Jillisa L. O'Brien

Bio

Partner

Phone 949.596.7103

Mobile 949.910.0372

Jillisa got involved in law over twenty years ago for the same reason so many people find it challenging: the complexity and structure of it appealed to her. She loves working closely as part of a team, advancing ideas and building up businesses. Supporting the ideas and projects her clients care about most frees them to focus on their work, their lives, and their businesses. And that matters as much to her as much as it does to them.

She is a trial lawyer who has defended numerous multimillion dollar cases ranging from catastrophic injury to high-rise construction defect cases. Because of her defense of clients under general liability insurance policies, Jillisa has successfully handled, resolved and tried the entire gamut of complex tort cases ranging from deaths at construction sites to claims of copyright infringement of architectural products. As the former managing partner of a mid-sized law firm, Jillisa appreciates the business needs of clients and applies entrepreneurial principles to her cases.

Jillisa’s practice emphasizes the representation of parties in all areas of complex civil litigation. As such, over the years she has acquired tremendous knowledge and experience with the substantive law of California while dealing with the interrelated contractual, insurance and risk-transfer issues that often complicate litigation. Additionally, she has applied her litigation experiences to advise Common Interest Developments in transactional matters so as to avoid litigation wherever possible and minimize exposure for controversial business decisions, serving as General Counsel to large self-managed homeowner associations. Finally, over the last two decades, Jillisa has developed wide ranging expertise in risk management which allows her to provide advice on complicated risk transfer strategies, such as pursuing and maximizing indemnity rights and securing primary, excess and additional insurance coverage for clients.

Acting as a strong advocate, Jillisa also recognizes that clients are best served by the speedy resolution of cases. Accordingly, at the outset of every case, she looks for creative solutions and strategies that may position a case for early resolution in an economical and expedient manner.

Jillisa is a member of the prestigious Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, a nonpartisan alliance comprised of thousands of insurance companies, corporations, Corporate Counsel, Litigation and Risk Managers, claims professionals and attorneys with a mission of promoting the highest standards of litigation management. Through the CLM, Jillisa has been named a Certified Litigation Management Professional ("CLMP") having successfully completed the CLM Litigation Management Institute program, a certification program specifically designed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the business of litigation management.

Jillisa received her Bachelor of Arts from California State University, Fullerton (Speech Communication and Political Science) and her law degree from Southwestern University in Los Angeles. She is presently admitted to the United States Supreme Court, California Supreme Court, and most of the United States District Courts with California jurisdiction. She is also an active member in the Orange County Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel.

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