Biography

In her long career as a Litigation Attorney, Susan Barilich has served as lead counsel and conducted more than 130 jury trials to verdict in State and Federal Courts in California and Texas. Her track record also includes numerous bench trials, arbitrations and administrative hearings.

Ms. Barilich is an AV Pre-eminent Peer-Rated Attorney by Martindale Hubbell, which is the highest rating an attorney can achieve. This is based on her persistence, her extensive experience, and her courtroom presence, bringing a majority of successful conclusions for her clients – always with the highest level of integrity.

After earning her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Indiana University and her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Houston Law Center, Attorney Barilich jump-started her legal career as an in-house attorney for Exxon Corporation, USA, focusing on land title work.

From there, she moved to an in-house position as the assistant general counsel for General Dynamics (now Lockheed), where she interfaced with the engineers who developed fighter aircraft on product liability cases. In this position, she gained significant experience working with high-profile, aircraft defense lawyers for the major military contractor and also gained experience in environmental law and employment law.

Ms. Barilich then became an Associate in a private Dallas-based law firm specializing in real estate litigation. The firm represented real estate investors, property owners and limited liability companies and limited partnerships on title insurance defense cases and she began building this specialty area of law.

She next served as an Assistant City Attorney for the Fort Worth City Attorney’s Office where she gained significant jury trial experience in real estate and zoning litigation, eminent domain cases and workers compensation cases, trying more than twenty-five cases to juries over the next three years.

She later returned to private practice, joining a boutique law firm that specialized in business and real estate transactions and litigation. By defending real estate investors against S & L’s, and occasionally the government, Attorney Barilich built another specialty area in foreclosure litigation defending investors and developers during the 1980’s and early 1990’s recession, in litigation involving multimillion dollar commercial loans. She also handled a number of other types of business and commercial litigation matters while she was there.

Seven years later, when that boutique law firm dissolved, Ms. Barilich opened her own law practice providing business, commercial, and real estate litigation for a variety of clients. This was a very productive period in her legal career and served as the evolution of her present-day law practice. During this time period she handled the representation of a homeowners association on a major construction defect case, and successfully represented the FDIC and RTC on loan document enforcement against investors who attempted to hide their assets.

Ms. Barilich became Board Certified in Civil Trial Law in Texas by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in 1988. She was then offered partnership at a mid-sized Dallas trial law firm, recognized for their excellence in the courtroom. In addition to representing clients on real estate and commercial litigation matters, she also gained experience working on complex business litigation matters along with some intellectual property litigation, while there.

Between 2006 and 2008, Ms. Barilich represented her own clients as a sole practitioner before relocating to Los Angeles, California where she served as Of Counsel as a litigation attorney for multiple clients.

In 2009,  Ms. Barilich established Susan Barilich, P.C. in downtown Los Angeles representing clients as a litigator in Los Angeles Superior Court, Orange County Superior Court, Riverside Superior Court and San Bernardino Superior Court. In 2013, she moved her office to Glendale, California where she continues to practice law.

Since opening her California practice, she has won several significant cases, including a case for a real estate investor involving a land sale in Santa Clarita. Ms. Barilich has also successfully obtained injunctions for a number of clients. In one case, she successfully prevented foreclosure of a client’s property due to an error by the bank, notwithstanding the fact that the loan in question was not in default.  She has also represented a clinic in its efforts to enjoin Los Angeles County over restrictions they imposed on the client’s clinic.

With her reputation as a strong litigator backed by her 40+ years of trial experience, Ms. Barilich has rapidly grown her practice since 2009.

In another significant achievement, Ms. Barilich was invited to the Commercial and Construction Panels of the American Arbitration Association in 2008 and is frequently appointed as an Arbitrator on cases subject to arbitration.

Ms. Barilich is active in many civic organizations, including the Pasadena Tournament of Roses, the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, and the University Club of Pasadena. She is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and the Glendale Bar Association; she is a seven – time Super Lawyer and she has been recognized multiple times as one of Pasadena’s Top Lawyers. Ms. Barilich is also a longtime member of ProVisors, Pasadena 4.