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Joseph L. Chairez
Partner

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Costa Mesa
600 Anton Boulevard, Suite 900
Costa Mesa, CA 92626-7221

T 714.966.8822
F 714.754.6611

Bar Admissions

  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 1987
  • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California, 2006
  • U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, 2003
  • U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 1987
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of California, 1987
  • High Court Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, 1986
  • Republic of Palau, 1986
  • California, 1981

Education

  • J.D., University of California, Davis School of Law
  • B.S., University of California, Berkeley

Joseph L. Chairez

Joseph Chairez’s experience includes assisting companies with employment litigation, insurance coverage, real estate development, product liability, real estate, environmental cost recovery and construction defect.

Mr. Chairez is a business trial lawyer who has successfully litigated numerous complex business and employment matters in state, federal and appellate courts. For employers, he has handled multiplaintiff discrimination, retaliation, harassment and wage and hour litigation.

He also has a subspecialty in insurance coverage litigation on behalf of individual and corporate policyholders, which has produced millions of dollars of insurance policy benefits for his clients. Mr. Chairez is skilled in handling both the underlying litigation and the associated coverage issues with an emphasis on Error & Omissions, Officers & Directors and General Liability Policies.

In addition, Mr. Chairez is experienced in drafting legislation, negotiating and reviewing international contracts, treaties and bond offerings. As a former senior legislative counsel to one of the U.S. Trust Territories, he represented several Pacific Island legislators before the U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives and United Nations.

Mr. Chairez is a member of the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California. He is the past President of the Orange County Bar Association Charitable Fund and past President of the Orange County Bar Association. Mr. Chairez is also a past president of both the Orange County Hispanic Bar Association and Celtic Bar Association. He has served as the co-chair of the California Commission on Access to Justice and a member of the California State Bar, Pipeline Diversity Task Force. A frequent speaker at continuing legal education seminars, Mr. Chairez has spoken before the Southern California Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association, the California Redevelopment Association, the Insurance Education Association, the Ethics Committee of the American Bar Association and many other organizations. He has contributed to many publications including the Orange County Lawyer, California Minority Counsel Annual Report.

Mr. Chairez has continuously been named a Southern California “Super Lawyer” by Law & Politics and the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine since 2004. He was also named as one of the top five litigators in Orange County by Orange County Metro Magazine in 2009.

Mr. Chairez’s awards include:

  • Hispanic Bar Association “Attorney of the Year” Award (2007)
  • United Way “Hispanic Influential” Award (2008)
News
12/31/2011 2011 Super Lawyers Announced
9/26/2011 Chairez Named Top Attorney in OC Metro Magazine
10/14/2010 2010 "Super Lawyers" Announced

Quotes
7/23/2010 Los Angeles Daily Journal: State Bar to Consider a Slew of New Discipline Rules This Weekend