Of Counsel
Madelyn Chaber was born in Brooklyn, NY, and grew up in Hicksville, NY. She earned a BA from SUNY at Stony Brook, an MS, magna cum laude, from Hofstra University, and a JD from UCLA School of Law. Madelyn is admitted to practice law in all California state courts, and the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Central Districts of California. Over the course of her career, Madelyn has tried numerous cases to success-ful verdicts. But, unlike most lawyers, many of Madelyn's verdicts have come in the form of multi-million dollar cases, including cases with multiple punitive damage awards. Madelyn represents people, not corporations. In the world of injury law, Ms. Chaber has honed her skills representing people injured by toxic substances. These substances include: asbestos, lead, radiation, and cigarette smoke. Madelyn tried the first successful case against Lorillard Tobacco Company for their Kent cigarette's micronite (asbestos) filter (Horowitz v. Lorillard, $2 million, affirmed on appeal), as well as the first successful tobacco personal injury case in California (Henley v. Philip Morris, $51.5 million, reduced to $10.5 million, upheld on appeal). In addition, Ms. Chaber successfully tried the first post-cigarette warning labels tobacco case (Whiteley v. Philip Morris & RJ Reynolds, $22.7 million, reversed on appeal, retried in 2007, $3.8 million, affirmed). The Whiteley case is where Ms. Chaber and Mr. Rothschild first worked together.
Ms. Chaber's skills, however, are not limited to he trial courts. Madelyn argued in front of the California Supreme Court against the tobacco industry's immunity from lawsuits in California. She won. (Naegele v. RJ Reynolds, et al.). Tobacco companies, from 1988 to 1998 were immune from personal injury lawsuits in California. Once the immunity was repealed, the Naegle decision permitted individual smoker injury claims against tobacco companies to proceed using evidence of the tobacco industry's pre-1988 wrongdoing. Because of her pioneering work, juries, over the last 10 years have held tobacco companies accountable for the half-truths, falsehoods, and disinformation spread throughout California in from 1950 through the 1980's.
Throughout her career, Madelyn's peers have recognized her as one of California's premier litigation attorney by presenting her with numerous awards. For example: In 1996, California Magazine named her a “Legal Eagle,” Best Lawyers in California, and in 1999 one of the 100 Best Lawyers in California. Madelyn was named one of the top 30 women litigators by the Daily Journal in 2002, and one of the top 50 litigators (male or female) in 2002. Madelyn was awarded Trial Lawyer of the Year by the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, in both 1999 and 2001, and twice has been nominated a finalist for Trial Lawyer of the Year by Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. In 2007, Lawdragon honored her as one of the Best 500 Plaintiff’s Lawyers in America. Her peers have further recognized her skills by election to the American Board of Trial Advocates, one of only 18 women in the San Francisco chapter. She has been named Super Lawyer, Northern California multiple times.
Madelyn served as an Associate Professor of Trial Advocacy at John F Kennedy University School of Law in the Bay Area from 2008 through 2010. In addition to law school teaching, she teaches advocacy skills to lawyers and law students at various programs through organizations such as NITA, AAJ, CAOC, DRI and others. As a sought after lecturer to doctors, lawyers, law students, and the public, she has frequently been asked to speak at various conferences and seminars, including the 13th World Conference on Tobacco or Health in Washington DC.
As a Certified Professional Coach, Madelyn also speaks to lawyer organizations on topics of stress, substance abuse, health, wellness and life balance, as well as on gender issues. Madelyn’s professional memberships include the State Bar of California, American Association for Justice, Consumer Attorneys of California, San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, Women Lawyers of Alameda County, California Women Lawyers, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, Lawyers Club, and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.