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Schonbrun DeSimone Seplow Harris & Hoffman LLP is committed to providing excellent legal representation to its clients. The firm consistently attains successful results for its clients in the areas of civil rights litigation, including employment discrimination, sexual harassment and police misconduct cases. The firm also represents clients in matters involving serious personal injury and wrongful death, product liability, copyright, trademark and defamation litigation. Founded in 1990 by solo practitioner Benjamin Schonbrun and legal services attorney V. James DeSimone as Schonbrun & DeSimone, the firm quickly established a niche in representing plaintiffs in high profile excessive force cases and ground breaking sexual harassment cases in the entertainment industry. Schonbrun & DeSimone was counsel for the plaintiff in the precedent setting case of Mogilefsky v. Silver Pictures, which was the first published California decision to recognize that same sex harassment violated the California Fair Employment & Housing Act. Schonbrun & DeSimone represented the family of Terrence Williams, a mentally ill young man who was shot and killed by the Hawthorne Police Department. Through its vigorous advocacy, the firm obtained $1,000,000.00 on behalf of his mother, Loretta Brown. In 1992, the firm expanded to add Michael D. Seplow, an attorney with Blanc, Williams, Johnston & Kronstadt, and in 1995, Wilmer J. Harris, an attorney with the Law Offices of Johnnie L. Cochran, Jr. joined the firm. In 1999, prominent Los Angeles attorney Paul L. Hoffman, was welcomed into the partnership. From 1984 to 1994, Hoffman served as Legal Director for the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, where he was lead counsel on numerous landmark cases, including United States v Alvarez-Machain, Coalition Against Police Abuse v Board of Police Commissioners (the police spying cases) and Chalk v Orange County Board of Education. In 2000, the firm opened up its office in Pasadena, California, headed by partner Wilmer Harris. Service to clients is the priority at Schonbrun De Simone Seplow Harris & Hoffman. The firm continues its commitment to obtain excellent results in litigation while providing caring assistance to its clients.