Law Office of Alan Rader
My Legal Background and How I Succeed For My Clients
Though I grew up in New York, my undergraduate degree is from UCLA and my law degree is from Stanford Law School. I am fortunate to have had an extensive—and diverse—career as a trial lawyer and civil litigator.
The longest span was as a litigation partner in the Century City office of top-rated and internationally renowned O’Melveny & Myers LLP, representing top-tier companies like the Walt Disney Company, IBM, ExxonMobil, MGM, Miramax, PG&E, Warner Bros., Anschutz Entertainment, Lockheed Martin, and Barnes & Noble, as well as individual businesspeople and entertainment industry figures such as director Werner Herzog. For example, I was a leader of the team that, for Disney, not only defeated a multi-million-dollar royalty claim to Winnie-the-Pooh properties, but also obtained terminating sanctions against the claimants. In a different realm, while an O’Melveny partner I joined with the ACLU and MALDEF to bring the federal lawsuit that overturned California’s Proposed 187, which would have unconstitutionally denied undocumented immigrants health care and public education, work that brought me the ACLU’s annual “Civil Rights” award.
That public-interest work built on the roots of my legal career. My first law job was in Delano, California working for and with Cesar Chavez in the converted two-bedroom house that served as the United Farm Workers’ office. That led to fifteen years as a legal aid lawyer, including service as Executive Director of Cambridge and Somerville Legal Services in Massachusetts and, later, the Western Center on Law and Poverty in Los Angeles..
Today, the Law Office of Alan Rader is the third act of my career as a trial attorney, civil litigator, and business lawyer. I work hard to solve problems—and, when necessary, file and handle litigation—for prominent entertainment companies like film companies Anonymous Content and Sobini Films and music company AECG; for businesses and entrepreneurs; and for workers, from an individual gardener, to the 45 young videogame designers who recovered many millions in wrongly denied contractually-promised performance bonuses on the hit Modern Warfare 2 videogame. In addition, the Law Office of Alan Rader has represented two professional boxers, one in Los Angeles, the other in Miami, both in a dispute with their management; low-income-housing developers; a yoga entrepreneur; a public-relations company; random other lawyers; a pension and consulting company; entertainment executives; musicians and actors . . . and just folks.
Perhaps most notably, the Law Office of Alan Rader served for five years, as outside General Counsel to the Redwood Holding Group, the Southern-California-based creator, owner, and manager of the Lord Jones brand of CBD and cannabis products. That work continued for five years, from the company’s 2015 inception to its 2020 sale to a large Canadian cannabis enterprise for, as publicly reported, $300 million.
From the start of my legal career, I have tried to be a careful student of what it takes to succeed for clients. Representing poor people, I learned to focus relentlessly on the main chance. Representing Fortune 50 companies, I learned to leverage opportunity. Throughout, I learned how to tell my clients’ stories in a way that made decision-makers want to rule for them. The challenges remain the same: think creatively, be strategic, come prepared, talk plainly, listen carefully, respond honestly.
For those who need help resolving a legal problem—or preventing one from igniting—I provide sound, goal-oriented, advice and persuasive, cost-effective, advocacy before judges, juries, arbitrators, and mediators. I can’t say I’ve never been surprised by an opponent’s tactic or argument, but it’s been a long time since I was surprised by one that succeeded.
Finally, I am, relatively speaking, a bargain. My fees are less than half what they would be if I were still a partner at a major international law firm. So my clients get senior-partner experience and intellectual strength without bearing the costs inherent to institutional law-firm practice. When solving a client’s problem requires additional help, I call on a network of experienced former colleagues. Most significantly, perhaps, my broad experience allows me to operate at a high level of efficiency.
