Poster, Marc J.

Current Employment Position(s)

Partner, since 1989

Lawyer Overview

Marc Poster has specialized in appellate practice for more than thirty years and has participated in hundreds of appeals and writs in state and federal appellate courts.

Clients seek out Marc not only for his wealth of experience, but also for his brief-writing skills, high reputation with the appellate courts, willingness to tackle difficult assignments, common sense, and ability to work with his clients and co-counsel to achieve their goals. Trial attorneys call on him to assist with critical motions and litigation strategy, so that they win their cases at trial and so that, if their cases do go to appeal, they will be well prepared.

Marc was educated at Stanford University and UCLA School of Law. He served as a Senior Research Attorney for the California Court of Appeal for six years before he entered private practice in appellate law. He is a Certified Specialist in Appellate Law, State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. He is a member and past president of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, and a member and past chair of both the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Appellate Courts and Appellate Judicial Evaluations Committees. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Beverly Hills Bar Association for two terms and served as chair of the Association's Amicus Briefs Committee for six years. He is immediate past president of the 4000-member Association and serves on the Board of the Beverly Hills Law Foundation.

He has lectured on appellate law and ethics on behalf of the Beverly Hills, Los Angeles County and Orange County Bar Associations, the State Bar of California, the Defense Research Institute, and the California Center for Judicial Education and Research. He has written extensively on current issues in appellate practice for the Los Angeles Daily Journal and other publications. And he has been retained by other attorneys to testify as an expert on appellate practice. Marc has represented individuals and businesses, plaintiffs and defendants, and appellants and respondents on a broad range of subjects, including torts, contracts, real property, insurance, constitutional law, family law, professional liability and intellectual property. He welcomes the opportunity to handle new and challenging cases. In recognition of Marc's accomplishments, he has been named a "Super Lawyer" in appellate practice by a blue-ribbon panel of his peers and honored in Best Lawyers in America.

Marc is married to Roberta Fields Poster, a speech-language pathologist. They have two children. When not practicing law, Marc enjoys time with his family, classical music, puzzles and stamp collecting.

Areas of Practice

• Appellate Law
• Administrative Law
• Business Litigation
• Entertainment Law
• Government Tort Liability
• Insurance Law
• Intellectual Property
• Probate and Trusts
• Real Property

Representative Cases

• Meek v. County of Riverside, 183 F.3d 962 (C.A.9 1999)
• National Steel v. Golden Eagle Ins. Co., 121 F.3d 496 (C.A.9 1997)
• Empire Blue Cross v. Janet Greeson's A Place For Us, 985 F.2d 459 (C.A.9 1993)
• Consolidated American Ins. Co. v. Mike Soper Marine Services, 951 F.2d 186 (C.A.9 1991)
• Shaw v. Lindheim, 919 F.2d 1353 (C.A.9 1990)
• People ex rel. Dept. of Transportation v. Southern Cal. Edison Co., 22 Cal.4th 791, 94 Cal.Rptr.2d 609 (2000)
• Sharon P. v. Arman, Ltd., 21 Cal.4th 1181, 91 Cal.Rptr.2d 35 (1999)
• Lopez v. Southern Cal. Rapid Transit Dist., 40 Cal.3d 780, 710 P.2d 907, 221 Cal.Rptr. 840 (1985)
• Quan v. Truck Ins. Exchange, 67 Cal.App.4th 583, 79 Cal.Rptr.2d 134 (1998)
• Passante v. McWilliam, 53 Cal.App.4th 1240, 62 Cal.Rptr.2d 298 (1997)
• McGill v. Regents, 44 Cal.App.4th 1776 (California Court of Appeal 1996)
• Rogalski v. Nabers Cadillac, 11 Cal.App.4th 816 (California Court of Appeal 1992)

West Practice Categories

Administrative Law, Business & Commercial Law, Entertainment, Insurance Law, Intellectual Property Law, Litigation & Appeals, Federal Appellate Practice, State Appellate Practice, Probate & Estate Administration, Real Estate Law

Bar Admissions

• California, 1971
• U.S. District Court Central District of California, 1971
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 1971
• U.S. Supreme Court, 1978

Certification/Specialties

• Appellate Law, State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization, 1996

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Beverly Hills Bar Association, 2002 - 2006 (Member, Board of Governors)
• Beverly Hills Bar Association, 2006 - 2007 (Second Vice-President)
• Beverly Hills Bar Association, 2002 - 2006 (Chair, Amicus Briefs Committee)
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1978 - Present (Appellate Courts Committee)
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1984 - 1985 (Chair, Appellate Courts Committee)
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1989 - Present (State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee)
• Los Angeles County Bar Association, 1997 - 2001 (Chair, State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee)
• American Bar Association, Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (Appellate Advocacy Committee)
• 6th Appellate Practice Institute, 1998 - Present (Faculty Member)
• California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, 1979 - Present (Member)
• California Academy of Appellate Lawyers, 1989 - 1990 (President)
• Volunteer Settlement Program, California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District (Settlement Officer)
• Beverly Hills Bar Association, 2009 - 2010 (President)

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, American Academy of Appellate Lawyers
• Named in The Best Lawyers in America (Appellate Law), 2006 - 2010
• Southern California Super Lawyers (Appellate), 2004 - 2011
• Board of Governors Award, Beverly Hills Bar Association, 2005

Classes and Seminars

• Thinking Ahead: Protecting Your Position for Appeal, Beverly Hills Bar Association, Litigation Section, 2006
• Update From the Appellate Courts, Santa Clarita Bar Association, 2006
• Amazing Tales of Ninth Circuit Practice, Orange County Bar Association, Appellate Courts Committee, 2005
• Winning At Any Cost: Ethics In the Appellate Courts, State Bar of California, 2004
• Federal Appellate Practice, Orange County Bar Association, College of Appellate Advocacy, 2002
• Ethical Concerns in Handling An Appeal, State Bar of California, 2001
• Ethics In Appellate Advocacy, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Appellate Courts Committee
• Taking an Appeal: Civil, Los Angeles County Bar Association, Continuing Legal Education Convention, 1992

Past Employment Positions

• Sole Practitioner, 1979 - 1989
• Horvitz, Greines & Poster, 1977 - 1979
• Associate Justice Macklin Fleming, California Court of Appeal, Second District, Division Two, Senior Research Attorney, 1970 - 1977

Education

• UCLA School of Law, Los Angeles, California, 1970
  J.D.
• Stanford University, Stanford, California, 1967
  A.B.
  Major: Political Science

Published Works

• Ninth Circuit Review, American Bar Association, Tort, Trial and Insurance Practice Committee News, 2003
• In the Thicket of Appellate Jurisdiction, ABTL Report, Summer, 2005
• The Art of Oral Argument on Appeal, ABTL Report, Summer 2004, 2004
• Limits to the Contempt Power in California Courts, Los Angeles Bar Journal, January, 1976
• The Proposed Panel to Resolve Intercircuit Conflicts: A Brief View From the Litigator's Perspective (Co-Author), 11 Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly 371
• California Civil Practice: Procedure, ch. 38 (record on appeal) (consultant), Bancroft-Whitney, 1991
• Motions for New Trial - A Procedural Minefield, Los Angeles Daily Journal, May 7, 1993
• For Your Eyes Only-California's System for Depublication of Decisions, Los Angeles Daily Journal, May 22, 1995
• One Or Another - Determining A Ruling's Appealability, Los Angeles Daily Journal, January 2, 1996
• On Review-Significant Changes To The Appeals Process, Los Angeles Daily Journal, February 12, 1996
• Brief Changes-From Type to Time In Federal Appeals Courts, Los Angeles Daily Journal, April 3, 1996
• Partially Appealing-When A Request For Review Is Necessary, Los Angeles Daily Journal, October 28, 1996
• It Ain't Over-After A Final Decision On Appeal, Los Angeles Daily Journal, April 14, 1997
• Final Analysis - Determining Appealability of a Judgment or Order, Los Angeles Daily Journal, August 25, 1997
• A Certified Check-State Court Rulings for Other Jurisdictions, Los Angeles Daily Journal, April 2, 1998
• Out of Lack-Jurisdiction Counts, No Matter To Which Court The Case Is Presented, Los Angeles Daily Journal, June 4, 1998
• Step by Step-Winning An Appeal Begins With Following the Rules, Los Angeles Daily Journal, August 6, 1998
• Looking Back-Both the State and Federal High Courts Primarily Addressed the 'Nuts and Bolts of Statutory Construction' in Cases Heard This Year, Los Angeles Daily Journal, December 18, 1998

Address

5900 Wilshire Boulevard, 12th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90036

Phones

(310) 859-7811

Faxes

(310) 276-5261

Emails

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Websites

http://www.gmsr.com