S. Christian Stouder

Overview

For more than 35 years, Mr. Stouder has been a proud member of the Haight Brown & Bonesteel family, starting at the firm as a law clerk in 1989. Upon passing the California Bar Exam, Mr. Stouder became an associate attorney at Haight. He was subsequently elevated to partner; served as a practice group leader; and is a member of Haight’s Executive Committee. In 2009, Mr. Stouder was elected to be the firmwide Managing Partner, a position he still holds today. Over the past 16 years, Mr. Stouder has led the firm through the constantly evolving landscape of the legal profession, continually implementing strategic initiatives to meet the firm’s challenges while celebrating its numerous successes. In short, even though he has been trained as a practicing attorney, Mr. Stouder has obtained a keen and unique ability to learn and understand the various aspects of our clients’ businesses – because he also runs one.

Mr. Stouder maintains an active legal practice concentrated in the representation of corporate clients, primarily in the Business Solutions, Construction Law and General liability Practice Groups. Mr. Stouder has served as lead counsel in numerous trials; successfully brought motions for summary judgment; and has extensive experience in dispute resolution via mediation and arbitration. He has been involved in several high-profile matters requiring interface with media and public relations.

Business Solutions

Mr. Stouder’s practice focuses on both pre-litigation dispute resolution and zealous litigation representation in many areas including complex commercial litigation; commercial leasing and real estate litigation; project management; product distribution and vendor contracts; choice of law and venue disputes; risk transfer; and contractual defense and indemnification issues.

Construction Law

Mr. Stouder has been involved in numerous commercial and residential construction defect matters, including very complex, high profile and high stakes construction law litigation.

For example, in 2018, San Francisco officials shut down the city’s celebrated $2.2 billion Salesforce/Transbay Transit Center after discovering cracked support beams under the Transit Center’s public roof garden. Multiple lawsuits ensued, and Haight represented the General Contractor/Construction Manager tasked with procuring and supervising the subcontractors and ensuring conformance with the plans and specifications of the project. The project owner filed suit, seeking girder-related damages in excess of $49 Million. Mr. Stouder managed the defense of that very complex, drawn-out and contentious litigation which was ultimately resolved just prior to trial for terms extremely favorable to our client.

Mr. Stouder served as litigation and trial counsel in defense of a very complex, high profile and high stakes litigation arising out of a massive landslide that occurred in the small oceanside town of La Conchita, situated between Ventura and Santa Barbara. As a result of the landslide, ten individuals were killed, numerous others seriously injured and multiple homes destroyed. Plaintiffs sued the upslope La Conchita Ranch Company; its general partner, Vista La Conchita Corporation; and the individual owners of the Ranch Company on alter ego liability theories. Plaintiffs claimed that the alleged failure to provide adequate lateral and subjacent support and remediation caused the landslide. Plaintiffs sought damages in excess of $100 Million. Haight was able to extricate the individual ranch owner defendants from the lawsuit via pre-trial summary judgment motions, blocking Plaintiffs’ attempts to pierce the corporate veil in order to access their significant personal assets. After a two-month bifurcated jury trial on the liability phase, Haight obtained a defense verdict for another Ranch Defendant and, as a result of adept post-verdict maneuvering, Haight was successful in resolving the remainder of the case on terms extremely favorable to the remaining Ranch Defendant.

General Liability

Over the past 35 years, Mr. Stouder has represented several Fortune 500 companies in the Hospitality and Retail industries with respect to a wide variety of substantive matters including Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)/Unruh Act; contractual disputes; dram shop liability; food safety litigation; labor & employment; landlord/tenant; OSHA compliance; premises liability; product liability; regulatory actions; and transportation litigation. He has also represented numerous Native American Indian tribes throughout the State of California with respect to issues of sovereign immunity and the resolution of tort claims through Tribal Court proceedings. Mr. Stouder has also defended product manufacturers and distributors. Several of these matters have involved very complex, high profile and high stakes litigation.

For example, Mr. Stouder served as National Coordinating Counsel defending nationwide litigation in multiple states involving numerous deaths and catastrophic injuries arising out of a Listeriosis outbreak allegedly linked to the consumption of cantaloupe. The Plaintiffs’ collectively sought damages in-excess of $50 Million. As a result of effective risk transfer and individually attacking each lawsuit with respect to liability, causation and damages, Haight was able to achieve favorable resolutions for our client without exceeding policy limits.

News