Attorney Profiles

        JAMES C. GALLOWAY, JR. was admitted to the California Bar in 1970 and to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1964 from the University of Southern California and his Juris Doctorate degree from Southwestern University in 1969. He has served as the Firm's Managing Partner, and currently is a member of the Executive Committee.

        Mr. Galloway maintains an extremely active litigation and trial calendar specializing in the defense of professional liability matters including dental, medical and real estate, multi-party construction defect matters, product liability, auto and governmental tort actions. His keen sense of the issues and incisive analysis has earned him the reputation as an aggressive no-nonsense litigator.

        Upon entering the legal profession, Mr. Galloway served with house counsel at Farmers Insurance Group before joining the Firm. Since 1980 he has volunteered as a Judge Pro Tem on the Los Angeles Municipal Court and is active as an Arbitrator for the Los Angeles Superior Court Arbitration Panel. Additionally, he is a member of the National Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association and a Diplomat of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA). Mr. Galloway has participated as a member in the Los Angeles County and American Bar Associations, the American Judicature Society and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel. He has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court since 1977.

        MARK A. WEINSTEIN received his Bachelor's degree (cum laude) at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1972 and his Juris Doctorate (cum laude) from Loyola Marymount University School of Law in 1975. After remaining on the Dean's List throughout law school and earning entry into the Saint Thomas Moore Law Society, he was admitted to the California Bar in 1975. A member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Mr. Weinstein serves as an Arbitrator for the Los Angeles County Superior Court in the field of personal injury.

        Mr. Weinstein came to the firm in 1986 from the Office of the California Attorney General. During nine years of practice he was promoted to the highest rank of Deputy Attorney General IV. Mr. Weinstein practiced in the Tort and Condemnation section, representing various state agencies such as the Department of Corrections, California Highway Patrol, Department of Mental Health, Department of Parks and Recreation, and the Department of Insurance. He had full responsibility for multi-party complex litigation including Newman v. Stringfellow, where over 5,000 plaintiffs sued the State and others for damages allegedly resulting from toxic materials deposited at the Stringfellow disposal site in Riverside County; and Sinaloa Homeowners Association v. State of California, an inverse condemnation action filed in Federal Court because of the Department of Water Resources decision to breach a privately owned dam causing property damage to 40 homeowners.

        His most recent high-profile civil rights trial, a federal police misconduct action, was successful on appeal--and that is no surprise. In Allen v. Singer, Mark defended before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals the CHP officer who pulled over Rodney King's white Hyundai on the night of his arrest. This case represented a successful conclusion to the civil rights challenges of King and his passengers.

        Over the years, Mr. Weinstein has established himself as a preeminent authority in public entity defense with an array of government tort cases, resulting in over 20 published appeals that have, in some circumstances, virtually redefined the scope of public entity liability.

        In addition to Allen v. Singer, et al., Mr. Weinstein has to his credit published opinions such as Clemente v. State of California; Chevlin v. Los Angeles Community College District; Kuykendall v. State; State of California v. Meyer; Truong v. James; Guess v. State of California; and Leader v. State, in which Mr. Weinstein persuaded the Court of Appeals to revise the law of collateral estoppel. Mark's meticulous handling of the Leader case at trial laid the groundwork for appeal, furnishing the appellate court with a sound legal and factual basis for changing the law.

        Mr. Weinstein’s trial and appellate work in another case, Hacker v. City of Glendale, was instrumental in focusing the development of the defense of primary assumption of the risk. Mr. Weinstein's ability to litigate complex and sensitive tort cases has also earned him a reputation in the areas of negligent security, foster care liability, harassment, discrimination, and other similar high-exposure cases. As one of the Firm's primary trial attorneys, his practice also includes medical malpractice defense, truck accidents, construction disputes, products liability, and intellectual property. Mr. Weinstein also heads the Firm's appellate practice group.

        Recently Mr. Weinstein served as co-instructor of several courses including C.E.B.'s "How to Handle a Government Tort Liability Claim," and a series of classes presented by Veatch Carlson on basic investigation and litigation techniques.

        TONI KERN joined Veatch Carlson in December, 2007 as a partner. Prior to joining Veatch Carlson Ms. Kern was a partner at a multi-office firm, including managing one of the branch offices, with a practice emphasis in insurance defense and general litigation.

She graduated from UCLA with a degree in Economics in 1972. After a career as a claims adjuster and supervisor with Liberty Mutual, followed by private investigations with R.J. Frasco Agency, she received her JD degree from Northrop University School of Law and was admitted to the California State Bar in 1987.

Applying the skills from her claims and investigations experience, Ms. Kern spent her early years defending municipalities, law enforcement agencies as well as high-end retail establishments. From simple to complex, Ms Kern’s practice went on to include all areas of general liability. As an active trial lawyer, in both Federal and State Courts, Ms Kern continues to handle auto and trucking, premises, product liability, municipality, auto dealership and security related cases.

Prior to joining Veatch Carlson Ms. Kern was a partner at a multi-office firm with a primary emphasis in insurance defense and general litigation.

        PETE E. ALMEIDA was admitted to the California bar in 1992. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 1984 from Chapman University and his Juris Doctorate degree from Pepperdine University in 1991.

        Mr. Almeida began his career specializing in premises liability, automobile accidents, insurance bad faith, attorney malpractice, property and third party subrogation. His reputation in the legal community led to his speaking extensively throughout Southern California about third party subrogation.

        In 1997, Mr. Almeida joined the firm of Tobin & Louie. Mr. Almeida was made a partner within six months and upon Mr. Tobin’s departure in 2000, the firm was renamed to Louie, Almeida & Stettler. In 2000, Mr. Almeida was named the managing partner. The firm grew from 10 attorneys in 2000 to 29 attorneys and 3 offices by 2004.

        Mr. Almeida’s focus throughout his career has been to separate cases into those that should be taken to trial and those that should be pushed to a successful, early resolution. He is comfortable with complex medical and legal issues having handled cases involving hematological, neurological (including massive brain trauma), orthopedic and psychiatric/psychological issues. As a result of Mr. Almeida’s expertise he has been able to confront opposing counsel with hard facts while refuting grossly inflated injury claims resulting in fair reasonable settlements or “take nothings” from the WCAB. Mr. Almeida has successfully settled workers’ compensation matters that included a resolution of the employees other civil claim resulting in untold savings to the employer.

        GILBERT A. GARCIA was admitted to the California Bar in 1992. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University, Fullerton in 1987. He received his Juris Doctorate from American College of Law in 1992 and received an American Jurisprudence Award in Insurance Law. He specializes in third party litigation and workers' compensation defense.

        Mr. Garcia has handled a wide variety of general liability claims. This includes automobile accidents, construction defect, complex mold litigation, products liability and subrogation claims. Mr. Garcia has tried over twenty cases to verdict. He is an experienced and accomplished trial lawyer.

        Mr. Garcia’s workers’ compensation specialty includes the handling of all aspects of workers’ compensation claims. He has handled numerous trials involving the case in chief, liens, and AOE/COE issues. In addition, Mr. Garcia has handled numerous appearances, both formal and informal, before the rehabilitation unit. Mr. Garcia has also personally prepared appeals from the rehabilitation unit’s orders as well as numerous petitions for reconsideration on various issues including temporary disability, permanent disability and the case in chief.

        STEPHEN K. NAKATA is currently concentrating his practice in the fields of labor, employment, workers’ compensation, Longshore, subrogation and general civil litigation. Steve represents, counsels, and defends employers at every level of the employment relationship, from recruiting to separation. Steve is an experienced trial lawyer. In addition, he has argued cases at the appellate level of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He also regularly provides training seminars in various fields.

        Steve received his undergraduate degrees from UCLA and his law degree from the University of San Francisco. During law school, Steve became a certified law student, made court appearances and took depositions. At that time, Steve worked for a firm concentrating on the defense of Longshore, workers’ compensation and subrogation matters.

        After law school, Steve worked for a statewide law firm, and later became the managing attorney for that firm’s Subrogation Department. He continued to handle Longshore and workers’ compensation matters, but also handled civil litigation matters.

        In 1996, Steve joined a national law firm, and split his practice between that firm’s Litigation and Labor and Employment Groups. As a senior associate, Steve focused on representing employers in labor and employment matters. In addition, Steve handled a variety of civil matters involving intellectual property litigation, securities litigation, contract litigation and maritime litigation.

        Prior to joining Veatch Carlson Steve was a partner at a firm specializing in labor law. Steve concentrated his practice on labor, employment, workers’ compensation, Longshore, subrogation and general civil litigation matters.

        MARK M. RUDY received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of Santa Clara where he was a four-year member of the University Honors Program. He received his Juris Doctorate from the University of California, Hastings College of Law in May 1986. He served as Associate Articles Editor of the Hastings International and Comparative Law Review in 1985 - 1986. He is a member of the American Bar Association; the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel; and the Southern California Association of Healthcare Risk Managers.

        He joined Veatch Carlson after admission to the Bar in December of 1986. Since that time, Mark has practiced primarily in the area of medical and dental malpractice defense. During his tenure with the firm, Mark has tenaciously litigated a multitude of complex matters in the medical malpractice arena.

        Mr. Rudy has tried cases to verdict involving claims of death, birth injury, and permanent neurological damage in matters alleging medical malpractice. Favorable trial results have been achieved for insureds of various insurance companies including Truck Insurance Exchange, Shand Morahan & Co., Caliber One Indemnity Co. and Southern California Physicians Insurance Exchange. Mr. Rudy has also handled cases involving allegations of sexual harassment/battery against healthcare providers. He has additional trial experience in the areas of premises liability and motor vehicle accidents. Mr. Rudy has presented lectures on the medical-legal aspects of nursing at several Los Angeles-area hospitals.

        BERNHARD E. BIHR is a 1969 graduate of California State, Los Angeles, and a 1973 graduate of Loyola Law School.  Since his admittance to the California Bar, Mr. Bihr has specialized in insurance defense law, focusing primarily in the areas of construction defect litigation, toxic torts, products liability, real estate errors and omissions and legal malpractice. Mr. Bihr has tried well over twenty Superior Court jury trials and has been a court appointed arbitrator having heard over 200 cases.

        He has served as the managing attorney for the Los Angeles staff counsel office of The Home Insurance Company. While in that capacity, Mr. Bihr was actively involved in law firm audits throughout the Western United States.

        Throughout his career, Mr. Bihr's focus in defense litigation has been the successful, early resolution of matters in an effort to achieve favorable results for his clients in the most expeditious and economic manner.

        CYRIL CZAJKOWSKYJ joined Veatch Carlson in 2001, bringing his extensive experience in all phases of civil litigation. He was a principal with Knapp, Peterson & Clark, for more than 16 years, specializing in insurance defense, products liability, professional malpractice, employment termination, business litigation, libel, insurance bad faith and civil rights litigation.

        Mr. Czajkowskyj's experience includes jury and bench trials and appellate litigation. Reported appellate opinions include Reid v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co. (1985) 173 Cal.App.3d 557 [218 Cal.Rptr. 913], National Metal & Steel Corp. v. Colby Crane & Manufacturing Co. (1988) 200 Cal.App.3d 1111 [246 Cal.Rptr. 435], Robertson v. Chen (1996) 44 Cal.App.4th 1290 [52 Cal.Rptr.2d 264], and Melikian v. Aquila, Ltd. (1998) 63 Cal.App.4th 1364 [74 Cal.Rptr.2d 739].

        He joined the California State Bar in 1978. He is also admitted to practice in the United States District Court, Central and Northern Districts of California and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal. After obtaining his B.A. from Northwestern University, he earned his M.A. degree from the University of Chicago, and his J.D. from the University of San Francisco.

        ROBERT T. MACKEY graduated from the State University of New York in 1996 and thereafter completed his Juris Doctorate degree at the University of Quinnipiac, formerly the Bridgeport Connecticut School of Law, in 1999.

        While in Law School, he argued misdemeanor trials while interning with the Connecticut District Attorney’s office in New Haven. In addition, he captained his Mock Trial Team, which competed on a national level.

        He began his practice, litigating serious personal injury cases on behalf of plaintiffs and criminal cases on behalf of defendants, in both State and Federal Courts. He holds licenses in New York, Connecticut and California. He has worked as a trial attorney for the defense law firm of Early, Maslach & Rudnicki, where he tried over 20 jury trials, procuring 18 consecutive defense verdicts. In addition, he has successfully arbitrated and mediated hundreds of civil cases on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants.

        His current focus is jury trials and his cases have included automobile negligence, motorcycle and pedestrian negligence, slip and falls, premise liability, employment, products liability, assault and battery, malpractice, civil rights, fraud, libel/slander, property loss, landlord tenant, employment and wrongful death.

        SCOTT S. MIZEN graduated from the University of Illinois in 1987 and earned his Juris Doctorate Degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1990. Mr. Mizen is admitted to practice before all the California Courts and the United States District Court, Southern District of California. He is also a member of the Southern California Association of Defense Counsel and the Orange County Bar Association.

        Mr. Mizen has practiced general civil defense litigation, emphasizing construction defect and personal injury matters for more than a decade. His primary specialty at Veatch Carlson is personal injury and property damage defense. He is a seasoned litigator with numerous trials to his credit.

         DAWN M. FLORES-OSTER graduated with academic honors from UCLA where she was the recipient of the California State and Mabel Wilson Richards Scholarships. She attended Southwestern University School of Law where she received the John J. Schumacher Scholarship. While a student carrying a full load of credits, she externed for the Honorable Justice Earl Johnson, where her endeavors resulted in the creation of several written opinions including Hacker v. City of Glendale, People v. Cedric Wayne Scott and People v. Timothy DeJurnett. In addition, she externed for the District Attorney's office handling felony cases. Ms. Oster was admitted to the California State Bar in 1991.

     Ms. Oster has had a wide variety of complex, multi-party, high exposure litigation experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants, with a special emphasis in bad faith litigation.

     Ms. Oster was one of the principal attorneys in the Allegro v. State Farm matter, which resulted in the extension of Business and Professions Code section 17200 to the bad faith arena. Ms. Oster's extensive experience also includes the representation of governmental entities, religious organizations, fraud and "SIU" matters. Through her involvement in high profile cases, she is also very skilled in preparing clients for press and television contact. Ms. Oster is fluent in French and is involved in many community activities.

        STEVE R. SEGURA earned his Bachelors Degree in Political Science with an emphasis in Public Law in 1988 from the University of California, Los Angeles and his Juris Doctorate degree from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law in 1991.

        Mr. Segura brings substantial litigation experience in a variety of fields to our firm. Recently, Mr. Segura's practice has primarily focused on complex business litigation where he has represented the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, several prominent financial institutions, commercial real property developers, health maintenance organizations as well as numerous mid-sized corporations, partnerships and individual business owners.

        In addition to his commercial litigation experience, Mr. Segura also has substantial experience in the fields of insurance coverage and insurance bad faith actions. His expertise in coverage and bad faith includes comprehensive/commercial general liability, professional liability, directors and officers and business policies. He has also handled the defense of insureds in a variety of matters, including employment, products liability, construction defect and general casualty litigation.

        Mr. Segura has significant experience handling appeals at both the State and Federal levels involving insurance coverage issues, intellectual property rights, antitrust violations and employment issues. He has secured favorable results for his clients in each appeal.

          TED L. TRAVIS received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Wyoming in 1983, and earned a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Nebraska in 1988. He is a member of the State Bars of California (1989) and Colorado (1993). Mr. Travis is an experienced jury and bench trial lawyer, and has prepared, defended and argued many appeals, including In Re Sachs (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 1144, 116 Cal.Rptr.2d 273 (Self-Incrimination privilege unavailable to a judgment debtor during examination proceedings in the enforcement of family support order as the debtor may not rely on his failure to pay support as a justification for his subsequent refusal to provide financial information, including tax returns, that could e utilized to collect the arrearage). 

     Mr. Travis has a long and varied career with small and medium sized law firms and as a sole practitioner. During this time, he has principally been involved in pursuing and responding to pre-lawsuit options and resolutions, and all phases and aspects of civil litigation in state and federal courts. Mr. Travis has substantial and hands-on litigation and appellate experience with issues arising in the prosecution and defense of claims, disputes and suits involving: Personal Injury (general, intentional, premises, motor vehicle, product, and governmental tor liability) ; professional liability ; family law (dissolution/annulment; paternity; custody, support & visitation; orders to show cause & modifications) ; commercial and business law (enforcement and disputes of contractual matters; pre-judgment and post-judgment remedies, including attachments and collections) ; landlord-tenant (commercial and residential, including rent-control law) ; employment law ; and, insurance coverage and bad-faith.

     Mr. Travis has served the Los Angeles County Superior Court as a volunteer mediator, arbitrator and judge pro tem. He has also volunteered his services to clinics serving domestic violence and indigent tenant popultations. His interests outside of the law include the great outdoors, traveling, comedy, 20th Century history, and his family.

           CLAYTON LEE is a 2005 graduate of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, and also holds a degree in statistical science from Brigham Young University. He began his legal career defending hospitals and doctors from malpractice claims, and a variety of healthcare professionals against state licensing board actions. He joined Veatch Carlson in 2008 after gaining additional experience in general, civil litigation, including contract disputes, trust contests, and business torts. Mr. Lee now practices in general liability defense, including commercial and premises liability, personal injury defense, and medical malpractice defense. He is admitted to practice before all California courts, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Mr. Lee is an active member of The Federalist Society and the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. He is conversant in Portuguese. He and his wife are the proud parents of a daughter and two sons.

        ROBERT C. CARLSON was admitted to the Alabama Bar in 1941 and the California Bar in 1947. He was educated at the University of Alabama, receiving his A.B. degree in 1939, and his Juris Doctorate in 1941. He has been an active member of the American Arbitration Association and an Arbitrator for the Los Angeles Superior Court panel. He is a past President and Diplomat of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel. He has been a member of the International Association of Insurance Counsel since 1956, and a member of the Defense Research Institute and American Judicature Society. He has been a lecturer at the University of Southern California, Institute of Litigation and the University of Southern California Academy for School Boards and Administrators. From 1941 - 1946, he served in the Army Air Corps, as a Major, Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and retired as a Lt. Col. J.A.G.C., in 1960. Mr. Carlson started his civil trial work as a trial attorney for Transit Casualty Co., and later as Assistant General Counsel for the Union Pacific Railroad before joining Wayne Veatch and Henry Thomas in 1952, as a trial lawyer.

        Mr. Carlson has tried a variety of cases including auto, public transportation, railroad, product liability, dental, legal and medical malpractice matters. His expertise in governmental tort litigation is prominently recognized throughout the State. Aside from his California State Bar membership, he is a current member of the American Bar Association, Alabama State Bar, Los Angeles County Bar Association and several other local bar affiliations. Mr. Carlson's career has further been distinguished by recently being elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

        HONORABLE DAVID J. AISENSON (retired), Judge Superior Court (Retired), was admitted to the California Bar in 1956 after receiving his Juris Doctorate from Southwestern University School of Law. His undergraduate work was done at UCLA where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics.

        After a brief stint as a sole practitioner, he received an appointment as a Deputy in the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office and served predominantly in the trial division. He was appointed a Commissioner of the Los Angeles County Superior Court in 1962 where he served as a Judge Pro Tem for four years. In 1966 he won a seat on the Los Angeles Municipal Court and in 1976 a seat on the Los Angeles Superior Court via election by the people after receiving the overwhelming endorsement and support of the Bar and the media. During his twenty-five years on the bench, he has had extensive trial experience in both criminal and civil assignments.

        Judge Aisenson retired from the bench on September 30, 1987, and joined the Firm in an "of counsel" capacity the next day. With his extensive judicial background at the trial court level, Judge Aisenson's insights regarding case valuations and, of course, technique play an invaluable role to our trial counsel and therefore our clients. Additionally, Judge Aisenson is a member of several of the Los Angeles County's Judicial Arbitration Panels.

        D. MICHAEL BUSH has been involved in resisting fraudulent claims for over fifteen years. His problem-solving methods frequently result in the swift resolution of claims, avoiding costly litigation. He is also highly successful in obtaining voluntary dismissals. His innovative techniques to effectively fight fraudulent claims have made him an instrumental party in shaping the policy and strategy in which insurance entities evaluate and resolve their claims. Michael has obtained numerous awards in which medical and chiropractic bills were disallowed in their entirety. He has developed many of his technical approaches working with the California Physical Therapy Association.

        Mr. Bush has worked to develop legislation which has targeted those who abuse the system. His co-sponsorship of a bill to make capping a felony paved the way for the present California capping statute that assists prosecutors in convicting lawyers of insurance fraud. He has also initiated efforts to enable insurance companies to obtain restitution orders directly from criminal defendants.

        Mr. Bush is the author of many articles in the area of insurance fraud. He is a featured writer for one of the preeminent publications in the industry, the John Cooke Fraud Report. He has also written articles and conducted courses on the use of computers by lawyers.

        Mr. Bush graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1978, with a Bachelors Degree in Business and minors in history and economics. He graduated from Southwestern University School of Law, in Los Angeles, in 1981. Mr. Bush also volunteers his time for several organizations and causes.

        STEPHEN S. PRICE received his undergraduate degree from New Mexico Highlands University in 1967. He earned a Masters Degree from this same institution the following year. He has also earned membership into the Pi Gamma Mu National Honors Society. After receiving his Juris Doctorate from the Ventura College of Law in 1978 he was duly admitted to the California Bar the same year. Mr. Price served as an officer in the United States Army during the years 1969-1973. His experience included 2-1/2 years stationed in Germany with the 5th Psychological Operations Battalion Airborne.

        Mr. Price brings a lengthy and varied legal career to the firm including some 40 trials involving issues relating to General Liability, coverage determination via Declaratory Relief Actions, Products Liability/Completed Operations, Public School Governmental Liability through representation of the Sacramento School Insurance Authority, etc. Additionally, he was recognized as an expert in the arbitration of Uninsured and Underinsured matters pursuant to CIC Section 11580.2 et seq. He has lectured on these topics at various seminars state-wide.

        Mr. Price’s professional career commenced with staff counsel operations of the Farmers Insurance Group of Companies where he was active in litigation, trying matters before trial courts throughout California. He has been managing attorney for firms in Los Angeles and Santa Clara counties. While associated with the Farmers organization, he was appointed as Vice President of the Farmers Insurance Exchange, Truck Insurance Exchange, and the Fire Insurance Exchange. He served as Vice President of Claims Litigation supervising thirty [30] in-house firms nationwide, and most recently, Vice President of Personal Lines Claims, overseeing a department with 9,500+ employees and a $1.1 billion budget.

        During Mr. Price’s legal career he has served as Superior Court Arbitrator, Mediator, Judge Pro Tem in numerous counties throughout the State of California. He has also been honored to serve as Special Master for the State Bar of California. As the senior insurance claims executive he was also pleased to have served on the Boards of the National Insurance Crime Bureau and the Arbitration Forums, Inc.