A Strong Defense Starts Here
Biography
Mr. DeMaria is an experienced trial attorney who has dedicated his career to the practice of insurance and public entity litigation defense. Since graduating from the University of San Diego School of Law, with cum laude and Order of the Coif distinction in 1995, Mr. DeMaria has defended insurance and public entity clients in state and federal courts. Mr. DeMaria has obtained the jury trial attorney status of a Member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and has achieved the highest ranking of "Preeminent" from Martindale Hubbell, while continually being selected as a "Super Lawyer" in insurance defense. He has been named to the Top 1% of attorneys by Lawyers of Distinction. Mr. DeMaria is a trial attorney and all of his trials have been in the defense of insurers and their insureds, as well as public entities and schools. Mr. DeMaria defends school district and educational entity clients in state and federal court in his defense practice.
In his career Mr. DeMaria has defended cases in jury trials and bench trials, arbitrations and mediations and every process in between. Mr. DeMaria is very experienced in all aspects of civil litigation defense, from the initial response to the complaint through the discovery process, settlement procedures, motions and trials. He works with his clients to find the best outcome for cases, be that positioning them for an advantageous settlement, a successful motion to win the case without trial, an alternative procedure to a trial or a trial itself. Working together, Mr. DeMaria advises his clients well so that they can both make the best informed decisions for the cases.
Mr. DeMaria does not sue insurance carriers or their insureds, school districts, public entities or employers. Rather, he is entirely dedicated to civil defense work. Unlike other attorneys who split their allegiances and attempt to be jacks of all trades, practicing in many different fields and suing insurance carriers and public entities in some cases while also trying to defend them in other cases, at the DeMaria Law Firm all insurers, schools, employers and public entities who hire Mr. DeMaria can rest assured that his entire practice is dedicated to their defense. In his practice, Mr. DeMaria defends cases for insurers, schools and public entities in all areas of their civil defense, including the defense of injury cases, civil rights cases, sexual molestation cases, torts of all forms, employment defense cases, free speech and constitutional cases, appeals, premises liability, professional liability and officers and director cases, in all of their various forms and jurisdictions. He has extensive experience in selecting and finding the proper experts for cases and positioning a case for the best overall strategy for a successful outcome. When Mr. DeMaria is your defense attorney, the other side knows that he is an experienced trial attorney who is ready for court. Mr. DeMaria gives extensive seminars and makes frequent speaking appearances on civil litigation defense, and many of his case results have been reported upon and published. He is widely viewed as one of the top insurance, school and public entity defense trial attorneys in his practice areas.
Practice Areas
- Insurance Defense
- School Defense and Representation
- Public Entity Defense
- Employment/Wrongful Termination Defense
Professional Associations
- California State Bar, Member
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), Member
- Colorado State Bar, Member
- Colorado Bar Association, Member
- Denver Bar Association, Member
- Fresno County Bar Association, Member
- California State Bar, Judicial Nominee Evaluation Committee, Past Member
- Fresno Grizzlies Advisory Board
Current Employment Position
- Owner
Published Works
- Coverage Trigger Update for First and Third Party Insurance Cases: Who Gets Shot for the Loss? (An Analysis of Prudential-CMI v. Superior Court and Montrose Chemical Corp. v. Admiral Ins. Co.), American Bar Association Committee on Property Insurance Law, Continuing Legal Education Midyear Meeting, Tab 4 (1996), 1996
- “Public Entity Protection to Public Records Request”, February , 2009
- “California Appellate Court Limits Potential Plaintiffs for “Bystander”, February, 2006
- “Countdown to Trial: A Crash Course in Trial Preparation”, (Co-Author), published for the Institute for Paralegal Education, 2009
- “Advanced Civil Discovery for the Litigation Paralegal in California”, (Co-Author) , published for the Institute for Paralegal Education, 2002
- “Essential Litigation Skills for California Paralegals”, (Co-Author), Paralegal Education, 2002
- “No Reward for the Good Guy: Analyzing the Danger of Your Efforts to Correct Liability Ris PARMA Conference, Indian Wells, California, February 25, 2016
- “Taking A Claim Through the Litigation Process Start to Finish,” Annual PARMA Conference California, February 10, 2015
- “California Public Records Act & Hot Button Topics,” SIRMA In-Service, Valencia, California, January 27, 2015
- “Focus Groups: How to Use Them and How to Gauge Jury Views of Your Case,” Annual PA Conference, San Jose, California, February 11, 2014
- “Public and Jury Perceptions and Impressions of Public Entity Defenses,” Annual PARMA Rancho Mirage, California, February 4, 2013
- “Duty Bound: Public Entity Legal Duties,” PARMA, Fresno, California, October 10, 2012
- “Call of Duty Modern Warfare: DeJning Legal Duties for Public Entities,” Annual PARMA Conference, Monterey, California, February 14, 2012
- “Paralegal’s Guide to Propounding and Responding to Written Discovery,” IPE Teleconference 2011
- “California Public Records Requests – What’s Protected?” CASBO Annual Conference, Ana California, April 6, 2011
- “Public Records Requests and Available Protections,” Riverside Schools Insurance Author Valley, California, February 25, 2011
- “AED’s and Other Medical Hot Buttons,” 2011 Annual PARMA Conference, Anaheim, California, February 6, 2011
- “Are Witness Statements Discoverable?” Clovis, California, October 1, 2010
- “COITO: Are Witness Statements Discoverable?” Fourth Annual CalPRIMA/PARMA Joint C Clovis, California, September 30, 2010
- “Off Campus Activities – Risks Presented, Managing Students and Staff,” Annual PARMA Sacramento, California, February 17, 2010
- “California Public Records Requests – What’s Protected?” Annual PARMA Conference, Sac California, February 17, 2010
- “California Public Records Requests — What’s Protected?” 2010 Annual PARMA Conference Sacramento, California, February 16, 2010
- “Civil Litigation, Investigation and Discovery: Protecting Your Investigative Materials,” 200 PARMA Conference, February 3, 2009
- “Public Entity Protection to Public Records Request,” February 2009
- “Practical Considerations for Dealing with Subsequent Remedial Measures”, Central Valley PARMA, February 25, 2016
- “Public Entity Use of the Anti-SLAPP Motion to Strike Complaints Brought Against the Entity and its Employees; Explain Anti-SLAPP and How to Effectively Use Those Motions to Dispose of Cases at the Outset”, Annual PARMA Conference, Anaheim, California, February 14, 2017
- “The Litigation Process for Public Entities: From Discovery to Done”, PARMA Annual Conference, Monterey, California, February 14, 2018
- “The Steps of Defending a Litigated Case: From Service to Discovery and Up to Trial”, Mercury Conference, Brea, California, April 2, 2019
- “Defending a Public Entity Case at Trial – Analyzing Trial Issues and Explaining the Trial Process Step by Step”, Annual PARMA Conference, Anaheim, California, February 12, 2019
- “California Public Records Act & Hot Button Topics”, March 19, 2020
- “The Risks in Welcoming Students Back to Class in the 2020-2021 School Year”, (Online) July 21, 2020 & July 24, 2020
- “The Trial Process and Alternative Dispute Resolution”, December 17, 2020
- “California Public Records Act: How to Respond, The Nuts and Bolts, and New Updates”, January 14, 2021
- “Field Trip Immunity: Analysis and Discussion”, (Online) February 8, 2022
- “Sexual Assault and Molestation Claims Against Public Entities: Legal Updates, Liability, Exposure, and Defense Strategies”, Annual PARMA Conference, Anaheim, California, March 1, 2022
Education
- University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego, California
- Juris Doctor - 1995
- Honors: cum laude
- Honors: Order of the Coif
- Honors: President, St. Thomas Moore Society, 1994-1995
- Honors: Honor Court Counsel, 1994-1995
- Honors: American Jurisprudence Award in Advanced Trial Advocacy
- University of California, Davis, California
- Bachelor of Arts - 1991
- Honors: Varsity letterman in swimming (1987-1991)
- Major: Political Science
- Minor: History
Bar Admissions
- California, 1995
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of California, 1995
- Colorado, 1997
Past Positions
- McCormick Barstow, Senior Partner, 1995 to 2020
Pro-Bono Activities
- Past Chairman of the "Lawyers Have Heart" charity walk/run in Fresno
- Member of Fresno Grizzlies Advisory Board, for Fresno Grizzlies minor league baseball franchise
- President, Fresno Athletics Non-Profit Youth and College Baseball Organization
Honors
- American Jurisprudence Award, Advanced Trial Advocacy
- Martindale-Hubbell, the AV rating for preeminent lawyers
- Northern California Super Lawyers
- American Jurisprudence Award for Torts (Regent University)
- American Jurisprudence Award for Legal Writing (Regent University)
Classes & Seminars
- “Are Witness Statements Discoverable?” , Clovis, California, 2010
- “Off Campus Activities - Risks Presented, Managing Students and Staff,” , Annual PARMA Conference, Sacramento, California, 2010
- “California Public Records Requests - What’s Protected?”, Annual PARMA Conference, Sacramento, California, 2010
- “Civil Litigation, Investigation and Discovery: Protecting Your Investigative Materials,” , 2009 Annual PARMA Conference, 2009
- Preparing the Claims for Litigation: What is Evidence, What is Privileged and Other Strategies to Maximize the Chance for Success” , 2008 National PRIMA Conference, Anaheim, California, 2008
- “Public Records Requests and Available Protections”, Central Chapter of PARMA, Bass Lake, California, 2008