Richard M. Pearl
Sole Proprietor
Richard Pearl has spent almost 54 years as a civil litigation lawyer. For much of that time, his practice has emphasized cases that involve court-awarded and other attorney fee issues, and his practice continues to involve attorney fees issues in the trial courts, appellate courts, and arbitrations. Mr. Pearl’s CEB treatise, “California Attorney Fee Awards,” 3rd Edition, is recognized as the leading California treatise on the subject. Mr. Pearl is a 1969 graduate of Berkeley School of Law (then Boalt Hall). He worked in federally-funded legal services programs, primarily California Rural Legal Assistance, from 1969 through 1983, in which he specialized in high-impact litigation involving affordable housing, unemployment insurance benefits, and other issues affecting low-income persons. Since 1983, Mr. Pearl has been in private practice with an increasing emphasis on issues involving attorney fees. He also is recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer in appellate practice and has won five important attorney fee cases in the California Supreme Court. In addition to his CEB treatise, Mr. Pearl has written numerous articles on attorney fees. He also has conducted numerous trainings on the subject for CEB, state and local bar sections, and others.
