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About Christine
Biography
has obtained many multimillion-dollar verdicts, including in the 1999 General Motors case in which a defective fuel tank was found responsible for the burn injuries of two adults and four children. The jury returned with a landmark $4.9 billion verdict. She was co-counsel in the largest personal injury verdict in California, which resulted in a $58 million verdict for a man severely burned by a defective O-ring. In July, 2010, she and partner Bruce Broillet obtained a $5 million verdict against Ford Motor Company for a man injured in when the roof of his van crushed in a rollover causing permanent spinal cord injuries.
She plays a leading role in representing people injured in tire tread separation cases. She is a member of the Plaintiffs' Steering Committee for Ford/Firestone cases in California and participated in ground-breaking depositions of Ford witnesses including former CEOs Jacques Nasser and William Clay Ford, Jr.
Additionally, she is Plaintiffs' Liaison Counsel for Cooper Tire cases in California. Her representation of a former LAPD bomb squad officer paralyzed in a Goodyear tread separation case involving Goodyear LRE tires led to the opening of a NHTSA investigation and the voluntary recall of the tires. On another Goodyear matter, Chris was lead attorney on Frankle v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, which involved defective tires equipped on a large sport utility vehicle. The case settled confidentially.
Her achievements cover the full range of personal injury and product liability cases. Chris has earned widespread recognition for her work as co-counsel in the 2001 negligence case against Southern California Edison, which resulted in a $21 million verdict for an electrocuted avocado picker. Among her other cases are Brezovec v. State of California - $8.8 million, a brain/motor vehicle injury case, Ogden v. Hamm Brothers Construction - $6.4 million, a personal injury matter, and McGee v. The City of Alameda - $25 million, an electrocuted construction worker.
Chris was named Most Outstanding Young Trial Lawyer of 2001, the F. Scott Baldwin Award, by the American Association for Justice (AAJ), New Lawyers Division. She also received Loyola Law School's 2001 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. She has been nominated as a finalist for the Consumer Attorneys of Los Angeles Trial Lawyer of the Year three times, including most recently in 2010.
Within professional organizations, Chris has assumed numerous leadership positions. She served as the President of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) in 2009 and was the 2002 president of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA). She was elected as a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in 2007 and is also a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) where she holds the rank of Associate. Her other memberships include the American Association for Justice (AAJ), where she served as a Chair of the Product Liability Section, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and the Attorneys Information Exchange Group, an organization specializing in automotive product liability cases. In 1998, she was appointed by the Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court to the Civil Jury Instructions Committee (CACI), where she still serves.
Chris has been ranked as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Attorneys in California by the Los Angeles Daily Journal , which has also named her as one of the Top 50 Women Litigators since 2002. She has also been named among the Top Women Southern California Lawyers in since 2004, and a Super Lawyer in the since Southern California Super Lawyers peer-nominated listings compiled and published by Law & Politics. She was named by to its inaugural list of "The Lawdragon 500 Plaintiffs Lawyers" in the United States. She was also named one of the Best Lawyers in America by Woodward/White, Inc. based on a survey of her peers.
From 1991-1994, Chris was Editor-in-Chief of the CAALA "Advocate," the organization's monthly publication. In 1995, she was Editor-in-Chief of the CAOC "Forum," a statewide trial lawyers monthly publication. She also is the co-author of a CAOC Amicus Brief in Soule v. General Motors (1994) in which the California Supreme Court rejected manufacturers' efforts to overturn landmark strict liability consumer expectation tests. As a frequent lecturer and author, Chris has shared her expertise on various trial techniques including demonstrative evidence, direct and cross examination methods, written discovery and demonstrating head trauma injury in children. Among the organizations she has addressed are CAALA, CAOC, AAJ, Los Angeles County Bar Association, and Western Trial Lawyers Association.
Practice Areas
Fees and Rates
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Chat withLicenses
Licensed in California for 39 years
State: California
Acquired: 1986
No misconduct found
Location
Greene, Broillet & Wheeler, LLP
222 N. Pacific Coast Highway, Suite 2100, El Segundo, CA, 90245
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Christine Diane Spagnoli's Reviews
Avvo Review Score
Not Yet Reviewed
Christine Diane Spagnoli's Lawyer Endorsements
"You can't find a finer trial attorney."
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Experience
Honors
2026
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2025
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2024
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2023
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2022
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2021
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2020
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2019
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2018
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2017
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2016
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2015
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2014
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2014
Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America
2014
Top 50 Women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers
2014
Top 50 Women Litigators, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2014
Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers
2013
Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America
2013
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2013
Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America
2013
Top 50 Women Litigators, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2013
Top 100 Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers
2013
Top 50 Women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers
2012
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2012
Trial Lawyer of the Year, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
2012
Top 100 Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers
2012
Top 50 Women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers
2012
Top 50 Women Litigators, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2012
Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America
2011
Top 100 Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers
2011
Top 50 Women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine
2011
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2011
Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America
2010
Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America
2010
Top 50 Women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine
2010
Top 50 Women Litigators, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2010
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2009
Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America
2009
Top 50 Women Southern California Lawyers, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2009
Top 50 women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine
2009
Top 100 Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers
2009
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2008
Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America
2008
Top 50 women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine
2008
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2007
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2007
Top 50 Women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine
2007
Top 100 Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers
2007
Top 50 Women Southern California Lawyers, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2007
Best Lawyer, Best Lawyers in America
2006
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2006
Top 50 women Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine
2006
Top 50 Women Southern California Lawyers, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2005
Top 50 Women Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine
2005
Top 50 Women Litigators, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2005
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2005
Top 100 Super Lawyer, Southern California Super Lawyers
2004
Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers
2004
Top 50 Women Super Lawyers, Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine/Los Angeles Magazine
2004
Top 100 California Most Influential Lawyers, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2004
Top 50 Women Litigators, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2004
Top 50 Women Southern California Lawyers, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2002
Top 50 Women Litigators, Los Angeles Daily Journal
2001
F. Scott Baldwin Award, Association of Trial Lawyers of America (ATLA)
N/A
AV Preeminent Rated, Martindale-Hubbell
Work Experience
1984 - Present
Partner, Greene Broillet & Wheeler, LLP
1900 - Present
Partner, Greene, Broillet & Wheeler, LLP
Associations
Trial Lawyers for Public Justice
Board Member
Plaintiff's Steering Committee
Member
American Association for Justice, Product Liability Section
Officer
Attorneys Information Exchange Group
Member
Civil Subcommittee , California Supreme Court
Task Force on Jury Intructions
2004 - 2004
Association of Trial Lawyers of America, Product Liability SectionChairman
2002 - 2002
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles,President
2001 - 2001
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los AngelesVice President
1996 - 1996
Consumer Attorney of CaliforniaBoard of Governors
Sample of Legal Cases
Brezovec v. State of California
$8.8 million
Ogden v. Hamm Brothers Construction
$6.4 million
Education
1986
Loyola Law School, Loyola Marymount University
JD - Juris Doctor
1978
University of California - Los Angeles
BA - Bachelor of Arts
Publications
1994
Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) Forum Magazine
Amicus Brief in Soule v. General Motros
Languages
English