Find Lawyers

Joanne Lichtman was named one of California’s “Top Women Litigators” for 2010 and 2013 by the Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal and in 2009 was named to “L.A.’s Top 100 Lawyers” list by the Los Angeles Business Journal. She also has been repeatedly distinguished as one of Southern California’s “Super Lawyers” in the area of Civil Litigation Defense. This annual list of top lawyers in Southern California is published by Law & Politics and Los Angeles magazine.

Ms. Lichtman represents clients in federal and state litigation throughout the United States. Her experience includes a broad array of substantive areas of complex commercial litigation, with particular knowledge of consumer and antitrust class actions, product liability, false advertising, unfair business practices and a wide range of environmental litigation.

In 2009, upon the nomination by President Obama of Judge Sotomayor to the Supreme Court, Ms. Lichtman was nominated to serve on the National Association of Women Lawyers’ Committee for the Evaluation of Supreme Court Nominees, which provides input to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Supreme Court candidates. She recently served as a member of the Committee during the review process for Elena Kagan.

Recent Representative Matters

• Consumer Class Actions
  Represent numerous companies in nationwide and statewide class actions for alleged false advertising and unfair business practices relating to food, beverage and diet supplement products.
• Columbia Riverkeepers v. Confidential
  Successfully represented client in threatened Clean Water Act citizen suit
• Center for Food Safety, et al. v. Vilsack, et al.
  Represents the U.S. growers and processors of sugarbeets in litigation relating to USDA’s deregulation of genetically modified sugarbeets.
• National Product Liability Litigation Counsel
  Represent a major consumer product manufacturing company in its nationwide product liability litigation.
• In re Southeastern Milk Antitrust Litigation
  Class action on behalf of dairy farmers throughout the Southeastern United States relating to antitrust and breach of contract violations for artificially reducing milk prices to dairy farmers.
• Bradfield, et al. v. China Shipping, et al.
  Won complete dismissal for the client on all claims in a diesel exposure case. The case involved critical issues of first impression relating to warnings for diesel emissions pursuant to Proposition 65 and California’s unfair competition law.

Ms. Lichtman is a member of the American and Los Angeles County Bar Associations (Litigation and Environmental Law Sections, respectively). She is also a member of the American Business Trial Lawyers, Institute for Corporate Counsel (Board of Advisors), the National Association of Women Lawyers and the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles. An active member of the community, Ms. Lichtman is a member of the Annual Fundraising Committee for Bet Tzedek Legal Services and serves as Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Housing Rights Center of Southern California.

Ms. Lichtman’s pro bono work includes:

• Housing Rights Center v. Jason Cho, et al.
  Represented client in a housing discrimination case against a residential landlord in Southern California. The resolution of the case included broad injunctive relief to prevent future discrimination in rental practices at defendants’ properties and one of the largest monetary payments on record in similar cases.
• Housing Rights Center, et al. v. Confidential
  Represented client and numerous tenants in a civil rights case against one of Los Angeles’ largest residential landlords. The case was settled on the eve of trial after the court granted motion for an adverse jury instruction against defendants at trial. The settlement was one of the largest fair housing settlements on record for discrimination in apartment rentals.

Ms. Lichtman’s publications and speaking engagements include:

• “Beyond Federal Regulation: State Consumer Laws and Consumer Class Actions Related to Packaging, Labeling and Marketing in the Food Industry,” Moderator, ABA Litigation Section, Food & Supplements First Annual Conference, Moderator, Atlanta, GA (February 17, 2011)
• “E-Discovery: A ‘How To’ For Products Liability Lawyers,” Panelist, ABA Section of Litigation Products Liability Committee Ninth Annual Women in Products Liability Regional CLE Workshop, New York, NY (November 13, 2008)
• “Are Regulatory Findings Admissible Evidence?” co-authored with Gilbert S. Keteltas, Litigation Vol. 34 (Spring 2008)
• “Forecasting the Future,” co-authored with Gilbert S. Keteltas, Los Angeles/San Francisco Daily Journal (January 24, 2008)
• “Forecasting the Future of Climate Change,” Moderator, ABA Section of Litigation, Colorado (January 2008)
• “Climate Change Litigation: Emerging Practice Area or Y2K?” co-authored with Gilbert S. Keteltas, The Recorder (December 19, 2007)
• “Women in Products Liability,” Panelist, ABA Section of Litigation, New Orleans, LA (October 2007)
• “Restore Order: Damages for Injuries to Natural Resources Are No Longer a Theoretical Possibility,” co-authored with Kurt Zimmerman, Daily Journal (July 1998)