Best Practices for Effective Depositions, Part One

Anthony “Tony” Ross became a lawyer because he has always had a strong sense of fairness and a desire to serve others. During law school, he was the Assistant to the President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which gave him a front row seat in the fight to preserve and defend the civil liberties enshrined in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights. Tony attended New York Law School and attended Rutgers University where he received a BA in Psychology and Economics. After law school, Tony embarked on a successful career as an entrepreneur in the hospitality space. He credits the success of his company to his ability to connect with people from diverse backgrounds.

Tony was initially motivated to get more involved with BHBA because of its leadership on LGBTQ rights. As a Black Latino the long history of civil  rights advocacy is incredibly important to him. “I am looking forward to expanding our community’s representation among BHBA’s leadership and within the community,” said Ross, BHBA’s first openly gay president.

Ross focuses his practice on transportation and general liability matters. He has extensive experience in general liability, commercial litigation, personal injury, consumer protection, and business litigation matters.

Mr. Lepak is certified as a Specialist in Family Law by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He received an undergraduate degree in Behavioral Science and Law from the University of Wisconsin in 1984, and a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1987.  He was a partner at the former and preeminent family law firm of Trope and Trope LLP in Los Angeles.
 
Mr. Lepak is in his third consecutive year as chair of the Law Practice Management & Technology Section. He was also co-chair of the Family Law Section of the Beverly Hills Bar Association for 2015-2016 and is currently on the Board of Governors for that Association. In 2019 Mr. Lepak received the prestigious President’s Award for his efforts at the Beverly Hills Bar Association. He is also a member of the Family Law Executive Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Rachael Kogen began her litigation career in New York in 1994 defending hospitals and doctors. She worked as a senior associate at the country’s largest professional liability law firm, Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker focusing on defending medical professionals.

After practicing for almost ten years in New York, she relocated to California in 2004 and passed the California Bar Exam. She continued her career in Southern California at the Cooperative of American Physicians’ in-house law firm, Schmid & Voiles, defending doctors in all areas of medical negligence.

Daniel Kramer is a trial lawyer who specializes in representing families and individuals involved in catastrophic personal injury and wrongful death matters, as well as employment discrimination and retaliation lawsuits. Daniel has obtained numerous jury verdicts as lead counsel, all victories on behalf of his clients. Multiple verdicts have been featured in both The Daily Journal, Verdict Search, The Huffington Post, and Fox 11 News. Five verdicts were ranked as the top 50 verdicts in the state of California for 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 by TopVerdict.com.  Early in his career, Daniel tried one of the first cases in Los Angeles County history to embrace a controversial new law regarding the recoverability of health insurance payments in personal injury actions. In his first year with the firm, Daniel obtained a $3 million settlement on behalf of the family of a WWII veteran who was tragically killed when a truck owned by a large grocery store chain ran a red light and crushed their husband and father to death. In 2015, Daniel obtained a $1,237,500 settlement on the eve of trial on behalf of CalTrans worker who was severely injured in a freeway collision. In 2016, Daniel obtained a $1,420,000 settlement just before trial against a shopping center for failing to protect its customers when a vehicle jumped a curb severely injuring a mother and her two daughters. Also in 2016, Daniel obtained a $1,000,000 policy limits settlement on behalf of a family who lost their 87-year-old father and grandfather who fell down a poorly lit stairwell. In late 2016, Daniel obtained a $2,160,000 jury verdict against the City of Los Angeles in a slip and fall case. That verdict was selected as one of California’s Top 100 verdicts in 2016. In 2017, he obtained a $1,830,000 wrongful termination verdict and judgement on behalf of a minimum wage worker who was terminated because of his disability, where the jury awarded punitive damages.  In 2018, Daniel received a $2,847,500 verdict against two large construction companies after his client fell in an open trench resulting in 3 broken ribs and permanent nerve damage.  Just before COVID, Daniel obtained an $850,000 verdict in a very difficult slip and fall trial where the client suffered a fractured knee cap. In July 2021, and in one of the first cases tried during COVID in the Central Courthouse in Los Angeles, Daniel obtained a $12,622,238.75 verdict on behalf of an electrician who was injured by a defective roof hatch. In August 2022, he obtained an $11,000,000 jury verdict in a case where his client was seriously injured by a distracted driver.