Joel Boxer, one of the founders of the firm, has 40 years of experience as a lawyer representing parties in complex civil trials in the state and federal courts, and in arbitrations.
Mr. Boxer has particular experience and expertise in handling suits involving accounting or other complex issues requiring the presentation of expert opinion testimony. These cases often involve real estate, entertainment industry, contract, probate or trust issues or the representation of lawyers and law firms.
Mr. Boxer has served as judge pro tem in the Los Angeles Municipal Courts, now consolidated with the Superior Court, as an arbitrator and as a neutral referee, and was a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the United States District Court, Central District of California.
Lawyer of the Year: Litigation – Trust & Estates, Best Lawyers®, 2020
Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Trusts and Estates, Best Lawyers®, 2016-present
Southern California Super Lawyers, Los Angeles Magazine, 2005-present
Represented successfully at trial and on appeal co-conservators who obtained a probate court order restraining a purported “manager” and a lawyer from claiming the right to act on behalf of the conservatee, Britney Spears. Later, defeated by non-suit motion during a jury trial all of the “manager’s” breach of oral contract claims asserted against Ms. Spears.
Defended successfully at trial a national law firm sued for malpractice by a former client it had represented in an earlier partnership breakup trial. On the national law firm’s cross claim for outstanding fees due, the jury awarded the firm more than 100% of its claim for fees.
Represented successfully at trial and on multiple appeals the trustee of a very substantial estate who established that a purported written amendment to a trust instrument was invalid and that the heir who advanced the amendment was disinherited because the heir’s conduct violated the trust’s no contest clause.
Obtained a preliminary injunction for the owners of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” brand against its former publisher for the publisher’s unauthorized proposed use of the brand’s trademark on unrelated book covers.
Obtained for plaintiff in a multiple week retrial of the damages phase of a copyright infringement lawsuit what was, at the time, the largest monetary award for infringement other than piracy.
Conducted a multiple-week trial that established that a neighbor in the Malibu hills trespassed on surrounding property by bulldozing the long dirt road over our client’s real property without the approval of the Coastal Commission or our client. We obtained a substantial money judgment for damages, which was upheld on appeal. The neighbor lost ownership of his parcel in the judgment-collection process.
Represented the largest builder of commercial property in Central and East Los Angeles in a suit over ownership of a repurposed downtown landmark Los Angeles building. Established at trial, over the objections of a third party, our client’s right to sell it to a specific buyer, not the third party. In another matter for the same client, we established in arbitration the right of the builder to retain as liquidated damages the deposits made by two related buyers who backed out of their building construction and purchase contracts for pretextual reasons.
Represented successfully in a Screen Actor’s Guild arbitration a talent agency whose former client, a child actor, claimed his agency agreement was invalid because it was entered into when the client was a minor.
Represented an individual, a lawyer, who managed multiple businesses owned jointly with his former wife, also a lawyer; she claimed her ex-husband had breached his post-divorce fiduciary duties to her. At a three-week trial, we established that no further accountings were necessary, no monies were owed by our client and that the former wife was wrongfully in possession of jointly owned real property.
Represented the heirs of a successor trustee and worked with an expert forensic accountant to reconstruct 10 years of missing trust accountings. At trial, we established that the estate of the now deceased successor trustee did not owe any money to the beneficiaries of the trust.
Bird Marella is proud to announce the inclusion of 20 lawyers in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch by U.S. News. Benjamin Gluck was recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” for Health Care Law, and Ariel Neuman was recognized as “Lawyer of ...
For the past twenty years, Bird Marella attorneys have been consecutively recognized as top rated attorneys among the Southern California Super Lawyers list. The firm is proud of its reputation for providing distinguished lawyers that are not only well-respected by the bench, but also its peers. Congratulations to the principals selected for ...
Bird Marella is proud to announce its inclusion in the 2022 edition of Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch by U.S. News. Nearly half of the firm’s entire roster of attorneys have been recognized and selected by their peers as outstanding attorneys in their respective areas of expertise. The Best Lawyers in America (2022 Edition) Terry W. Bird ...
Principals Mark Drooks, Joel Boxer and Sharon Mayer secured full dismissal of a legal malpractice claim worth over $100 million against their client, an Am Law 200 firm, in a case filed in the New York Supreme Court. The litigation arose from an unsuccessful acquisition of a company after the acquirer ...
Bird Marella is honored to recognize the attorneys who have been selected for inclusion in the 2021 Southern California Super Lawyers list: Sharon Ben-Shahar Mayer Terry W. Bird Joel E. Boxer Paul S. Chan Mark T. Drooks Thomas R. Freeman Benjamin N. Gluck (Top 100) Gary S. Lincenberg Vincent J. Marella Ronald ...
Bird Marella is proud to announce that 18 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized and selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2021 edition of Best Lawyers in America and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch. Sharon Ben-Shahar Mayer – Criminal Defense: White-Collar Terry W. Bird – Commercial Litigation, ...
Bird Marella is honored to recognize the attorneys who have been selected for inclusion in the 2020 Southern California Super Lawyers list: Terry W. Bird Joel E. Boxer Paul S. Chan Mark T. Drooks Thomas R. Freeman Benjamin N. Gluck Gary S. Lincenberg – Criminal Defense: White Collar (Top 100) Vincent J. ...
Bird Marella is proud to announce that 14 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized and selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers in America. In addition, principals Joel Boxer and Paul Chan were honored with the “Lawyer of the Year” award for their ...
Bird Marella is proud to recognize the attorneys who have been selected for inclusion in the 2019 Southern California Super Lawyers list: Terry W. Bird – Criminal Defense: White Collar, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation Joel E. Boxer – Business Litigation, Estate & Trust Litigation Paul S. Chan – Business Litigation, ...
14 Bird Marella principals have been recognized and selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2019 edition of Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 50,000 leading attorneys cast nearly 5 million votes on the legal abilities of other ...
Vu v. California Commerce Club, 58 Cal. App. 4th 229 (1997) (proximate causation in the gaming industry).
Seiler v. Lucasfilm, Ltd., 797 F.2d 1504 (9th Cir. 1986) (copyright infringement).
Save the Dolphins v. United States Dept. of Commerce, 404 F. Supp. 407 (N.D. Cal. 1975) (Freedom of Information Act).
Author, “Retrials Happen,” Daily Journal, January 23, 2014
Co-Author: “Major Pitfalls in Drafting Transactional Documents (A Litigator’s Prospective),” Beverly Hills Bar Association, 1988, 1990 and 1992 Editions.
Co-Author: “Copyright Infringement of Audio-Visual Works and Characters,” 52 U.S.C. Law Review 315, 1979
Joel Boxer, one of the founders of the firm, has 40 years of experience as a lawyer representing parties in complex civil trials in the state and federal courts, and in arbitrations.
Mr. Boxer has particular experience and expertise in handling suits involving accounting or other complex issues requiring the presentation of expert opinion testimony. These cases often involve real estate, entertainment industry, contract, probate or trust issues or the representation of lawyers and law firms.
Mr. Boxer has served as judge pro tem in the Los Angeles Municipal Courts, now consolidated with the Superior Court, as an arbitrator and as a neutral referee, and was a member of the Disciplinary Committee of the United States District Court, Central District of California.
Represented successfully at trial and on appeal co-conservators who obtained a probate court order restraining a purported “manager” and a lawyer from claiming the right to act on behalf of the conservatee, Britney Spears. Later, defeated by non-suit motion during a jury trial all of the “manager’s” breach of oral contract claims asserted against Ms. Spears.
Defended successfully at trial a national law firm sued for malpractice by a former client it had represented in an earlier partnership breakup trial. On the national law firm’s cross claim for outstanding fees due, the jury awarded the firm more than 100% of its claim for fees.
Represented successfully at trial and on multiple appeals the trustee of a very substantial estate who established that a purported written amendment to a trust instrument was invalid and that the heir who advanced the amendment was disinherited because the heir’s conduct violated the trust’s no contest clause.
Obtained a preliminary injunction for the owners of the “Chicken Soup for the Soul” brand against its former publisher for the publisher’s unauthorized proposed use of the brand’s trademark on unrelated book covers.
Obtained for plaintiff in a multiple week retrial of the damages phase of a copyright infringement lawsuit what was, at the time, the largest monetary award for infringement other than piracy.
Conducted a multiple-week trial that established that a neighbor in the Malibu hills trespassed on surrounding property by bulldozing the long dirt road over our client’s real property without the approval of the Coastal Commission or our client. We obtained a substantial money judgment for damages, which was upheld on appeal. The neighbor lost ownership of his parcel in the judgment-collection process.
Represented the largest builder of commercial property in Central and East Los Angeles in a suit over ownership of a repurposed downtown landmark Los Angeles building. Established at trial, over the objections of a third party, our client’s right to sell it to a specific buyer, not the third party. In another matter for the same client, we established in arbitration the right of the builder to retain as liquidated damages the deposits made by two related buyers who backed out of their building construction and purchase contracts for pretextual reasons.
Represented successfully in a Screen Actor’s Guild arbitration a talent agency whose former client, a child actor, claimed his agency agreement was invalid because it was entered into when the client was a minor.
Represented an individual, a lawyer, who managed multiple businesses owned jointly with his former wife, also a lawyer; she claimed her ex-husband had breached his post-divorce fiduciary duties to her. At a three-week trial, we established that no further accountings were necessary, no monies were owed by our client and that the former wife was wrongfully in possession of jointly owned real property.
Represented the heirs of a successor trustee and worked with an expert forensic accountant to reconstruct 10 years of missing trust accountings. At trial, we established that the estate of the now deceased successor trustee did not owe any money to the beneficiaries of the trust.
Bird Marella is proud to announce the inclusion of 20 lawyers in the 2023 edition of Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch by U.S. News. Benjamin Gluck was recognized as “Lawyer of the Year” for Health Care Law, and Ariel Neuman was recognized as “Lawyer of ...
For the past twenty years, Bird Marella attorneys have been consecutively recognized as top rated attorneys among the Southern California Super Lawyers list. The firm is proud of its reputation for providing distinguished lawyers that are not only well-respected by the bench, but also its peers. Congratulations to the principals selected for ...
Bird Marella is proud to announce its inclusion in the 2022 edition of Best Lawyers in America® and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch by U.S. News. Nearly half of the firm’s entire roster of attorneys have been recognized and selected by their peers as outstanding attorneys in their respective areas of expertise. The Best Lawyers in America (2022 Edition) Terry W. Bird ...
Principals Mark Drooks, Joel Boxer and Sharon Mayer secured full dismissal of a legal malpractice claim worth over $100 million against their client, an Am Law 200 firm, in a case filed in the New York Supreme Court. The litigation arose from an unsuccessful acquisition of a company after the acquirer ...
Bird Marella is honored to recognize the attorneys who have been selected for inclusion in the 2021 Southern California Super Lawyers list: Sharon Ben-Shahar Mayer Terry W. Bird Joel E. Boxer Paul S. Chan Mark T. Drooks Thomas R. Freeman Benjamin N. Gluck (Top 100) Gary S. Lincenberg Vincent J. Marella Ronald ...
Bird Marella is proud to announce that 18 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized and selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2021 edition of Best Lawyers in America and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch. Sharon Ben-Shahar Mayer – Criminal Defense: White-Collar Terry W. Bird – Commercial Litigation, ...
Bird Marella is honored to recognize the attorneys who have been selected for inclusion in the 2020 Southern California Super Lawyers list: Terry W. Bird Joel E. Boxer Paul S. Chan Mark T. Drooks Thomas R. Freeman Benjamin N. Gluck Gary S. Lincenberg – Criminal Defense: White Collar (Top 100) Vincent J. ...
Bird Marella is proud to announce that 14 of the firm’s attorneys have been recognized and selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers in America. In addition, principals Joel Boxer and Paul Chan were honored with the “Lawyer of the Year” award for their ...
Bird Marella is proud to recognize the attorneys who have been selected for inclusion in the 2019 Southern California Super Lawyers list: Terry W. Bird – Criminal Defense: White Collar, Business Litigation, Civil Litigation Joel E. Boxer – Business Litigation, Estate & Trust Litigation Paul S. Chan – Business Litigation, ...
14 Bird Marella principals have been recognized and selected by their peers for inclusion in the 2019 edition of Best Lawyers in America. Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey in which more than 50,000 leading attorneys cast nearly 5 million votes on the legal abilities of other ...
Author, “Retrials Happen,” Daily Journal, January 23, 2014
Co-Author: “Major Pitfalls in Drafting Transactional Documents (A Litigator’s Prospective),” Beverly Hills Bar Association, 1988, 1990 and 1992 Editions.
Co-Author: “Copyright Infringement of Audio-Visual Works and Characters,” 52 U.S.C. Law Review 315, 1979