Rita Gunasekaran

Partner
vCard
Los Angeles
555 South Flower Street
Forty-Fifth Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90071
213.542.8030
213.542.8100

Related Practices

Education

  • University of Madras, India (Bachelor of Law, 1964), Third in a class of 441 students

    First in class of 530 students, first year law examinations

    Recipient:  Sir William Ayling Memorial Prize for Real Property and tied for gold medal in Constitutional Law

    Morehead Law Scholarship, 1963-1964

    Won several prizes in inter-collegiate debating and oratorical competitions
  • University of Madras, India (BS, 1962)

Bar Admissions

  • California

Court Admissions

  • California State Courts
  • Madras, India (Inactive)
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit

Memberships

Judicial Council of California, Member, Appellate Advisory Committee, 2006-2012

State Bar of California, Chair, Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE) Commission, 1996; Vice-Chair, 1995; and member of the Commission, 1993 and 1994; Appellate Courts Committee, Member, 1992-1993 

Los Angeles County Bar – Trustee at Large, 2002 - 2004; Chair of the Los Angeles County Bar Appellate Courts Committee, 1997-1999 

Asian Pacific American Legal Center, Member of the Board, 2003 to present; Executive Committee, 2004 to present Public Counsel - Member of the Board, 1997-2003; Executive Committee, 1998-2003 

Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles, President, 2001-2002 

Women Lawyers' Association of Los Angeles, Member of the Board, 1989 to 1994; and officer, 1992 to 1994

Distinctions

Best Lawyers in America, Appellate Law, 2008 to date
National Asian Pacific American Bar (NAPABA), Trailblazer Award, 2007
National South Asian Bar – Trailblazer Award, 2004
Super Lawyers, listed among the top 50 women lawyers, 2004
Super Lawyers, listed among top appellate lawyers of Southern California from 2004 to date
South Asian Bar Foundation of Los Angeles, Trailblazer Award, 2005

Ms. Gunasekaran is a Partner in Haight Brown & Bonesteel’s Los Angeles office. She is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as a specialist in appellate law and is a member of the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

Ms. Gunasekaran has filed over 250 appellate briefs and writ petitions, all arising from complex civil litigation. The areas covered include employment law, legal malpractice, toxic torts, personal injury and premises liability, insurance coverage and bad faith, labor law, federal banking law, trade secrets, constitutional law, and family law.

Prior to joining Haight Brown & Bonesteel, Ms. Gunasekaran worked as a research attorney in the Court of Appeal of the Second Appellate District from January 1984 to September 1986, and as a legal intern from October through December 1983, while awaiting Bar results.