Thomas Abitabile Cifarelli

Tom Cifarelli is recognized as one of the nation’s top attorneys in plaintiff’s personal injury litigation. He was recently selected as one of the top 500 plaintiff lawyers in America and the top 50 Attorneys in Orange County. He has won and collected nearly $60 million for his clients in the last five years alone. Throughout his entire career he has made law in important areas including privacy rights and school district liability for children sexually abused by teachers. He is a recognized expert in the areas of child sexual abuse litigation, privacy rights, pharmacy mistakes and handling high profile personal injury litigation throughout California.

Many of Mr. Cifarelli’s cases are high-stakes and high-profile matters. Consequently, newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, the San Bernardino Press-Enterprise, the Orange County Business Journal and the Los Angeles Daily Journal have all covered Mr. Cifarelli and his cases.
Mr. Cifarelli’s involvement in high-profile cases includes representing plaintiffs as part of the landmark $660 million Clergy sexual abuse settlement in Los Angeles, as well as serving as a member of Plaintiffs’ Steering and Discovery Committees in the Baycol Litigation and on the Sulzer Hip Implant litigation.

Mr. Cifarelli is an active and respected leader in the legal community. He was appointed an At-Large member of the Board of Governors for the Consumer Attorneys of California in 2000 and sits on that organization’s Education, Membership and Fundraising Committees. He is also a respected author in several areas including litigating child sexual abuse cases and pharmacy malpractice. He is also a dynamic and sought after lecturer and has spoken to lawyers, educators and child care workers throughout the country at legal conventions and seminars. Groups he has addressed include: Consumer Attorneys of California; Non-Profit Risk Management Association of America; National Business Institute; California Teachers Association; and the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).

Mr. Cifarelli’s efforts and precedent-setting victories have earned him a host of legal distinctions and accolades from his peers. He was named one of the Top 500 Plaintiff Attorneys in America by Lawdragon Magazine (2007). Mr. Cifarelli was further honored in June 2006 when he was selected from the over 1.1 million lawyers in America to be included in the Lawdragon 500 New Stars, New Worlds, the top 500 cutting-edge lawyers in America as voted by other attorneys on . In 2008 Mr. Cifarelli was profiled by the Orange County Business Journal as one of the County’s top attorneys and the one abuse victims turn to. Mr. Cifarelli has also been selected by Los Angeles Magazine’s Law and Politics Magazine as a “Southern California Super Lawyer” each and every year since the inaugural list was published in 2004, a distinction reserved for the top 5 percent of attorneys in California. (This prestigious list is based on votes from other attorneys). In addition, Mr. Cifarelli has been named to Who’s Who in American Law since 2001. He was also profiled in “Ten up and Coming Litigators in California” by the Los Angeles Daily Journal in 2001. In 1999 Mr. Cifarelli was named a life member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, an organization limited to prominent trial attorneys in the United States who have obtained individual trial verdicts and settlements in excess of one million dollars each. At about the same time Mr. Cifarelli was awarded an AV-rating from the Martindale-Hubbell legal news service, becoming one of the youngest attorneys to earn that organization’s highest rating.

Mr. Cifarelli has also been selected as one of the Top 100 Trial Lawyers in California by The American Trial Lawyers Association . Membership into The American Trial Lawyers Association is limited to the Top 100 Trial Lawyers from each state. Selection for The American Trial Lawyers Association is extended to civil plaintiff and criminal defense attorneys by special invitation. Candidates are considered for membership in The American Trial Lawyers Association based on superior qualifications, leadership, reputation, influence, stature, and profile in the Trial Lawyer community.

Mr. Cifarelli is an advocate for the protection of children’s rights and has handled numerous cases on behalf of children physically or sexually abused by others. He has also worked closely with the organization Mothers Against Sexual Abuse for the benefit of child molestation . Cifarelli’s published decisions include the precedent-setting invasion of privacy case M.G. et al vs. Time Warner, Inc. et al, 89 Cal. App. 4th 623 (2001) and V.C. vs. Los Angeles Unified School District, (2006) Cal. App. 4th, No. B184022, defining the claims presentation requirements for child sexual abuse cases against public schools.

Mr. Cifarelli is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), and earned his law degree at Loyola Law School, Los Angeles. Whether its an invasion of privacy, defamation, child sexual abuse or major personal injury case, Mr. Cifarelli provides clients with highly effective legal representation through a combination of intelligence, experience, compassion, and an unsurpassed zeal for his clients and their claims.