Print to PDF
Stephen E. Norris
Stephen Norris joined the firm in 1990 and became a partner in 1994. He is admitted to practice in California state courts, the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Prior to joining the firm Mr. Norris was a Litigation Associate with Cooper, Epstein & Hurewitz and Mitchell, Lurie & DeMarco and a Judicial Staff Attorney for the California Court of Appeal, First Appellate District. He also held a judicial clerkship with the Hon. Joseph A. Rattigan, California Court of Appeal.
Mr. Norris has been lead appellate counsel on numerous cases before the California Supreme Court, California Court of Appeal and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit covering a broad range of substantive law issues, including premises liability, catastrophic personal injuries, products liability, medical malpractice, insurance bad faith, coverage matters, real estate, First Amendment, and intellectual property disputes. He has been involved in a number of cases overturning multi-million dollar awards, including McLaughlin v. National Union Fire Ins. Co. (1994) 23 Cal.App.4th 1132 [$49 million judgment reversed]; Slottow v. American Cas. Co. (9th Cir. 1993) 10 F.3d 1355 [$12 million judgment reversed]; Partnership Placements v. Landmark Ins. Co. (1996) [unpublished decision reversing $12 million judgment in bad faith case]; Uhrich v. American Home Assurance Co. 2004 WL 2897948 [$6.5 million judgment reversed]; Children’s School v. Folgner (1999) [unpublished decision reversing $5 million judgment in real estate dispute]; Center Foundation v. Chicago Ins. Co. (1991) 227 Cal.App.3d 547 [$2 million judgment reversed].
Mr. Norris has also represented homeowners and other property owners in numerous premises liability actions brought by injured contractors and their employees. Many of the premises liability cases in which Mr. Norris has appeared have resulted in published decisions by the California Supreme Court and the California Court of Appeal imposing significant limitations on premises liability claims. These cases include Kinsman v. Unocal (2005) 37 Cal.4th 659 [represented Unocal and obtained reversal of $3.7 million awarded in asbestos exposure case]; Toland v. Sunland Housing Group, Inc. (1998) 18 Cal.4th 253 [filed amicus brief in support of defendant developer and general contractor, who prevailed before the Supreme Court]; Padilla v. Pomona College (2008) 166 Cal.App.4th 661 [represented Pomona College and general contractor, prevailing parties on appeal]; and Michael v. Denbeste Transportation, Inc. (2006) 137 CalApp.4th 1082 [consulted on behalf of hazardous waste transporter and general contractor, prevailing parties on appeal].
Mr. Norris is currently representing a general contractor in a case now pending before the California Supreme Court that will provide definitive guidance on the extent to which general contractors, homeowners and other property owners can be held liable to self-employed contractors for work-related injuries. (Tverberg v. Fillner Construction, Inc., previously published at 168 Cal.App.4th 1278.) He is also representing the owner of a shopping mall in the California Court of Appeal in a case in which the court will address the extent to which shopping centers may impose reasonable limitations on the expressive activities of mall visitors. (Snatchko v. Westfield LLC, et al., Court of Appeal Case No. C059985).
Mr. Norris received his Bachelor of Arts from Princeton University and his Juris Doctor from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he served as a Member of the University of San Francisco Law Review.
