Attorneys Cited
Ruth Kahn Again Named Among California's Top Women Litigators, Daily Journal Corporation, 2007
(May 10, 2007, Los Angeles, CA) -- Ruth Kahn, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, today was named for the second year in a row, one of the Top Women Litigators in California. T he Los Angeles Daily Journal has selected Kahn as part of an elite group of only 75 women selected for this honor from more than 15,000 practicing women lawyers in California.
Ms. Kahn has substantial experience handling – and winning – toxic tort litigation, complex commercial litigation, and premises and products liability cases.
“This is a well-deserved tribute to Ruth, who has consistently achieved great results for the firm’s clients and has made outstanding contributions to our community,” said Lawrence Riff, managing partner of Steptoe’s Los Angeles office.
Ms. Kahn has successfully defended the interests of numerous corporations in products liability and mass tort litigation across the country. She actively represents manufacturers and distributors of chemical and petroleum-based products in personal injury and wrongful death litigation and trials. Her focus is on managing and defending complex, multi-party cases involving cancer, lung disease, and birth defects, where the plaintiffs allege they have been injuriously exposed to a chemical.
“I am again honored to be named among the women litigators recognized by the Daily Journal,” said Ms. Kahn. “The theme of this year’s tribute is ‘Leaps of Faith’ and it fits me perfectly. Twenty years ago, I decided to move to California without a job and without having taken the California Bar Exam, the hardest in the nation. I passed the Bar, found a job, and love what I have been doing ever since.”
Ms. Kahn most recently defended Texaco in the successful resolution a personal injury action involving 350+ residents of a public housing project, which arose from lead and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon contamination, that allegedly occurred from refining operations by Texaco and other entities, long before the land was purchased and developed by the City of Los Angeles. After three years of litigation, all but five residents agreed to dismiss Texaco without payment in exchange for a waiver of costs because Ms. Kahn convinced them there was no connection between her client’s activities and the residents’ injuries. Five plaintiffs held steadfast to the notion that Texaco should pay something and elected to prosecute their cases, but to no avail. The court agreed there was no connection between Texaco’s conduct and plaintiffs’ injuries, and granted summary judgment against the remaining plaintiffs. As a result, Texaco paid nothing on any of plaintiffs’ claims. The amount at stake was several million dollars, plus the cost to clean up the property.
Ms. Kahn is on the Board of Governors for the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles; a member of the American Bar Association, Products Liability and Litigation Sections; and the California and Los Angeles County Bar Associations’ Litigation Sections. For approximately six years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Foundation. She is admitted to the Bar in California, Washington, D.C., and Hawaii. Ms. Kahn is a 1985 graduate of Case Western Reserve School of Law and received her B.S. from University of Colorado, in 1982.
With more than 450 attorneys, Steptoe & Johnson LLP provides counsel and representation in a wide range of legal fields. In more than 60 years of practice, the firm has gained a national and international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions. The firm has offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Phoenix, Los Angeles, London and Brussels.
