Principals Fanxi Wang and Elliot Harvey Schatmeier have been recognized in Benchmark Litigation‘s 40 & Under List.
The annual list recognizes the “top talent in litigation,” selected through an extensive nationwide research process and peer reviews.
Ms. Wang has achieved significant victories in the past year, including as part of a trial team that won a complete defense verdict in a nine-figure false advertising jury trial for healthcare apparel and lifestyle brand FIGS. Her invaluable work on the case contributed to recognition from the Daily Journal, earning the Bird Marella team the Top Defense Verdict of 2022. Soon after, Ms. Wang won a case in Immigration Court on behalf of her client, an asylum seeker from Guatemala. She partnered with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and succeeded in a motion to terminate the government’s deportation proceedings against her client, allowing him to remain with his family and three young U.S. citizen children.
In 2023 alone, Mr. Harvey Schatmeier helped achieve three notable wins, including complete dismissals in two criminal healthcare fraud cases after several years of litigation. He also prevailed in a tortious interference suit on behalf of an investment banker in a cannabis industry dispute, where he won dismissal of the entire case with prejudice without leave to amend. The judge granted Mr. Harvey Schatmeier’s first and only motion to dismiss. Lastly, in a highly publicized case against real estate developer Mohamed Hadid, he and his colleagues secured over $3 million in attorney’s fees and costs for residents who have been unable to live peacefully below Hadid’s illegally constructed hillside mansion for the past decade.
Ms. Wang and Mr. Harvey Schatmeier represent Bird Marella’s next generation of attorneys and embody its deep commitment to diversity and inclusion efforts. Ms. Wang is on the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (SCCLA) Board of Governors and the Pro Bono Advisory Council of Asian Americans Advancing Justice – Los Angeles (AJ-LA). Mr. Harvey Schatmeier serves on the firm’s Diversity Committee and is a member of the Mexican American Bar Association and Hispanic National Bar Association. He is also a board member and Secretary of the Century City Bar Association.
