James Stephen Azadian

James Azadian joined the firm in 2010 and became a partner in 2012. Mr. Azadian serves as the Chair of the firm’s Appellate, Writs, and Constitutional Law Group. He is admitted to practice in the California state courts, District of Columbia courts, the Supreme Court of the United States, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Ninth, and Federal Circuits, as well as the United States District Courts for the Central District of California, the District of Columbia, and the District of Maryland. Before joining the firm, Mr. Azadian was a litigation and appellate associate in the Washington, D.C. office of Sidley Austin LLP, and earlier held judicial clerkships with the Honorable Consuelo M. Callahan of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Honorable Ricardo M. Urbina of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.

Mr. Azadian’s practice focuses primarily on appellate, constitutional law, regulatory law and affairs, and intellectual property litigation. He has served as lead counsel in dozens of appeals and writ proceedings in a wide variety of areas. In particular, Mr. Azadian has developed an expertise in the First Amendment, Article 1 of the California Constitution, and the application of California’s anti-SLAPP statute in federal court. Mr. Azadian also works on regulatory matters, with a focus on the 8(a) Business Development Program administered through the United States Small Business Administration. Additionally, Mr. Azadian counsels a variety of clients affected by the redevelopment agency dissolution process mandated under the California Community Redevelopment Law, including city attorneys, city managers, city finance departments, successor agencies, oversight boards, and private parties to redevelopment agency contracts.

Mr. Azadian has represented clients in the telecommunications, outdoor advertising, aerospace, pharmaceutical, medical device, agricultural, entertainment, insurance, and banking industries, among others, as well as religious institutions and trade and sports associations. He has authored numerous briefs and pleadings in cases before state and federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States. He has substantial experience litigating high-stakes disputes involving complex issues and overseeing considerable discovery production and review of sensitive information in a variety of forums, including state and federal regulatory agencies. He also has substantial experience in internal corporate investigations, high-profile congressional and U.S. Department of Justice investigations, and in creating and implementing strategic mass-media and public-relations campaigns to preserve client interests. Mr. Azadian frequently serves as special counsel to other law firms to prepare advocates for oral argument and to assist with the drafting of appellate briefs as well as critical motions at the trial court level.

In addition, Mr. Azadian is an adjunct professor teaching graduate courses for Legal Ethics at the University of Southern California, and Appellate Advocacy at Pepperdine University School of Law. He has also served as an adjunct professor for an undergraduate course in Law and Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles, and supervised students of the Northwestern University School of Law Supreme Court Practicum in preparing merits briefs, petitions for certiorari, and in conducting moot courts for lawyers arguing before the Supreme Court of the United States.