Benjamin G. Shatz
Partner
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Phone: +1 213 689 7439
- Duane Morris LLP
865 South Figueroa Street, Suite 3100
Los Angeles, CA 90017-5450
USA
Benjamin G. Shatz is a partner in the firm’s Trial Practice Group, focusing on appellate advocacy and complex litigation matters. Benjamin represents clients in high-stakes appeals, writ proceedings, and discretionary review matters in state and federal courts across the country. His appellate experience spans a broad range of industries and legal issues, including complex commercial disputes, entertainment and copyright matters, employment litigation, real estate and land use, banking and insurance, product and professional liability, class actions, unfair competition, and anti-SLAPP proceedings.
Benjamin has argued and handled matters before the U.S. Supreme Court, multiple U.S. Courts of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and the California Courts of Appeal. Earlier in his career, he served as a law clerk to the Honorable Robert J. Johnston of the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada and as a judicial extern to the Honorable Dorothy W. Nelson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is certified as a specialist in Appellate Law by the California Bar. A recognized thought leader in appellate law, Benjamin is a frequent author and speaker on litigation and appellate strategy.
Since 2018, he has written a monthly column for the Daily Journal titled Exceptionally Appealing and has served as editor-in-chief of California Litigation since 2013. His work has also appeared in California Lawyer, Los Angeles Lawyer, and the CEB Civil Litigation Reporter, among other publications. He is a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers and the California Academy of Appellate Lawyers and has been recognized by Chambers, The Best Lawyers in America, and other ranking organizations.
Benjamin is a magna cum laude graduate of the Pepperdine University school of Law, where he was Associate Editor of the Pepperdine Law Review and the California Supreme Court Survey.
Admissions
- California
- Supreme Court of the United States
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
- U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
Experience
- Duane Morris LLP
- Partner, 2026-present - Manatt, Phelps & Philllips, LLP
- Partner, 2010-2026
- Counsel, 2005-2009 - Reed Smith LLP
- Counsel, 2003-2005
- Associate, 1993-2003
Honors and Awards
- Named in Best Lawyers in America for Appellate Practice, 2013-2024 and 2026
- Peer selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America, 2012-2022 and 2025-2026, for Appellate Practice
- Recognized as a Leading Lawyer in Litigation: Appellate Law, Chambers USA, 2019-2024
- Named by Los Angeles Magazine and Law & Politics Magazine as one of Southern California’s “Super Lawyers” (the Best Attorneys in Southern California) in the field of Appellate Law, 2004-2023
- Selected as a "Top 100: 2019 Southern California Super Lawyer"
- Recipient, L.A. County Bar Association, Patricia Phillips Outstanding Committee Service Award, 2018
- Named "Lawyer of the Year (Private Sector)" for 2008 by the Constitutional Rights Foundation for his work with
the Appellate Court Experience program - AV-rated by Martindale-Hubbell®
Professional Activities
- Friends of the L.A. Law Library Board
- Treasurer, 2022-present
- Member, 2020-present - California Litigation Journal
- Editor-in-Chief, 2013-present
- Editorial Board, 2011-2013 - California Judicial Council Appellate Advisory Committee, 2023-present
- L.A. County Bar Assn. Trustee
- Appellate Section, 2021-2023
- Trustee At-Large, 2019-2021 - Ninth Circuit Advisory Committee on Rules & Internal Operating Procedures, 2017-2020
- LACBA State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee
- Chair, 2013-2019
- Vice-Chair, 2011-2013 - California Lawyers Association
- Litigation Section ExCom Advisor, 2013-present
- Appellate Committee, 2018-present - ASCDC
- Amicus Committee, 2013-present - California State Bar Committee on Appellate Courts
- Chair, 2010-2011
- Vice-Chair 2009-2010
- Member, 2006-2012 - LACBA Appellate Courts Committee
- Chair, 2009-2011
- Vice-Chair, 2007-2009
- Secretary, 2005-2007
- Member, 1993-present
- Executive Committee, LACBA Appellate Courts Section, 2011-present - LACBA Outstanding Jurist Award Committee, 2009-2011, 2015, 2019
- Federal Courts Committee, 1994-1998 - Second Circuit Court of Appeals Pro Bono Panel, 2007-2016
Education
- Pepperdine University School of Law, J.D., magna cum laude
-Associate Editor, Pepperdine Law Review - University of California, Los Angeles, B.S.