Current Employment Position(s)

Founding Partner, since 1983

Lawyer Overview

Irving Greines has specialized in appellate and related trial court practice for virtually the entirety of his 40-year legal career.

After graduating near the top of his class from UCLA School of Law, Irving served as Senior Research Attorney to two of California's most respected appellate justices: the legendary Otto M. Kaus, who served as Presiding Justice, Division Five of the California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, and as Associate Justice of Division Three of that court (and who later served as Associate Justice on the California Supreme Court), and Presiding Justice John J. Ford of Division Three.

Following these clerkships, Irving practiced in a prominent downtown Los Angeles law firm where he specialized in appeals, law-and-motion practice, and federal and state securities litigation. During this period, Irving decided he wanted to specialize exclusively in appellate advocacy and embarked on his full-time appellate career.

In 1983, he and three other experienced appellate lawyers founded Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland in order to concentrate exclusively on appellate litigation and appellate-related trial court practice. Since then, the firm has grown to become one of the largest and most respected appellate specialty firms in the country, one whose partners collectively have more than 250 years of appellate experience.

As an appellate advocate, Irving has represented a broad spectrum of clients and is experienced in handling a wide variety of issues. He has participated in countless appellate dispositions, many of which have been published and therefore have precedential impact on the developing common law. In addition to appellate advocacy, Irving's experience includes extensive appellate-related involvement at the early stages of important cases headed towards litigation and eventual appeal; his role in these cases is to help develop winning legal strategies, as well as to help assure that important issues are properly preserved for appeal.

Included among the issues in which Irving has substantial experience are those involving corporations, securities, contracts, real estate, torts, insurance, unfair business practices, constitutional law, antitrust, entertainment, copyright, patents, family, trust, probate, and class actions. His clients have included international and national manufacturers, securities brokerage firms, accounting and law firms, universities, insurance companies, healthcare providers, major motion picture studios, prominent celebrities, class action plaintiffs and defendants, small businesses and individuals.

Throughout his career, Irving has resisted being pigeon-holed as a representative of any particular interest group. Irving likes being involved in challenging cases that present opportunities for developing and asserting creative legal arguments. He has frequently been involved in matters that have shaped and tested the limits of the law.

In short, Irving is a lawyer's lawyer. He is at home whenever strategy, legal analysis, and written and oral advocacy are involved. He is comfortable taking the lead in a case, as well as playing a silent strategy role.

Believing that legal practice without more makes for a dull lawyer, Irving is also a respected professional fine arts photographer. His work has been exhibited at museums, galleries and shows in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Santa Fe, Atlanta, Lincoln (Nebraska) and Austin and Abilene (Texas). It has been published in nationally-prominent photographic journals, the premiere issue of Color Magazine, Hasselblad Forum, Camera and Darkroom, Popular Photography and Camera Arts Magazine. His largest solo show was in 2001 at The Museum of the American Institute of Architects in Washington, D.C. His photographs are held in prominent permanent collections, including those of The Museum of Photographic Arts (San Diego), The Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center (University of Texas, Austin), The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center (Vassar College, New York), The Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden (University of Nebraska, Lincoln), The Art Collection of the San Francisco Civic Center Complex, Sprint Corporation, and the Eli and Edyth Broad collection.

As his multiple interests demonstrate, Irving loves the creative side of life. It's reflected in his approach to life and the law. He considers himself lucky to have found a form of legal practice that allows him, on a daily basis, to explore his creativity.

Areas of Practice

• Appellate Law
• Administrative Law
• Business Litigation
• Constitutional Law
• Family Law
• Insurance Law

Representative Cases

• Marriage of Burkle, In re (2006), 139 Cal.App.4th 712 (2006)
• Fuller-Austin Insulation Co. v. Higlands Ins. Company (2006), 135 Cal.App.4th 958 (2006)
• Jonathan Neil & Associates, Inc. v. Jones (2004), 33 Cal.4th 917 (2004)
• Surgin Surgical Instrumentation, Inc. v. Truck Ins. Exchange (1998), 76 Cal.Rptr.2d 303 (1998)
• Main Line Pictures, Inc. v. Basinger (1994), 1994 WL 814244 (1994)

West Practice Categories

Administrative Law, Business & Commercial Law, Constitutional Law, Family Law, Insurance Law, Litigation & Appeals, Federal Appellate Practice, State Appellate Practice

Professional Associations and Memberships

• California Academy of Appellate Lawyers (Member)
• California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, 1991 - 1992 (President)
• American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (Fellow)
• California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, 1991 - 1996 (Member, Design Team, Appellate Delay Reduction Committee)
• California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, 1993 - Present (Member, Executive/Legislative Action Network Committee (ELAN))
• California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District (Settlement Officer, Volunteer Settlement Program)
• American Arbitration Association (Panel of Arbitrators)
• Los Angeles County Bar Association (Appellate Courts Committee)
• Association of Business Trial Lawyers
• American Bar Association, Litigation Section
• American Bar Association, Torts and Insurance Section
• American Bar Association, Appellate Practice Section
• Museum of Photographic Arts, San Diego (Member, Board of Trustees)
• The Santa Fe Center for Visual Arts (Member, Advisory Council)
• The Magic Castle (Magician Member)

Honors and Awards

• Named in The Best Lawyers in America (Appellate Law, Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation), 2006 - 2010
• Southern California Super Lawyers (Appellate), 2004 - 2009

Classes and Seminars

• Panelist, Masters Series Program on Appeals, Insights on Effective Appellate Advocacy, Los Angeles County Bar Association Barristers

Past Employment Positions

• Horvitz & Greines, 1975 - 1983
• California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three, Senior Research Attorney, 1973 - 1975
• Greines & Krane, 1972 - 1973
• Kadison, Pfaelzer, Woodard, Quinn & Rossi, 1969 - 1972
• California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Three, Presiding Justice John J. Ford, Research Attorney, 1967 - 1968
• California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Divisions Three and Five, Presiding Justice Otto M. Kaus, Research attorney, 1966 - 1967

Education

• UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, California, 1966
  J.D.
  Honors: Moot Court Honors Program
  Honors: Eighth in Class
  Honors: Barristers, Masters Series Program on Appeals
  
  Law Review: UCLA Law Review
• University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 1963
  B.S.
  Honors: Highest Honors
  Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
  Major: Accounting

Fraternities/Sororities

• Beta Gamma Sigma

Address

5900 Wilshire Boulevard
12th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Phones

(310) 859-7811

Faxes

(310) 276-5261

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.gmsr.com
http://www.greinesmartin.com