Hon. Larry A. Burns, Ret.

Civil Rights

• As a District Judge, he adjudicated and presided over numerous jury trials in cases alleging police misconduct, use of excessive force, deliberate indifference to incarcerated detainees and inmates, racial and sexual discrimination, and violations of free speech and religious liberty guarantees.
• Sitting by assignment with the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, he authored an opinion applying First Amendment principles to adverse action taken by a school board against a fellow board member.
• As a Magistrate Judge, he successfully mediated over one hundred cases involving alleged violations of the Americans with Disability Act and the California Unruh Civil Rights Act. He also helped settle prisoner lawsuits over conditions of confinement.

Class Actions

• As a District Judge, he adjudicated dozens of class action disputes alleging labor law violations, COVID relief fraud, defective products and products liability, data and privacy breaches, false marketing and advertising, securities fraud, and antitrust violations. He also adjudicated Multi-District Litigation (MDL) cases.

Complex Civil Matters

• As a District Judge, he adjudicated and presided over jury trials involving consumer class actions, government and business contract litigation, trade secret and arbitration clause disputes, civil fraud, securities litigation, Qui Tam, and whistleblower actions. Representative cases included alleged violations of the California Consumer Protection Act, the California Unfair Competition Law, the Consumer Legal Remedies Act, the Unfair Practices Act, the Private Attorney General Act, the Federal False Claim Act, the Federal Debt Collections Practices Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and the Federal Arbitration Act.
• He supervised Receivership actions, including a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme case in which investors eventually recouped over 95% of their investments. He occasionally dealt with bankruptcy issues and authored two bankruptcy law decisions while sitting by assignment with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Employment Issues

• As a District Judge, he adjudicated and presided over jury trials in employment cases alleging wrongful discharge, employment and hiring discrimination, sexual harassment, whistleblower retaliation, illegal background investigations, employee privacy violations, wage and hour disputes, and misappropriation of trade secret information.
• Sitting by assignment with the U.S. Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, he authored two employment law opinions: Gutierrez v. Colvin, 844 F.3d 804 (9th Cir. 2016) (clarifying standards to be followed by ALJ in awarding or denying disability benefits); and Schmidt v. Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Ry., 605 F.3d 686 (9th Cir. 2010) (clarifying test for determining whether one is an “employee” under the Federal Employers Liability Act).
• As a Magistrate Judge, he successfully mediated dozens of employment discrimination cases, many at Early Neutral Evaluation conferences.

Insurance Coverage

• As a District Judge, he adjudicated and presided over jury trials in insurance-centric cases including coverage disputes, excess insurance conflicts, and bad faith claims. He managed and approved numerous insurance class actions, determining class certification and approval of class settlements. He successfully mediated several coverage dispute cases.

Trademark Issues

• As a District and Magistrate Judge, he adjudicated and mediated copyright, trademark, and trade dress disputes. He also mediated cases alleging the unauthorized use of a person's name, photograph, and likeness for financial gain.

Medical Malpractice

• As a District Judge, he presided over bench trials in medical malpractice cases under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), including claims of medical negligence during childbirth, surgery, and pre-operative and post-operative care.
• As a Magistrate Judge, he successfully mediated medical malpractice disputes, including cases involving medical licensure issues.

Professional Malpractice Legal

• Adjudicated many cases addressing the legal adequacy of lawyers' performances in both civil and criminal cases. Questions about performance often arose in criminal cases, where defendants challenged their lawyers' effectiveness under the Sixth Amendment and the precedent set by Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (1984). He is well familiar with constitutional standards for assessing ineffective assistance of counsel.
• Adjudicated legal malpractice claims alleging due process violations arising from the revocation of attorney licenses and the right to practice law. As Chief Judge, he made final decisions in cases in which the District Court Disciplinary Committee recommended disciplinary action or suspension of attorneys' privileges to practice in federal court due to misconduct, malfeasance, or incompetence.

Real Property

• As a District Judge, he adjudicated cases involving land use restrictions, constitutional challenges to zoning laws, boundary disputes, eminent domain actions and other takings by the federal government, and actions seeking “stop work” injunctive relief.

Catastrophic Injury

• As a District Judge, he presided over bench trials in personal injury cases under the FTCA, including a case involving a motorcycle collision with border patrol vehicle resulting in a verdict in the 7-figure range. He also adjudicated and presided over jury trials in product liability cases resulting in personal injury.

Product Liability

• As a Magistrate Judge, he successfully mediated death and personal injury cases including cases alleging defective products.
• Mediated a multi-party products liability-burn injury case with parties represented by prominent plaintiffs and defense firms.