Joel R. Villasenor

Mr. Villaseñor has successfully represented a variety of clients, from Fortune 50 companies to individuals, in litigation in both federal and state courts, as well as regulatory agencies.  Mr. Villaseñor specializes in complex business and employment litigation, particularly in the areas of unfair business practices, harassment/discrimination, and wage and hour lawsuits.  He also handles litigation involving public utilities, including alleged unfair debt collection practices, power-burn damages, catastrophic personal injury, and eminent domain cases.

In addition to his work as an attorney, Mr. Villaseñor has been involved in a number of legal organizations.  From 2007 to 2009, Mr. Villaseñor served as District Representative (Southern California) at the ABA’s Young Lawyers Division, and was named Star of the Quarter for his pro bono work coordinating the Disaster Legal Services program for victims of the 2007 wildfires in San Diego County.  From 2006 to 2008, Mr. Villaseñor served on the California Young Lawyers Association (CYLA) as District Representative for Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties, and on CYLA’s Executive Committee.  In 2004, Mr. Villaseñor was selected to be one of the inaugural Scholars in the State Bar of California’s Access and Fairness Leadership Academy, a pilot program to provide leadership training to promising young attorneys.  Mr. Villaseñor has also served on the Board of Directors of the Ventura County Bar Association and the Ventura County Trial Lawyers Association.  In 2010, Mr. Villaseñor served as the organizer for the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Moot Court program.

Mr. Villaseñor graduated magna cum laude from Harvard, where he was on the Dean’s List and an editor at The Harvard Crimson.  He subsequently attended the UCLA School of Law, where he received the American Jurisprudence Award in Professional Responsibility and was on the Executive Board of the school’s Moot Court program.  Prior to forming Taketa | Villaseñor LLP, Mr. Villaseñor worked for the office of the Oxnard City Attorney, DreamWorks SKG, the Ventura County Superior Court, the Paris office of Coudert Brothers, and Sullivan Taketa LLP. 

Mr. Villaseñor is fluent in Spanish, French and Italian, and has lived and worked in several countries, including Mexico, France, and Switzerland.