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Douglas J. Brown

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PROFILE

Mr. Brown is a trial attorney with a broad range of experience spanning criminal and civil litigation, including insurance coverage and bad faith actions, breach of contract matters, and cases involving issues of intellectual property, business torts, unfair competition, legal malpractice, and personal injury. Mr. Brown’s insurance recovery practice includes experience representing policyholders in coverage disputes involving commercial general liability, property, and errors and omissions coverage, in addition to various specialty lines of insurance including wine collectors and seedsmen’s errors and omissions coverage. Mr. Brown also provides strategic advice regarding corporate compliance with legal processes issued by federal and state courts and law enforcement agencies.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Brown clerked for the Honorable David O. Carter of the United States District Court for the Central District of California. After his clerkship, Mr. Brown served as an Assistant United States Attorney ("AUSA") for the District of Columbia. Before attending law school, Mr. Brown was a computer scientist who worked for three years at BBN Technologies and conducted research at the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA).

Mr. Brown is a member of the California State Bar and the District of Columbia Bar, and is admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Southern, Central, and Eastern Districts of California and the Northern District of Oklahoma. Mr. Brown is a member and past president of the Korean American Bar Association of San Diego and serves as a volunteer arbitrator for the San Diego County Bar Association’s Attorney Client Fee Dispute Program. Mr. Brown has been recognized as a top attorney and rising star in publications such as San Diego Magazine and Super Lawyers.

Education

  • New York University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2006
    • Robert McKay Scholar
    • Executive Editor, Journal of International Law and Politics
  • University of California, San Diego, M.S., Computer Science and Engineering, 2003
    • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Recipient
  • Duke University, B.S., Computer Science, magna cum laude, 2000
    • Angier B. Duke Memorial Scholarship Recipient

Representative Cases

  • Defeating insurer’s motion for summary judgment and obtaining summary adjudication on three of insurer’s six coverage defenses on behalf of seedsman in multi-million dollar coverage dispute
  • Arguing before, and winning complete reversal of trial judgment from, California Court of Appeal on behalf of borrower against lender in seven-figure real estate dispute. See Thoryk v. San Diego Gas & Elec. Co., 225 Cal. App. 4th 386 (2014)
  • Obtaining dismissal and attorneys’ fees award for defendants in defamation action and, later, arguing and successfully defending judgment before California Court of Appeal. See Rogers v. Hochshuler, Case No. D061633 (Cal. App. Mar. 7, 2014)
  • Second chair counsel in one-week arbitration for energy plant owner/developer, in seven-figure contract dispute with equipment supplier, resulting in confidential arbitration award
  • Representing energy plant owner/developer in eight-figure construction dispute with contractor
  • Second chair counsel in one-week arbitration for leading investment manager, in seven-figure contract dispute with former executive, resulting in confidential arbitration award
  • Representing wood flooring manufacturer in multi-million dollar action to enforce trademark rights against counterfeiter. Uncovered opposing party’s fabrication of evidence and obtained favorable settlement for client before trial
  • Lead trial counsel for plaintiff in six-figure breach of contract collection action, resulting in complete verdict for plaintiff
  • Trying approximately 20 criminal trials to verdict, including four jury trials, as an AUSA in the Sex Offense and Domestic Violence and Felony Trial units of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia

Professional Involvement

  • Arbitrator, San Diego County Bar Association Client Fee Dispute Program
  • Past President, Korean American Bar Association of San Diego
  • Guest Lecturer, “Logic and the Law,” San Diego State University

Publications

  • “Disentangling Human Concessions to Human Frailty: Anglo-American Provocation Doctrine,” J. Int’l L. & Pol. (2007)

Clerkship

  • Hon. David O. Carter – U.S. District Court, Central District of California

Areas Of Practice