Stephen G. Larson

Stephen Gerard Larson (born October 26, 1964) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Central District of California and a partner in the Los Angeles law firm of Larson LLP, which he co-founded in 2016 as Larson O'Brien LLP. He consistently ranks among the top litigators in the U.S., having been recognized by ''The Best Lawyers in America''© for his work in Commercial Litigation and Criminal Defense: White-Collar since 2015.

As a judge and an attorney, Larson is known for high-profile cases, including his role from 2011 to 2018 as lead defense counsel in ''People v. Biane et al.'', the case which former California Attorney General (and former governor) Jerry Brown once touted as "the biggest corruption scandal in San Bernardino County, if not the state's, history. Larson won full acquittal for developer Jeff Burum in 2017 and then represented Burum and his company, Colonies Partners, in two civil rights suits against San Bernardino County and its former District Attorney alleging malicious prosecution, among other charges. On November 24, 2020, the parties jointly announced a settlement agreement of $65 million to resolve the litigation.

Larson represents former USC water polo coach Jovan Vavic in the highly publicized “Varsity Blues” college admissions case against racketeering, conspiracy, and fraud charges. He also represents tax agent Ramin Salari charged alongside former Los Angeles County Assessor John Noguez in a public corruption case. On May 22, 2020, Larson obtained the dismissal before the California Court of Appeal of two separate cases charging Mr. Salari with numerous counts of bribery, embezzlement, and tax fraud—charges which were recently re-filed in a pair of new complaints. The case, dating back to 2012, became highly publicized after then-Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley stated that it was one of the county's most significant public corruption cases in decades. In addition to trial practice, Larson frequently advocates before court of appeals across the country. He sat by designation as a United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit judge on seven occasions during his tenure as a U.S. District Judge, since 2015 Larson has appeared before both the California Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States.

Larson and United States National Security Advisor Robert C. O'Brien co-founded Larson O'Brien LLP in January 2016. Before co-founding the firm, Larson was practice leader of Arent Fox's Complex Litigation group. In addition to his trial and appellate work, Larson is a member of FedArb and is frequently engaged as an arbitrator and mediator in complex commercial disputes. Provided by Wikipedia