Darryl Hottinger is Senior Counsel in the firm’s Los Angeles and Ventura County offices. He is a member of the firm’s Employment Law practice group.

Darryl represents and counsels employers of all sizes in a variety of employment law matters. He has experience defending clients against claims of wrongful termination, discrimination, sexual harassment and abuse, retaliation, unpaid wages, meal and rest break violations, and other adverse employment actions.

Darryl has over 25 years of experience handling complex civil litigation, business litigation, appeals, writs, and the defense of catastrophic personal injury claims, including elder abuse, sexual abuse, and wrongful death. He has a proven track record of obtaining successful results in difficult, high damage cases. He has tried cases to verdict in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Diego, including a defense verdict in an eleven-week jury trial that was included in the Daily Journal’s top ten defense verdicts of the year.

Admissions

• California
• Arizona
• U.S. District Court, Central District of California
• U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Representative Experience

• Obtained defense verdict for a general contractor in an eleven-week jury trial involving construction defect and insurance bad faith claims that was included in the Daily Journal’s top ten defense verdicts of the year.
• Obtained summary judgment for a regional center that coordinated services for a developmentally disabled consumer who assaulted a residential facility employee. Successfully defended against plaintiff’s appeal resulting in a published decision significantly limiting a regional center’s duty to protect residential facility employees.
• Obtained defense verdict for a general contractor in a four-week jury trial involving a concrete subcontractor who suffered serious personal injuries on the general contractor’s worksite.
• Obtained summary judgment for a regional center that hired a vendor whose employee raped and impregnated a developmentally disabled consumer. Assisted with successful defense of plaintiff’s appeal resulting in a published decision significantly limiting a regional center’s duty of care in situations involving sexual abuse perpetrated by employees of vendors.
• Obtained summary judgment for a resort after a worker in the resort’s laundry department lost his arm in an accident involving an industrial washing machine.
• Obtained judgment following the sustaining of a demurrer without leave to amend for a counselor whose negligence allegedly contributed to the death of a four-year-old boy who was abused and murdered by his parents.
• Obtained successful result for a country club following a wrongful death jury trial involving a member who died after he slipped on a cart path and struck his head on a curb.
• Obtained judgment following the sustaining of a demurrer without leave to amend for a drug interventionist who was sued for wrongful death after a man committed suicide following an unsuccessful intervention. Successfully defended against the plaintiffs’ appeal, resulting in the judgment being affirmed.
• Obtained summary judgment for a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center after a resident overdosed on heroin that he had smuggled into the center. Successfully defended against plaintiff’s appeal, resulting in the judgment being affirmed.
• Obtained judgment following the sustaining of a demurrer without leave to amend for a store whose employee brutally assaulted a customer. Successfully defended against plaintiff’s appeal, resulting in the judgment being affirmed.
• As a former Deputy Attorney General, successfully defended the State of California in more than 40 criminal appeals, including briefing and presentation of oral arguments in the Second District Court of Appeal.

Representative Appellate Experience

• A.L. v. Harbor Developmental Disabilities Foundation (2024) 102 Cal.App.5th 477.
• Shalghoun v. North Los Angeles County Regional Center, Inc. (2024) 99 Cal.App.5th 139
• Muller v. Lloyd, 2019 WL 698008
• Klean W. Hollywood, LLC v. Superior Court, previously published at (2018) 21 Cal.App.5th 70
• Stock v. Superior Court, 2016 WL 3381279
• Windsor Skyline Care Center, LLC v. Superior Court, 2015 WL 5938055
• East Bay Regional Park District v. Carr, 2010 WL 3721546
• Peter H. v. Laurie H., 2010 WL 2220848
• Padilla v. Robertson, 2006 WL 696700
• Keller v. Armstrong Garden Centers, Inc., 2006 WL 979129
• People v. Garcia (2002) 28 Cal.4th 1166
• People v. Cleveland (2001) 87 Cal.App.4th 263
• People v. Corrales, 2001 WL 1338423.