James G. Bohm

AREA OF PRACTICE

Mr. Bohm enjoys extensive experience in both insurance law and business litigation and has represented Fortune 500 companies in various complex business litigation involving claims related to the acquisition of companies, contract disputes, and wrongful termination claims. He has represented numerous companies in coverage and insurance bad faith disputes. Additional areas of focus include substantial trial experience in business related matters.

TRIAL EXPERIENCE

Mr. Bohm possesses a broad range of extensive trial experience in major cases. Some examples of Mr. Bohm's verdicts and awards obtained on behalf of his clients have included:

• Obtained a $2 million award for a Fortune 500 client following an extensive jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court where claims of over $12 million were brought against that client relating to the divestiture of one of its subsidiaries.
• Successfully defended a real estate agent alleged to have breached her fiduciary duties to her client by purchasing her client's prospective property and obtaining a secret profit therefrom. No resulting liability attached to the agent.
• Obtained a fraud verdict against a publicly traded leasing company in favor of a major wholesale food distributor, in claims relating to the leasing company's contract and selling practices. This was the first successful lawsuit in over 200 similar cases wherein a verdict against the leasing company was obtained. The leasing company was represented by one of the nation's top law firms and spent over $5 million in attorney's fees.
• Successfully defended a company that was alleged to be a joint venture partner with a debtor company, in an action brought by the debtor company's creditor, resulting in no liability to the client.
• Obtained a jury verdict in excess of $300,000 for a property owner client whose property sustained water damage from an adjoining landowner.
• Obtained a complete defense verdict after a six week jury trial wherein our client, the president of an automobile manufacturing company, was accused of fraud, conversion and securities violations by an investor in and creditor of his company. Plaintiffs sought over $12 million in damages and were represented by a nationally known trial lawyer (who was a lead prosecutor in the government's case against Ken Lay and Jeffery Skilling of ‘Enron' fame). It was reported that this attorney had never previously "lost a case". Plaintiffs spent millions of dollars in prosecuting the matter and had up to seven lawyers representing them at trial. Our client had only one lawyer defending the case: James G. Bohm.

BAR ACTIVITIES & LEGAL ASSOCIATIONS

Mr. Bohm has served on the Board of Trustees of the Orange County Bar Foundation (1996 to 2003). He is a member of Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, Orange County Chapter (2001 to present), also holding the following offices: Treasurer (2004-2005), Vice-President (2006), President (2007 to 2008). Mr. Bohm is a member of the Orange County Bar Association and the State Bar of California, where he has served on the Resolutions Committee, and as Section Head for the Section on Civil Procedure.

EDUCATION

Mr. Bohm is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles (B.A., 1984), and of Pepperdine University, where he obtained his Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, and was Class Salutatorian, in 1987. While at Pepperdine, he was the California Survey Editor for the Pepperdine Law Review (1986-87) and the recipient of the West Publishing Company's Award for Highest Scholastic Average for the 1984-85 academic year. Mr. Bohm also received several American Jurisprudence Awards in the areas of Contracts, Constitutional Law, Creditor's Rights and Bankruptcy, Remedies, and Criminal Procedure.

WORK EXPERIENCE

Mr. Bohm has been practicing law since 1987. Prior to forming BOHM, MATSEN, KEGEL & AGUILERA, LLP he was the administrative partner of the Costa Mesa office of Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, LLP (now Lewis, Brisbois, Bisgaard & Smith LLP), where he represented numerous insurance clients. He also has substantial experience directly representing corporations in non-insurance, business-related matters and experience defending directors and officers in securities litigation. Mr. Bohm has represented ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc., PureGro, SPI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Union Oil Company of California, Unocal, BMW of North America, Inc., Ingersoll-Rand, Inc., Lorillard Tobacco Company, Nature's Best, Tosco Corporation, Phillips Petroleum Company and Contessa Foods, among others.