Neil J. Fraser

Neil has been a trial lawyer in Los Angeles for the past twenty-five years, primarily in  solo practice before joining our firm. During that time, Neil has tried numerous civil and criminal matters to successful conclusion in a wide and varied number of legal fields. These include plaintiff representation in civil matters involving personal injury, civil rights and constitutional violations litigation, police misconduct, product liability and fraud, and, as a criminal defense attorney, virtually every category of felony and misdemeanor, from driving under the influence through murder.

Practice Areas:

Criminal Defense Neil has joined Rufus-Isaacs, Acland & Grantham as our lead criminal defense attorney. All criminal and quasi-criminal matters are handled by this firm, from misdemeanors such as driving under the influence, petty theft, resisting arrest and simple assault, through the most serious felonies, including murder, attempted murder, shaken baby syndrome matters, drug cases, felony assault and battery, domestic violence, robbery and white-collar crime.

Consultation Currently primarily focusing his practice on criminal defense, Neil is available for consultation on all criminal and quasi-criminal matters.

Voiding Convictions Neil has also developed a highly successful line of practice voiding convictions subject to attack on constitutional grounds.

Civil Litigation Neil continues to represent plaintiffs in personal injury and general tort matters, as well as handling appellate cases, both civil and criminal, before all California courts.

Education:

George Watson’s College, Edinburgh, Scotland; 1958-1971

University of Dundee, Scotland; 1971-72

University of St. Andrews, Scotland; 1972-73

University of Glasgow, Scotland; 1979-81

Degree: Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.)

Additional Honors: Winner of the Politics Prize (1981); Certificate of Merit (Civil Law); Certificate of Distinction (Politics)

California Bar Examination was taken after successful completion of one and a half years of the State Bar Law Office Study Program (1986)

Professional Career:

Selected Civil Verdicts

Naranjo, et al v. City of Los Angeles: $1.4 million (police misconduct, L.A.P.D.);

Bell v. County of Los Angeles: $475,000.00 (police misconduct, L.A.S.D.);

Byrd, et al v. City of Los Angeles: $475,000.00 (police misconduct, L.A.P.D.);

Mercado v. City of Los Angeles: $160,000.00 (police misconduct, L.A.P.D.);

Simpson v. County of Los Angeles: $100,000.00 (jail beating, L.A.S.D.);

Jansen, et al v. M.S.I.: $2.3 million (fraud);

Medina v. Rockwell, et al (in association with Bernard L. Nizinski, Esq.): $1.8 million (construction accident)

Reyes v. Stanton: $1.1 million (art theft);

Sanchez v. K-Mart: $140,000.00 (false imprisonment. Neil’s first jury trial);

Civil Settlements

Neil has concluded hundreds of cases by way of settlement prior to trial. Of these cases, the following matters were of particular professional satisfaction to him:

In 2010 he negotiated a $900,000.00 settlement with the County of Los Angeles in the case of Silva v. County, the largest ever settlement for a County Jail medical negligence case. The settlement occurred after the trial court denied repeated attempts by the defendant to excise plaintiff’s civil rights cause of action from the lawsuit, ruling there was sufficient evidence generated by plaintiff to allow a jury to determine whether or not the County exhibited “deliberate indifference” towards plaintiff, as per the Supreme Court ruling in Estelle v. Gamble, 429 U.S. 97 (1976);

In a personal injury matter, Neil was able to secure a six-figure settlement for an high school senior and upcoming track and field athlete named Ramon Gomez who suffered soft tissue injury in a rear-end accident which, although not disabling, caused a small fall-off in Mr. Gomez’s track times sufficient to eliminate him from pursuing his dream of participation in future Olympic Games;

In a bad faith matter in which an insurance company took diametrically opposed positions in the determination of liability for the uninsured motorist claim and the subsequent 3^rd party liability claim of the passenger of his client, Neil secured a six-figure settlement from State Farm;

In a case involving a minor child, Neil was able to negotiate a seven-figure structured settlement for the child after a car in a McDonald’s parking lot struck him. The theory of liability centered on the faulty design of drive-thru area;

The re-negotiation of a fair royalty structure for legendary cult filmmaker Kenneth Anger prior to the DVD release of his seminal works such as “Scorpio Rising”, “Lucifer Rising” and “Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome” as “The Films of Kenneth Anger, Vols. 1 and 2”.

Criminal Defense

Neil has achieved consistently excellent results for his clients in criminal matters. He has become sought-after for his expertise in several areas, including “shaken baby syndrome” cases and the voiding of convictions that violate an individual’s constitutional rights, the latter of which is highlighted by a 100% success rate to date.  To date, none of his clients accused of murder have been convicted of that charge.

Currently focusing his practice on criminal defense, Neil is available for consultation on all criminal and quasi-criminal matters at the firm’s standard rate.

Appellate Work

Neil has argued before the appellate courts on a variety of civil and criminal causes.

As a law clerk, he wrote the successful appellant briefs in the case of Rose v. City of Los Angeles which overturned the trial court’s summary judgment adjudication as to the applicability of the “fireman’s rule” to the case. Thereafter the matter was tried in Los Angeles Superior Court by Johnnie Cochran, Jr., Esq., who secured a $2.1 million verdict in plaintiff’s favor. (Rose v. City of Los Angeles (1984) 159 Cal.App.3d 883).

Neil also briefed and successfully argued the case of Hesse v. Best Western International (1995) 32 Cal.App.4^th 404 which held that California courts could exercise general jurisdiction over the defendant under the “minimum contacts” rule in regard to a plaintiff who was seriously injured while vacationing at a Best Western hotel in Mexico.

Pro Bono

Neil has performed legal services on many occasions for persons unable to afford representation, primarily in the field of civil rights, landlord/tenant and harassment.

Each Tuesday he is available for free legal consultation at the Antigua Coffee House, 5703 North Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California 90042 between the hours of 6.30 p.m. and 8.00 p.m.

Bar Associations:

The State Bar of California

American Bar Association

The British American Bar Association of S. California