Defense attorney Stephen Larson, who represents Rancho Cucamonga developer Jeff Burum, walks out of a courtroom in San Bernardino Superior Court after a hearing June 8 in the Colonies corruption scandal. (Rachel Luna/Staff Photographer)
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/03/2012 05:23:06 PM PDTA legal trade publication has named defense attorney Stephen G. Larson, who is defending a Rancho Cucamonga developer in a high-profile San Bernardino County corruption case, one of the leading trial lawyers in the U.S.
Posted: 07/03/2012 05:23:06 PM PDTA legal trade publication has named defense attorney Stephen G. Larson, who is defending a Rancho Cucamonga developer in a high-profile San Bernardino County corruption case, one of the leading trial lawyers in the U.S.
Larson, an Upland resident, was among 37 attorneys from the Los Angeles-based law firm Arent Fox included in the Legal 500 Series’ list of leading trial attorneys.
According to its website, the Legal 500 Series has been published for more than 20 years and provides the “most comprehensive worldwide coverage currently available on legal services providers in over 100 countries.”
Larson is a former federal judge and former chief of the organized crime section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles. As a defense attorney, he now specializes in white-collar crimes, complex business disputes and intellectual property matters, among other things.
To read entire story, click here.
Filed under: Business, County of San Bernardino, Courts, In the News, Jim Erwin, Legal, Mark Kirk, Paul Biane
I wonder what Deputy District Attorney Lewis Cope is thinking about now.
First, his boss and the Attorney General hold a press conference and announce that he will be prosecuting “the most appalling corruption case in decades, certainly in the history of San Bernardino County and maybe California itself.”
So much for low expectations.
Then, he makes a deal with a defendant to plead guilty to bribery and testify truthfully, and the defendant then tells the FBI he was never bribed.
After that, all the bribery charges against one of the defendants are dismissed, and his $10 million bail is reduced to $500,000, and later to $0.
Now, he discovers that he is facing “one of the leading trial lawyers in the U.S.”
Mr. Cope attended BYU, which suggests that he doesn’t drink. As this prosecution evolves, he may consider doing so.
MR.COPE would have much to gain if he recognized that he has hit the jack pot working with Mr. Larson on a case!
In Mr. Larson’s presence, Mr. Cope has the opportunity to renew his faith in his chosen profession; the law.
Mr. Cope has had the unfortunate experience (nightmare) of working under a District Attorney, Mike Ramos, who takes pleasure in violating sacred laws, using them as his own personal political tools, and expecting those working under him TO DO THE SAME!
MR. COPE would be wise to see Mr. Larson as a mentor. Imagine, gaining a perspective from THE MASTER HIMSELF that is invaluable; and he may also be REMINDED of the importance of ethics, honesty, and professionalism. Perhaps even RENEWING HIS SENSE OF PURPOSE IN THE PROFESSION.
Larson’s a bum. He left the bench to chase the almighty dollar and signed with a great firm to lead it. The owner fired Larson for incompetence. Larson goes to his current firm under much controversy as he found in their favor on a multi-million dollar case while he was a judge. Most legal scholars blasted him for this move. Now he’s a “top” trial lawyer? Name one case he has won as an attorney? His firm probably buys a few pages in this rag to get their lawyers this billing.
I know the guy. He’s a coward and a hypocrite. Sits in church on Sunday with his brood and sells his soul the rest of the week. Cashing in on favors from his contacts to get favorable rulings for his dirt-bag clients.
Math is Easy
How wrong you are about Mr. Larson. You underestimate him, and completely misinterpreted his professional decisions.
Perhaps his firm did “buy” a few expensive pages…but it was well spent on a very deserving man…perhaps this was the firm’s way of showing their appreciation of him.
Do do the lies, anger and hate spewing, I would not be the least surprised if “Math is Easy” is Dave Ellis; Mike Ramos’ paid man to go on blogs and attack anyone undermining his efforts to politically retaliate against the four defendants.
Any 4: Math is Easy can’t be Dave Ellis. Any church he attended would have been struck by a tornado (even in California).
#5
And you believed he attended church, just because he said he did?
By his hateful juvenile words and false accusations about Mr. Larson it is obvious he does not attend church… so YES, it could be Davey boy being his own pathetic self.
It does seem in character that Fat Ellis is a slimebag. There is a hot place in hell awaiting him indeed.
#7 Personally,I hate to wait, hell is way too far off, I’d like to see Davey boy loose all his power and influence and have his hell on earth FIRST!
@ ONLYinSB… Now that IS funny!
Maybe Mr. Larson can move to SBC and run for DA to set us straight!
“Larson, an Upland resident, ”
I MISSED THAT, IT WAS JUST BROUGHT TO MY ATTENTION.
LARSON DOES NOT NEED TO MOVE…
HE CAN CHALLENGE, AND BEAT, RAMOS!!!!
Math is easy said it best, Larson is out for the money and I would bet that it was NOT his firm that put up the money to print that bogus article, but was Burum. It’s obvious the appellate court is not going to go Burum’s way and so he is trying to get the upper hand by posturing.
Comment #12 by red Anonymous suggests that Jeff Burum has influenced The Sun and Daily Bulletin to print an article that leans in his direction. He or she has clearly not been following their stories on this prosecution for the past 30 months, 100% of which have been slanted toward the prosecution.
He or she can also apparently predict the future, claiming that “It’s obvious the appellate court is not going to go Burum’s way.”
The writer exhibits the type of mentality I alluded to in a previous comment, having such a minimal grasp if the facts that they seem to think the Appellate Court ruling could send Mr. Burum to prison. The absolute best the prosecution can hope for is that no additional charges are dismissed, and that the previously dismissed charges are reinstated.
They will still have to prove their case in Superior Court.
OOf….The sun and Daily Bulletin were only reporting on an article found in another publication. I’m sure the publication did not reference Burum as the purchaser of their magazine space.
As to my being able to predict future events, I think it is safe to say that this case is not a baseless political attack, if it was the appellate court would have dropped the charges by now. What’s more troubling is the lack of concern on your part over just how badly colonies members have damaged the county by means of their monetary manipulations. They act as if they are victims that have been bullied and yet they turn around and play the part of the bully with individual politicians leaving the tax payer to ensure their profits are met. It is true that a decision in favor of the prosecution will only leave the county back where it started, that is with a whole case to prove, but that is fine as such a decision will also show the haste in the original judges decision and demonstrate the need for a judicial cleansing of the county.
Red Anon #14 – Since you are so sure the appellate court will reverse the dismissal and “demonstrate the need for a judicial cleansing” – I just have to ask will you be equally fair in thought should the court uphold the lower court ruling dismissing the charges? Will you take a step back and think “Well, maybe I don’t have all the facts, maybe I have allowed biased reporting to skew my thinking?”
or will you then convince yourself that these judges have also been “tainted” -
Anonymous:
I’m sorry, I misunderstood. When you said it “was Burum” who “put up the money to print that bogus article,” I thought you meant the article in the Sun and Daily Bulletin.
As I understand Comment #14, you are instead saying that Jeff Burum induced a publication that provides “worldwide coverage” about attorneys “in over 100 countries” to name Mr. Larson as one of the leading trial lawyers in the United States.
Wow, the sphere of influence of Mr. Burum keeps expanding. Donald Trump will really be jealous if he hears this latest development.
If Mr. Burum is so influential, how come he hasn’t been able to induce the Appellate Court into hurrying up?
You seem to think that the fact that the Appellate Court is taking an inordinately long time to issue a ruling favors the prosecution. You should ask Mike Ramos and Lewis Cope if they have scheduled a victory party.
As to The Colonies members damaging the county, check out the property tax revenue the county is now receiving against what they were receiving for the Upland property before The Colonies developed it.
And leaving the taxpayer to insure that their profits are met? Long before the taxpayers were on the hook for one penny, The Colonies offered to pay the county $12 Million of the costs of the detention basin improvements. The only thing taxpayers are insuring is that defiant bureaucrats like Jon Mikels can gamble with no risk of their own.
OOF…..Sphere of influence? Influence is bought with money and Burum has plenty of tax payer dollars. As for Larson, it stands to reason that he was hired more for his connections to other judges that were established after years of service as a Federal judge than for some special natural ability. How do we know that Larson isn’t trying to communicate with appellate judges behind the scenes, after all it is relationships that seem to count in Burum’s business world with abilities placing second. Rex is an example of that as one could ask if Burum would have ever befriended him had he not been in a position to vote on development opportunities Burum was interested in.?
As to tax revenue created by colonies, it is reasonable to conclude that colonies partners would have been tared and feathered by the residents of Upland if they were required to pay the entire $102 million dollar settlement without county tax payer help. The 12 million they offered the county initially was 11 million more than what the work actually cost and there for serves as an example of colonies greedy and manipulative nature. TAX PAYERS ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING DEVELOPERS MAKE PROFITS ON THEIR PROJECTS.
As to Mikels, he knew colonies was a bad project and had other supervisors put county tax payers first and not sold out to Burum the county coffers would not be $102 million dollars light and Colonies partners would have been forced to behave with ethics or sell out and go somewhere else leaving a more ethical developer the opportunity to develop the Upland property. Instead they behaved like a bully and engaged in political attacks on all that opposed their development. These people have destroyed the county political structure and are a danger to all Tax paying citizens.
Red Anonymous:
In comment #17, you claim that “The 12 million they offered the county initially was 11 million more than what the work actually cost and there for serves as an example of colonies greedy and manipulative nature.”
Huh?
The Colonies offered to PAY the county this money. If it was 11 million more than the work actually cost, the county should have immediately accepted. They would be ahead by $10 Million.
Your conclusion is symptomatic of the mentality of those who have been brainwashed by the local media: No matter what the facts are, they feel that all the county bureaucrats are honest and “behave with ethics,” and all The Colonies representatives are dishonest and corrupt.
By the way, have you followed the recent bankruptcy by the town of Mammoth Lakes? They had to file because they could not pay a $43 Million judgment owed to a developer. It’s interesting that nobody up there is claiming that the judges were corrupt, but are rather criticizing the bureaucrats for trying to bully the developer.