Attorney Profiles - Partner

Kymberly E. Speer

Kymberly E. Speer is an AV-rated litigator who successfully combines her career as a lawyer with freelancing as a professional classical musician.

PRACTICE AREAS
Ms. Speer specializes in aviation and business litigation, with particular emphasis on air carrier liability. In over two decades of practice, Ms. Speer has represented nearly every “legacy” air carrier in the United States. Her aviation cases have run the gamut from a highly-publicized $5 million claim filed by animal rights activists to arguing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal en banc on behalf of several air carriers on federal preemption issues.

EXPERIENCE

Ms. Speer’s trial successes have included obtaining a $1.2 million jury verdict for fraud against local celebrity vintner/plaintiff class action attorney Frederick P. Furth on behalf of a Pennsylvania home warranty company bilked into issuing a warranty on a defective home in 1992. She also obtained a separate, $1.8 million judgment against Furth’s construction company arising from the same project. Ms. Speer prevailed against the builder of a unique, multi-million-dollar Pacific Heights custom home after a lengthy arbitration that established the home was riddled with leaks and construction defects. And after a week-long binding arbitration, Ms. Speer obtained a defense judgment on behalf of a local builder sued by the owner of a home destroyed in the Oakland Hills fire who maintained the home had not been properly rebuilt.

ACTIVITIES
On the musical side, Ms. Speer engagements are equally diverse. She has appeared with local chamber orchestras as English horn soloist on Quiet City by Aaron Copland, and recently performed at the 2007 Stanford Jazz Festival in collaboration with Grammy-nominated young jazz virtuoso Taylor Eigsti on piano and Julian Lage on guitar. Ms. Speer has appeared in concert with the California Symphony, Monterey Symphony, Santa Rosa Symphony, and Napa Symphonies, to name just a few.

In addition to her musical freelancing, she also has been a nationally-ranked velodrome cyclist, winning one Masters World Championship and five Masters National Championship titles between 1997 and 1999.

EDUCATION
Ms. Speer received her J.D. from the University of Southern California Law Center in 1985, and her B.A. cum laude from Yale University in 1982. Before entering private practice, Ms. Speer clerked for the Hon. John L. Cole, Presiding Judge for the law and motion departments in Los Angeles Superior Court (Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 Hill Street, Los Angeles.) While at USC she externed for the Hon. Robert J. Kelleher of the United States District Court, Central District.

BAR ADMISSIONS
Ms. Speer is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, all federal District Courts in California, and all California state courts. She is an active member of the International Aviation Women's Association.