Kurt L. Schmalz is a business litigator with over 25 years of experience in the state and federal courts. He has handled litigation of substantial size and complexity in the areas of real estate, antitrust, insurance and insurance coverage, business torts, professional liability, intellectual property/trade secrets, product liability, First Amendment/media law and bankruptcy.
Mr. Schmalz has published articles on the subjects of expert witnesses, civil procedure, constitutional rights, privacy, the First Amendment and copyright law, and conflicts of interest. In October 2008, he was awarded the "Education Advocate of the Year" from the Redondo Beach Unified School District for leading the successful campaign for the district's $145 million school improvement bond. From April 2001 to April 2005, Mr. Schmalz served as an elected member of the Redondo Beach City Council. While on the council, Mr. Schmalz served a one-year term as the city's Mayor Pro Tem and was a member of the Ethics Education Task Force for the League of California Cities. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University, teaching a course in Mass Communications Law. In addition, he has been a lecturer on legal ethics and professional responsibility and has testified in court as an expert on legal ethics and the Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers.
Mr. Schmalz received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1983 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law where he was the Senior Articles Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. Before becoming a member of Lurie, Zepeda, Schmalz & Hogan, Mr. Schmalz was a litigator in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Schmalz has achieved the highest rating for legal ability in Martindale-Hubbell, and was rated by his peers as one of Southern California's "Super Lawyers" for 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009.
Senior Articles Editor, Vanderbilt Law Review, 1982-1983. Member, 1991-2007 and Chair 1995-1996, Editorial Board, Los Angeles Lawyer Magazine. Member, City Council, City of Redondo Beach, 2001-2005. Deputy District Attorney, Los Angeles County, 1987. Associate Attorney, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, 1983-1992. Fellow, National Institute of Trial Advocacy (Advanced Trial Techniques, Boalt Hall, 1989).