V. Sathienmars
- vCard
- vcard
V. Sathienmars is an accomplished litigator defending clients across a range of complex mass tort, product liability, and civil litigation matters in state and federal courts across the United States.
Vasudhsiri defends high-profile and high-net-worth clients in “bet the company” lawsuits. He routinely handles civil litigation matters from pre-suit through trial, having served on winning teams in both jury and bench trials. V.’s experience includes coordinating with defense liaison counsel on case management strategy, court filings, and discovery efforts in federal multidistrict litigation, as well as Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings in California state courts. Clients often call on V. to serve as monitoring counsel to ensure that litigation goals are met and expectations are exceeded. V. also has appellate experience, having represented clients in appeals in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and California appellate courts.
As a trial lawyer, V. defends clients in personal injury and wrongful death cases, as well as breach of contract cases, with a concentration in commercial agreements and consumer protection laws. V. also has experience defending clients in other civil litigation and transactions across diverse practice areas, including public agency, environmental, entertainment/sports, construction, transportation, and employment law, as well as regulated industries with licensing requirements. V. has achieved favorable results in defending attorneys, realtors, engineers, and insurance agents in professional liability lawsuits. V. is known for his spot-on claim evaluations and risk assessments and his aggressive, yet thoughtful, defense strategies. He provides strategic direction and optimizes resources through close coordination and collaboration with the client team, which often includes client leadership, risk management, in-house counsel, insurance companies, local counsel, and coverage counsel.
During law school, V. completed clerkships with California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George and San Francisco Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer. He also served as an American Bar Association Environmental Law Fellow with the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of the Secretary.
Before becoming an attorney, V. served California State Assembly Speaker Karen Bass as a Jesse Marvin Unruh Assembly Fellow, during which time he prepared and carried nine bills through the state legislative process, with seven bills signed into law. Prior to working in Sacramento with then-Speaker Bass, V. served as a Legislative and Governmental Relations Intern in City Hall with former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.
A California native, V. grew up in Los Angeles and currently resides in San Francisco. He has completed three marathons and many more half marathons as an endurance runner. He also enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, cooking, and cycling.
- Education
- University of California College of the Law, San Francisco (J.D., 2011); Property Law Note Author and Senior Editor, Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly; Award for Appellate Brief in Constitutional Law, Snodgrass Moot Court Competition
- University of California, Irvine (B.A. with honors, 2006); UC Irvine Alice B. Macy Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research Paper; First Amendment and Tax Law Note Author, School of Social Sciences Law Journal
- State Admissions
- California, 2012
- Washington, 2024
- Federal Admissions
- United States Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
- United States District Court, Central District of California
- United States District Court, Eastern District of California
- United States District Court, Northern District of California
- United States District Court, Southern District of California
- United States District Court, Eastern District of Washington
- United States District Court, Western District of Washington
- Certifications
- Arbitrator Certification Program, Bar Association of San Francisco
- Mediator Certification Program, University of California, Irvine
- Service Areas
- Business Litigation
- Mass Tort & Product Liability
- Obtained dismissal of Plaintiffs’ complaint without leave to amend in a federal court case defending a regional public transportation agency sued for civil rights violations resulting in the catastrophic personal injury of a minor and deprivation of a parent-child relationship; the complaint’s dismissal was then the subject of an ultimately unsuccessful appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal
- Obtained summary judgment in Santa Clara Superior Court in favor of a Yosemite-based hotel chain sued for negligent employee supervision resulting in a wrongful death and a catastrophic personal injury
- Defended and favorably resolved a premises liability lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against a high-profile celebrity musician and her personal real estate investment company, during which major discovery disputes were the subject of extensive adverse national news reporting, inclusive of claims that the musician’s family members concealed critical evidence by taking it across state lines, and the musician’s highly adverse deposition testimony on the whereabouts of the evidence and the identities of its owners
- Obtained a favorable statement of decision in Alameda Superior Court for a Northern California law firm and its attorneys, which were sued for legal malpractice in relation to an underlying high-profile governing board dispute at a large religious institution, following a one-month bench trial during which V. examined witnesses, made evidentiary objections, and argued trial motions as second chair; in its statement of decision, which was rendered in both the client’s lawsuit and the related governing board lawsuit, the court further adopted the Defendants’ proposal to resolve the governing board dispute with court-supervised reforms and a long-term community reconciliation effort through a structured alternative dispute resolution program overseen by a court-appointed referee
- Supervised the successful appeal of an interlocutory order granting a $1.1-million attorneys’ fee award against a property ownership and management company in a habitability and civil rights lawsuit filed in San Francisco Superior Court, which in turn forced a favorable settlement in the middle of a month-long jury trial; while handling the trial court matter, V. successfully opposed two petitions for writ of mandate on unrelated discovery and trial preference disputes, convinced the court to exclude large volumes of evidence at multiple Evidence Code section 402 hearings and reject adverse proposed jury instructions and verdict form language, and completed three days of jury selection as second chair
- As outside counsel for several Northern California municipalities, advised city council members on the legality of proposed legislation and drafted ordinances eventually enacted into law, such as an ordinance in one city requiring hotels within the vicinity of a major international airport to maintain detailed hotel guest registers in a format that can be readily inspected by local law enforcement, and an ordinance in another city requiring restaurants to use compostable materials for take-away orders
- Obtained summary judgment in Santa Clara Superior Court in favor of a San Jose-based trucking company sued for negligence resulting in a wrongful death, despite the fact that the client viewed this as a liability accepted case due to the graphic nature of the death, by obtaining evidence through an expert discovery strategy focused on highlighting personal responsibility for workplace safety
- Defended and favorably resolved a copyright lawsuit filed by a world-renowned photographer and filmmaker, which involved the photographic depictions of two prominent deceased rap and hip hop stars in iconic clothing and poses on the client’s t-shirts, hats, and other garments that were being sold at major clothing retailers nationwide; one of V.’s roles during the lawsuit was to develop and implement an investigation and discovery strategy in coordination with the musicians’ estates in response to the photographer’s contention that her photographs had very high commercial value because she “created” the iconic looks by advising the musicians on what to wear and how to pose
- Obtained a favorable resolution of what two corporate clients initially perceived to be a liability accepted catastrophic injury case by taking the deposition of a veteran state police officer and eliciting testimony that this investigating officer’s findings and conclusions in his highly adverse incident report applied an improper methodology inconsistent with his basic training at the state police academy, inclusive of a failure to collect and preserve critical evidence as well as interview key witnesses, such as a favorable percipient witness who the officer knew had important information about the incident and the Plaintiff who actually caused the incident
- In a special engagement, V. assisted a prominent San Francisco-based regional public transportation agency with the top-to-bottom revision of its Master Ordinance governing bridge, ferry, and bus operations and with its implementation of major infrastructure projects, including a transition to all-electronic bridge tolling and the construction of a movable median collision barrier for bridge traffic
- Obtained early favorable resolution of what the client thought was a high-exposure, liability accepted premises liability lawsuit by creating and implementing an investigation and discovery strategy to reveal that the Plaintiff was not totally disabled by the alleged incident as she contended, but rather that she was fit enough to make pizzas all day and climb ladders at her pizza parlor
- Prepared two separate summary judgment motions in Inyo County Superior Court for a New Hampshire-based fleet management company and a Florida-based car rental company sued in a catastrophic injury case; prevailed at oral argument, winning summary judgment for the car rental company based on the Graves Amendment (49 USC §30106(a)) and obtaining Plaintiff’s dismissal of the fleet management company
- Following multiple informal discovery conferences and the filing of a motion to compel that addressed various unsettled areas of law regarding physical and mental examinations, obtained a court order requiring Plaintiff to appear at an extensive, all day mental examination undertaken by the client’s retained neuropsychiatrist in order to evaluate Plaintiff’s traumatic brain injury claim, resulting in a report that Plaintiff’s claimed cognitive issues were not related to the alleged incident
- Obtained a dismissal with prejudice of Plaintiffs’ wrongful death lawsuit after filing a summary judgment motion on behalf of a prominent taxi and ride share company, with V.’s motion arguing that Co-Defendants’ no contest pleas to the vehicular manslaughter of Plaintiffs’ mother in related criminal proceedings was an admission of gross negligence and therefore conclusive evidence in the wrongful death lawsuit that Co-Defendants were solely at fault for the death of Plaintiffs’ mother
- Obtained summary adjudication in Kern County Superior Court in favor of an elevator company sued for negligence and products liability
- Organized and supervised a comprehensive e-discovery strategy for a community college district that filed a large construction defect lawsuit against a Japan-based general contractor that was responsible for completing the client’s long-term and multi-campus expansion project; certain documents obtained through e-discovery established that the general contractor delivered several new facilities to the client that were not constructed in compliance with local and state building codes or otherwise failed to meet the client’s project specifications
Media
- “Tucker Ellis Adds Jones Day, Kronenberg Attys,” Law360 Pulse (August 2022)
- Leadership Council on Legal Diversity
- Pathfinders Program (2024)
