Joel N. Klevens, Attorney

Litigation partner, Joel Klevens, was born in Lexington, Kentucky on December 28, 1944. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of California at Berkeley in 1966 and his Juris Doctorate from Stanford University Law School in 1969. At the law school, Klevens was the Note and Recent Developments Editor of the Stanford Law Review and was a member of the Order of the Coif.

After graduation from law school, Klevens was admitted to the California Bar in January 1970 and clerked for two years for Justice Stanley Mosk, Associate Justice of the California Supreme Court in San Francisco. Klevens then moved to Los Angeles and associated with the law firm of Bodle, Fogel, Julber, Reinhardt & Rothschild in 1971. He became a partner in the firm in 1978 and, thereafter, the firm changed its name to Fogel, Feldman, Ostrov, Ringler & Klevens. Klevens continued to practice with that firm through December 2003.

Although new to practice at Glaser Weil, Klevens has practiced business and labor litigation for over 30 years. He has extensive experience handling complex civil litigation in the state and federal courts, including entertainment, contract, business torts, legal malpractice, insurance coverage disputes, employment, real estate, antitrust, and class actions, representing individuals and corporate clients. He has tried and co-tried significant jury and bench trials. Klevens represented Exxon Mobil Corporation as co-counsel in a jury trial which defeated a $750 million breach of contract and bad faith claim and co-tried a plaintiff's contract case against a major film studio resulting in a $14.9 million jury verdict for plaintiff. Over the years, Klevens has successfully handled all aspects of litigation from pleading, discovery, witness preparation, pre-trial, trial preparation, and trial, post-trial motions, and appeals.

Klevens lives in Manhattan Beach with his wife, Susan. They have been married for 35 years and have raised two children. Josh works with Bain Capital in Boston, Massachusetts, and Sara is a doctor in Los Angeles.