Neama is a world-renowned lawyer and the President and co-founder of West Coast Trial Lawyers. He has over 20 years of experience handling civil and criminal cases and he regularly appears on CNN, Fox News, BBC, and other television stations to provide his expert analysis on the law.
Neama graduated from UCLA at the age of 19 and Harvard Law School at the age of 22, making him one of the youngest graduates in the 200-year history of Harvard Law School. Upon graduation, Neama was hired by the largest law firm in Los Angeles, where he met his partner, Allen Patatanyan, and he represented companies such as Disney, Marriott, and the Roman Catholic Church.
But Neama wanted to help ordinary people, not corporations, so he joined the Department of Justice and prosecuted drug and human trafficking cases along the United States-Mexico border. While working as a federal prosecutor, Neama captured and successfully prosecuted a fugitive murderer and drug kingpin who was featured on “America’s Most Wanted.” Neama was then appointed to be the Director of Enforcement of the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission and oversaw and investigated the elected officials and highest-level employees of the City of Los Angeles, including the Mayor and City Council. He held that position until founding West Coast Trial Lawyers, which has grown to 25 lawyers and 200 non-lawyer staff.
Neama has extensive trial experience leading teams of attorneys against the largest companies in the world. He has successfully tried dozens of cases to jury verdict as lead trial counsel and has argued and won before state and federal appeals courts. Over the course of his career, Neama has handled thousands of civil cases, obtaining many seven and eight-figure settlements and judgments, and has helped his clients win more than $1 billion. He has also put more than a thousand criminal defendants in prison.
Neama is licensed to practice law in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Washington state. He sits on the UCLA Political Science Board of Advisors and lives with his wife, a lawyer for foster children, and teenage son and daughter. Follow Neama’s journey by reading his book, Harvard to Hashtag, all proceeds of which are donated to the largest nonprofit protecting the rights of children in foster care.
