Jeff Westerman

Jeff Westerman’s experience spans 45 years in practice. For his first 11 years, he was a general business litigator, who also handled some personal injury plaintiff and defense cases. He learned the basics of litigation and trial practice that resulted in insights that still carry over to the class action practice.  For the next 34 years, since 1991, he has worked almost exclusively as a plaintiff class action lawyer on complex securities, corporate mergers and acquisitions, consumer, antitrust, and data breach class cases, along with shareholder derivative actions, and a Private Attorney General Action for employment claims.  He personally served in a court appointed role as a Lead or Co-Lead, Liaison or Executive Committee Counsel directing the prosecution of cases that resulted in monetary recoveries or recognized value to class members in excess of $2 billion. In 2005, the California Daily Journal legal newspaper recognized Jeff as one of the top 30 securities litigators in California.

Jeff’s commitment to, and track record of, working well with others is reflected in numerous appointments to a leadership role in most of the large multi-party cases he has appeared in, and in Bar and Court appointed roles within the U.S. Central District of California and California state courts. His Bar activities include long tenures, appointed and reappointed by the Judges of the U.S. District Court to: (a) the U.S. Central District of California Attorney Discipline Committee, including three years as Chair following three years as Vice- Chair; and (b) almost 11 years on the U.S. Magistrate Judge Merit Selection Panel.

Jeff served a term as co-chair of the U.S. Central District’s lawyer representatives to the 9^th Circuit Judicial Conference; and was recently reappointed as an attorney delegate to the 9^th Circuit Judicial conference through 2026. Starting July 1, 2025 he became the President of the 100 year old Chancery Club in Los Angeles, whose membership is voted in based on recognized quality in the practice of law, integrity and community and public service. Members include practicing attorneys and Federal and State judicial officers. Jeff was on the committee of lawyers of diverse practice areas and divergent interests, overseen by then Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne Segal, that developed the form of confidentiality order suggested for use on the web pages of the majority of Magistrate Judges in the Central District. Jeff was on a similar committee for the LA Superior Court Complex Court judges, led by the Hon. Emilie Elias. He served as the lead attorney drafter and aggregator of comments for the consensus form confidentiality stipulation still posted for general use on the Los Angeles Superior Court website. Jeff is an honorary Board Member and past President (2020-2021) of the Federal Bar Association – Los Angeles Chapter. Previously, Jeff was a Board Member and then Officer, of the Los Angeles chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL), where Jeff was the first plaintiff lawyer to become President (2004-2005) in the 30 (now 40+) year history of the Los Angeles chapter. He was also Chair of the ABTL, 27^th annual seminar in Maui Hawaii, October 12-15, 2000: The High-Stakes Case: How to Make It; How to Break It, which featured prominent members of the Judiciary such as former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy and former California Supreme Cout Justice Marvin Baxter, and other prominent members of the Bench and Bar.

Jeff has been a member for about 13 years and a past Chair of the LA Superior Court Complex Courts Bench Bar Committee, Past Chair of the Los Angeles Complex Courts semi-annual seminar, including the first program that featured the Complex Judges from all of the Complex Courts in California when the Hon. Carolyn Kuhl suggested setting the program to coincide with the Complex Judges’ annual meeting scheduled for Los Angeles;  he has been a moderator or speaker for that program several times over the years and was recently a panel moderator for the Complex Court Seminar in November 2025. He is currently the Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee for the Los Angeles County Bar Association after serving three terms on the Executive Committee as Assistant Vice President, and three years as a member of the Finance Committee. The LA County Bar has about 11,000 members and an annual budget of about $8 million. Jeff also serves on the Boards and Finance Committees of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and the Federal Bar Association – Los Angeles Chapter. He was Chair of the 2,000 member LA County Bar Litigation Section, and past Trustee of the LA County Bar.

Almost every one of Jeff’s class cases has been prosecuted collaboratively with at least one, to as many as many as 80, plaintiff co-counsel. His ability to work well with others is also demonstrated by the fact that he has been court appointed as either lead or co-lead counsel, or as a member of a leadership executive committee, or as liaison counsel, in most of his cases. In his cases, the leadership structure is often accomplished through stipulation to a submitted proposed order based on trust and relationships with other plaintiffs’ counsel, as opposed to a contested resolution by the court.  He was appointed by stipulations for orders as the sole Lead Counsel, to guide Executive Committees for the Porter Ranch Gas Leak Shareholder Derivative Actions, (the largest natural gas leak in the history of the United States (October 2015- February 2016) and the UCLA medical data breach litigation. Over 35 lawyers in total signed off on the stipulations to appoint Jeff in those two cases that obviated contested leadership hearings. Jeff’s relationships and activities in the Los Angeles legal community were recognized with his selection for the Jim Robie Professionalism and Civility Award in 2023, by the LA County Bar Litigation Section.