Ms. Gunasekaran is the Chair of Haight Brown & Bonesteel's Appellate Practice Group. She is certified as a specialist in appellate law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, and is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers. Prior to joining HB&B, Ms. Gunasekaran worked as a research attorney in the Court of Appeal of the Second Appellate District for the State of California.
A partner of the firm since January 1, 1992, and a member of the firm since September 1986, Ms. Gunasekaran has filed over 150 appellate briefs and writ petitions, all arising from complex civil litigation. The areas covered include legal malpractice, insurance coverage and bad faith, labor law, federal banking law, trade secrets, constitutional law, and family law. Her published decisions include: Hartwell Corp. v. Superior Court, 27 Cal.4th 256 (2002); Lugtu v. California Highway Patrol, 26 Cal.4th 703 (2001); Yamaguchi v. Harnsmut, 106 Cal.App.4th 472 (2003); 20th Century Insurance Co. v. Schurtz, 92 Cal.App.4th 1188 (2001); and Penn v. Prestige Stations, Inc., 83 Cal.App.4th 336 (2000).
Ms. Gunasekaran is a member of the Board, and of the Executive Committee, of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, and is the first ever recipient of the National South Asian Bar's Trailblazer Award. She is the past Chair of the State Bar of California's Judicial Nominees Evaluation Commission, and of the Los Angeles County Bar's Appellate Courts Committee; a past Trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association; the past President of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles; a past member of the Board and of the Executive Committee of Public Counsel, and of the Women Lawyers' Association of Los Angeles; and past Co-Chair of the Amicus Briefs Committee for the Southern California Defense Counsel.
Ms. Gunasekaran has also served as a panelist on a number of seminars, including: "Civil Appeals" (LA County Bar Appellate Court Walk Through Program); "Legal Ethics in Civil Appeals" (State Bar Annual Meeting); "Insurance Coverage" (California Consumer Attorneys' Annual Convention); "Protecting the Record on Appeal" (LA County Bar); and "Proper Practice of Opinion Writing: Through the Looking Glass" (Judicial Research Attorneys Institute).
