Entertainment Ethics and Malpractice Year-in-Review: "The Ethics Factor"

Marta Alcumbrac is certified as a specialist in legal malpractice law by the State Bar of California. She has successfully represented lawyers and law firms in numerous legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty cases. She regularly identifies strategy for early resolution by quickly obtaining and accurately analyzing the relevant facts and developing a litigation plan for bringing the case to conclusion.

Marta brings the same creativity and determination to the practice of law that she used as a principal founder of the Los Feliz Charter School for the Arts, a public school started when Marta realized that parents in her community wanted another educational option for their children. Before joining Robie & Matthai, she practiced at Bonne, Bridges, Mueller, O’Keefe & Nichols, where her practice focused on the defense of medical malpractice cases. When medical issues are relevant (as they often are in legal malpractice cases arising out of personal injury cases), her medical malpractice expertise is an invaluable asset.

Marta currently is the President of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel.

Neville L. Johnson is Senior Partner at Johnson & Johnson. Neville L. Johnson graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California, Berkeley (1971). He received his law degree from Southwestern Law School (1975), graduating near the top of his class. He has tried over 28 civil jury trials and over 70 civil trials and arbitrations without a jury. He is a member of the invitation-only American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and is on the Board of Governors of the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles (CAALA since 2005), the Board of Directors of the national organization Public Justice, and on the Board of Governors of the Beverly Hills Bar Association 2013-2015 and 2020-2022 (BHBA). Johnson is a long-time member of the invitation-only Los Angeles Copyright Society, and on the Board of The California Society of Entertainment Lawyers.

Ellen A. Pansky specializes in the defense of attorneys, bar applicants and other professionals in regulatory and licensure proceedings and represents both plaintiffs and defendants in civil legal malpractice actions. She consults with and advises lawyers in legal ethics and risk management. She frequently serves as an expert witness in legal malpractice proceedings.

Ms. Pansky is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in the area of Legal Malpractice Law. In 2021, she was appointed to the State Bar of California’s Ad Hoc Commission on the Discipline System.