Professional Biography
Since his admission to the California bar in 2001, David E. Libman, Esq., LL.M. has had the opportunity to practice in a variety of related and complementary practice areas. See Areas of Practice. These days, David’s practice focuses primarily on business, real estate matters and estate plans – with a balance between lawsuits and transactional matters. Essentially, David helps his clients make deals, and he also helps them resolve issues flowing from broken deals.
David’s practice frequently involves civil litigation – an arena in which he has successfully tried and/or settled cases in both California and Colorado. See below for a small sampling of David’s cases under the heading, Lawsuit/Case Examples.
David has been able to consistently achieve successful outcomes that have met or exceeded his client’s expectations — either via trial or pre-trial settlement. With that in mind, David can and will go to trial, when necessary, but litigation is time consuming, expensive and unpredictable. If settlement is possible, David works hard for that result. When representing defendants, for example, David has frequently been able to negotiate settlements where his clients pay $0 without any admissions of liability. Similarly, on the plaintiff’s side, David has frequently negotiated settlements where the defendants pay David’s clients substantial dollar amounts as a lump sum or through payment plans.
The lawsuits David has been involved with include, among others, multi-million-dollar complex business disputes involving breach of contract and related tort claims (e.g., breach of fiduciary duties, negligence, unfair competition, fraud etc.), creditor/debtor disputes, real property disputes involving quiet title, disputes among business partners, partition and unlawful detainer (a.k.a. eviction) claims and elder abuse claims.
David’s practice also often extends to assisting and advising clients on a variety of other matters important to their particular needs, including: (1) transactional matters, such as those related to (a) entity formation, e.g., the creation of a partnership, LLC or corporation, and (b) later governance and compliance issues for those existing entities; and (2) real estate transactions, e.g., the negotiation and drafting of leases, purchase agreements, promissory notes, deeds of trust, deeds and related documents.
David devotes a portion of his practice to estate planning. With estate planning, David works with his clients to develop a comprehensive strategy that works best for them and their particular needs – not just a cookie-cutter “one size fits all” approach. David frequently assists clients in setting up or amending wills, trusts, healthcare directives and powers of attorney.
In 2008, after years of practice, David went back to school and received an LL.M. (a Master of Laws degree) with a business with a tax law emphasis from UCLA School of Law. David then practiced for two years at a boutique tax law firm in San Francisco. For years now, in part because reading the Tax Code is not the most interesting thing to do, David’s practice no longer focuses on tax-related issues. Still, David has come to realize that his knowledge of tax issues ends up being a value-added component to the other services he provides.
Though the Orange County’s Community Service Programs, Inc., David has completed the requisite training as dictated by the California Dispute Resolution Programs Act of 1986 to serve as a mediator, including in unlawful detainer disputes. David expects his role as a mediator will become an increasingly prominent aspect of his practice in the coming years due to the continuing backlog of litigation in California court system. See Mediation.
Prior to becoming a lawyer, David worked professionally as a musician for years, first in New York (where he obtained a bachelor’s degree from The Juilliard School), and later in Los Angeles and Orange County. As a musician – specifically, a drummer – David has recorded albums; played as the house drummer on a nationally syndicated television set talk show; toured domestically and internationally; and performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and the Universal Amphitheater. David has a particular love for jazz and believes that the listening and creative skills he has honed as musician serve him well in his capacity as an attorney. Indeed, many consider David to be “the lawyer who listens.” David still continues to play music as an avocation in various venues throughout Orange County, and he also often writes for DRUM! Magazine as a reviewer an interviewer. See Publications.
Finally, David is most proud of his family. He has been married to his beautiful, creative and artistic wife Andrea since 1996 – thus demonstrating that David knows how to make fantastic decisions. David and Andrea have two highly intelligent, kind and talented sons, Mathieu (a professional animator, currently with Disney) and Joel (a college graduate — soon to head to grad school).
Bar Admissions
– Supreme Court of California
– U.S. District Court, Central District of California
– U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
– U.S. Tax Court
– Supreme Court of Colorado
Education
The Juilliard School, New York City, New York
– Degree: Bachelor of Music – 1992
– Major: Music
Chapman University School of Law, Orange, California
– Degree: J.D. magna cum laude – 2001
– Law Review: Chapman University School Law Review, Senior Notes and Comments Editor
– Member, Appellate Moot Court Team
UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, California
– Degree: LL.M., Business with a Tax Law Emphasis – 2008
– Honors: Top 10% of his class
– Major: Business Law – Tax Emphasis
Community Service Programs, Inc., Santa Ana, California
– Certification: Basic Mediation Training Program – 2013
– Certification: Advance Mediation Training in Mediating Unlawful Detainer Cases – 2014
Professional Associations and Memberships
– Newport Beach BNI, Member (Mentor Committee)
– Santa Ana Chamber of Commerce, Member
– Orange County Bar Association, Member of Alternative Dispute Resolution and Tax Sections
– California State Bar
– Bar Association of San Francisco, Taxation Section, Executive Committee, Former Member
– Toastmasters, Former Member
Client/Peer Ratings/Awards
– 2019, 2020, 2022 Southern California Super Lawyers
– Recipient of Orange County Bar Association Tax Section’s first ever OCBA Tax Award in 2015
– One of Orange County’s “Best Lawyers” for Lawsuits and Disputes in 9/2015 Orange County Coast Magazine
– One of Orange County’s “Best Lawyers” in 9/2014 OC Metro Magazine
– 10.0 “Superb” rating from AVVO
– 5.0/5.0 client review rating from Martindale
– Rising Star rating from Super Lawyers for 2005-2007
Community Service
– Kiwanis AKTion club, Charter Member and Board Member
– Volunteer for the Fullerton College Legal Clinic
– Volunteer mediator for Orange County Superior Court small claims division
– Volunteer at debtor clinic at United States Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California
Past Employment Positions
– Enterprise Counsel Group, ALC (Irvine, California), Partner
– Wood & Porter (San Francisco, California), Associate
– Sedgwick LLP (Irvine, California), Associate
– Hon. Judge John A. Ryan, United States Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, Judicial Extern
Publications
– David has been frequently published on a variety of legal issues. See Publications.
Speaking Engagements
See Speaking Engagements page for details.
Lawsuit/Case Examples (These are only a few of many examples of the types of cases that David handles.)
– Quiet title/financial elder abuse case in LA County, where David assisted the elderly client in obtain a $984,000 judgment and title to a condominium from a caretaker who stole it.
– Property tax appeal where David helped an Orange County property owner get a reassessment that knocked over $1 million off of property valuation — significantly reducing property taxes.
– Successfully obtain $269,196 judgment for commercial landlord against defaulting tenant.
– Partition lawsuits and/or — including multiple settlements where joint owners are able to go their separate ways instead of remaining as fighting owners of the same property.
– Represent defendant in trust accounting dispute where plaintiff ended up dismissing the case mid-trial — thus, resulting in judgment for David’s client/defendant.
– Settle defamatory Yelp review cases — resulting in negative reviews being removed from clients’ website.
– Represent employers in multiple employment cases — often resulting in settlement for pennies on the dollar and, in some cases, $0 paid to the employee.
– Multiple lease and/or purchase disputes — many times resolved through settlement, but sometimes resolved through court judgment in favor of David’s clients.
– Obtain settlement for salesperson who was owed un-paid commissions.
– Obtain $85,500 for home purchaser from seller who failed to disclose defects in property.
– Settle ADA suits for defendants for very low dollar figures.
– Obtain judgments or successful settlements for business owners owed money on their contracts.