Bio

Tom Cifarelli is recognized as one of the nation’s top plaintiff’s personal injury attorneys. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America since 2011 and has twice been selected Attorney of the Year by Best Lawyers in America. He has also been selected as one of the top 500 plaintiff lawyers in America and the top 50 Attorneys in Orange County. He has won and collected nearly $60 million for individual clients in the last five years alone. Throughout his career he has made law in important areas including privacy rights and school district liability for children sexually abused by teachers. He is a recognized expert in the areas of child sexual abuse litigation, privacy rights, wrongful death, pharmacy mistakes and handling high profile personal injury litigation throughout California.

Many of Mr. Cifarelli’s cases are high-stakes and high-profile matters. He and his cases have been profiled or featured in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the San Bernardino Press-Enterprise, the Orange County Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily Journal.

Mr. Cifarelli’s involvement in high-profile cases includes representing plaintiffs as part of the landmark $660 million Clergy sexual abuse settlement in Los Angeles, as well as countless other sexual abuse cases throughout the State of California, as well as serving as a member of Plaintiffs’ Steering and Discovery Committees in the Baycol Litigation and on the Sulzer Hip Implant litigation.
Mr. Cifarelli is an active and respected leader in the legal community. He was appointed an At-Large member of the Board of Governors for the Consumer Attorneys of California in 2000 and sits on that organization’s Education, Membership and Fundraising Committees. He is also a respected author in several areas including litigating child sexual abuse cases and pharmacy malpractice. He is also a dynamic and popular lecturer and has spoken to lawyers, educators and child care workers throughout the country at legal conventions and seminars. Groups he has addressed include: Consumer Attorneys Association of California; Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles; the National Crime Victims Bar Association; Non-Profit Risk Management Association of America; National Business Institute; California Teachers Association; and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
Mr. Cifarelli’s efforts and precedent-setting victories have earned him a host of legal distinctions and accolades from his peers. He was named one of the Top 500 Plaintiff Attorneys in America by Lawdragon Magazine (2007). Mr. Cifarelli was further honored in June 2006 when he was selected from the over 1.1 million lawyers in America to be included in the Lawdragon 500 New Stars, New Worlds, the top 500 cutting-edge lawyers in America as voted by other attorneys on Lawdragon.com. In 2008 Mr. Cifarelli was profiled by the Orange County Business Journal as one of the County’s top attorneys and the one abuse victims turn to. Mr. Cifarelli has also been selected as a “Southern California Super Lawyer” each and every year since the inaugural list was published in 2004, a distinction reserved for the top 5 percent of attorneys in California and has been named a "Top 50" Super Lawyer on multiple occasions. In addition, Mr. Cifarelli has been named to Who’s Who in American Law since 2001. He was also profiled in “Ten up and Coming Litigators in California” by the Los Angeles Daily Journal in 2001. Mr. Cifarelli is also a life member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization limited to prominent trial attorneys in the United States who have obtained individual trial verdicts and settlements in excess of one million dollars each. Mr. Cifarelli has been "AV-rated" by Martindale-Hubbell since 2000, and was one of the youngest attorneys to earn that organization’s highest rating.
Mr. Cifarelli has also been selected as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in California by The American Trial Lawyers Association . Membership into The American Trial Lawyers Association is limited to the Top 100 Trial Lawyers from each state. Selection for The American Trial Lawyers Association is extended to civil plaintiff and criminal defense attorneys by special invitation. Candidates are considered for membership in The American Trial Lawyers Association based on superior qualifications, leadership, reputation, influence, stature, and profile in the Trial Lawyer community.
Mr. Cifarelli is an advocate for the protection of children’s rights and has handled numerous cases on behalf of children physically or sexually abused by others. He has also worked closely with the organization Mothers Against Sexual Abuse for the benefit of child molestation victims.
Mr. Cifarelli’s published decisions include the precedent-setting invasion of privacy case M.G. et al vs. Time Warner, Inc. et al, 89 Cal. App. 4th 623 (2001) and V.C. vs. Los Angeles Unified School District, (2006) Cal. App. 4th, No. B184022, defining the claims presentation requirements for child sexual abuse cases against public schools.
Mr. Cifarelli is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and earned his law degree at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.

Thomas A. Cifarelli

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