Using Sanchez to Your Advantage

David focuses his litigation practice on representing clients in the hospitality, construction, and transportation fields, including trucking companies involved in interstate and intrastate claims. David has also handled product liability cases involving life science matters for medical device manufacturers. David co-chairs the firm’s Food and Beverage Team and is experienced in the defense of cases involving alleged food contamination and liquor liability. David has also defended clients against claims brought under California’s Proposition 65 for alleged exposure to certain toxins. David has extensive experience in defending class actions and handling toxic exposure and contamination cases involving both property damage and bodily injury claims. David has also handled fire damage cases. He has also defended errors and omissions and professional liability claims brought against officers of closely held and public companies, accountants, and other professionals. He has also defended cyber-security breach, intellectual property, and trade secret claims. David was an adjunct professor at New York Law School and sits on the board of a major nonprofit organization

Michael Shultz, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge, presides over an Unlimited Independent Calendar Court [Civil] in Department A of the South Central District (Compton). Prior to that, he presided over the Master Calendar Court and a felony trial court in the South Central District. Prior to joining the bench, he served as a Clinical Professor of Law and the Clinical Director of the Center for Juvenile Law and Policy at Loyola Law School. After graduating from law school, he joined the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s office. There he worked in the training department and assisted in creating and implementing training curriculum for Los Angeles County Public Defender’s office. During his role as a trainer, Shultz was responsible for the direct training and supervision of all new hires. Later, he worked as a Deputy Public Defender IV, responsible for representing clients charged with capital murder.

Judge Kalra presides over Department 51, an independent calendar court (IC), at the Stanley Mosk Courthouse. Judge Kalra graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign with a BA in Political Science and Speech Communication in 1986, and graduated from UCLA School of Law in 1989. For five years he was a public defender with the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s Office and then for 15 years with the Los Angeles County Alternate Public Defender’s Office. In 2010, Judge Kalra was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles. He was assigned to the Criminal Division for nine years where his last assignment was felony trials. In 2020, Judge Kalra was assigned to the Civil Division. In addition, Judge Kalra has sat by assignment in the Second District Court of Appeal in 2018, 2021 and 2022 where he authored 41 appellate opinions and participated in over 100 appellate decisions.

Michelle Buxton Hemesath’s practice is focused on representing injured victims and their families. She formed Ikuta Hemesath, LLP in April of 2022 with law partner, Ben Ikuta.

She began her career representing healthcare providers and learned from some of the best defense attorneys on the West Coast. During this time, Michelle. gained invaluable experience and intimate knowledge of how insurance companies handle lawsuits, how to best position a case for trial, and how to wade through complex medical issues.

Michelle treats every case as if its going to trial. Michelle stoutly believes that the only way to obtain maximum recovery in a settlement is for the defense firm and insurance carrier to know that she is willing and able to try cases.

Michelle was raised in Torrance, California. She attended college at San Diego State University. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in political science, Michelle attended the University of San Diego School of Law. While at there, she participated in the university’s special education clinic advocating on behalf of students and parents to ensure students received the maximum benefits allowable under the law. Michelle graduated in the top twenty percent of her class and received awards in Complex Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution. In addition, Michelle received the Maria Shih Award for Diversity Awareness and Service.

Michelle is licensed to practice in the State of California, United States District Court for the Central District of California and United States District Court for the Southern District of California. She is immediate past the President of the Women Lawyers of Long Beach (WLLB) and current Treasurer, as well as a member of the Orange County Bar Association (OCBA), Orange County Trial Lawyers Association (OCTLA), Orange County Asian American Bar Association (OCAABA), and Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA). Since 2019, Mrs. Hemesath has served as an attorney coach for the mock trial team at Valley High School. In 2021 and 2022, Michelle was selected as a Rising Star in plaintiff-side medical malpractice, awarded to the top 2.5% of attorneys under the age of 40, by Super Lawyer Magazine.