Brian W. Skalsky
Associate
Brian W. Skalsky focuses his practice on a variety of general liability matters, including premises liability, real and personal property, catastrophic personal injury, toxic torts, landlord-tenant disputes, contracts, products liability, municipal liability, unlawful detainer, motor vehicle, insurance defense, homeowner’s association, construction defect, and corporate business disputes. He has experience representing both companies and individuals in all stages of litigation, from inception to appeal, including mediation and arbitration. He counsels and defends commercial transportation carriers and construction companies in catastrophic personal injury claims, individual insureds in automobile actions, and property owners and management companies in landlord-tenant disputes involving complaints of habitation. He also handles preparing business contracts for corporate and individual clients. Prior to pursuing a career in law, Brian worked as a litigation consultant in toxic tort cases involving mold, lead, and asbestos.
Related Areas
Industries
Experience Highlights
- Obtained a defense verdict on a rear-end accident, wherein plaintiff, a former professional soccer player, alleged back injuries that resulted in the need for multiple injections and a radiofrequency ablation. The plaintiff asked for just under $1,000,000 at trial. The jury poll was 9-3 that our client was negligent for the rear-end accident, but unanimous, 12-0, that our client’s negligence was not a substantial factor in causing injury to the plaintiff from the accident.
- Drafted a successful motion for summary judgment wherein the trial court found our client did not have constructive or actual notice of the dangerous condition alleged to have caused the plaintiff’s injuries.
- Obtained a favorable arbitration award for a property management company in a dispute alleging sexual harassment and a wage and hour claim. The plaintiff’s final demand prior to arbitration was $750,000, but was awarded under $4,000 with no evidence of any sexual harassment. After arbitration, the plaintiff sought recovery of $160,000 in attorneys’ fees, which was reduced by the arbitrator to $25,000.
- Obtained a summary judgment dismissal based on the Privette Doctrine for a construction company that was building an industrial water cooling tower and was sued by a subcontractor’s employee who was injured when falling from a ladder.
- Obtained a summary adjudication dismissal of a cause of action for a loss of lateral and subjacent support and negligence per se for a general contractor client constructing a large retaining wall in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles.
Honors & Awards
Southern California Super Lawyers, Rising Star — General Litigation, 2018-21
Admissions
- California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Education
- Loyola Law School, J.D., 2011
- University of California, Irvine, B.A., 2005
Professional Affiliations
- Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Pasadena Bar Association
Community Involvement
- Fellowship Monrovia
Recent Insights
June 8, 2021
June 9, 2020
April 2, 2019
November 12, 2018