Named a Top 100 Lawyer in California, a Top Woman Lawyer, and a Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, Deborah is a sought-after experienced litigator and trial lawyer. She handles high impact complex litigation and crisis management for controversial matters that are already front page news or likely to become headlines, especially cases that define historical issues such as Deborah’s pioneering COVID-19 litigation that addressed highly charged constitutional issues for our state. Deborah’s recent work includes; (1) crisis litigation addressing floods, fires, debris flow, along with man-made disasters and recently obtaining several dispositive motions excluding over one billion dollars in damages sought by Edison from the Montecito debris flow by way of indemnity; (2) arguing her first case before the California Supreme Court regarding procedures for filling a vacant legislative seat and garnering a unanimous decision in her client’s favor; (3) defending the County of Maui in the Lahaina Wildfire litigation and charting the strategic litigation course which yielded a $4 billion dollar plus settlement; and (4) a $6.6 million verdict in an illegal dumping cases in an ecologically sensitive region in the Santa Susana Mountains.She handles a wide range of litigation matters involving constitutional claims, with social justice components, novel First Amendment issues, class actions, and complex land use matters. Her cases frequently involve nuanced areas of law and issues that attract intense media attention and public scrutiny, including matters of first impression. Deborah is passionate about blowing through the glass ceiling and making the law practice better for all of those coming after her. She is on the firm’s Executive Committee and serves as Chair of the Trial and Litigation, First Amendment, and Crisis Management Practice Groups. She loves tackling tangled legal problems and solving them in creative ways.