Christine Spagnoli '86
Whether it’s inspiring a trend of front-yard gardens in her neighborhood or influencing product-safety legislation through litigation, Christine Spagnoli exerts influence wherever she goes.
Spagnoli specializes in auto-defect litigation at Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP, a Santa Monica, CA-based firm where she started while an evening student at Loyola Law School. Originally hired as a law clerk, Spagnoli is now a partner who has since ratcheted a number of high-profile victories. She secured a landmark $4.9 billion verdict against General Motors for plaintiffs severely burned as a result of a defective fuel tank. In addition, she was co-counsel in a case that resulted in a $58 million verdict for a man burned by a defective O-ring. The verdict was the single largest for a personal injury case to date in California.
Over the years, Spagnoli has become the go-to attorney for defective tire cases. That started when she represented a Los Angeles Police Department bomb-squad officer who was paralyzed after being ejected from his department-issued Chevy Suburban while answering a call.
Spagnoli settled the case in the midst of the highly publicized investigation into blowouts of Firestone tires in 2000, and she contributed to a similar review of Goodyear. “I took the deposition of a Goodyear engineer, who admitted the company knew it had a problem, and that nylon overlays fixed the problem. The company delayed implementing the fix because of cost. I forwarded the information to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and they opened an investigation. As a result, there were lives saved and tires removed from the market.”
Putting her product safety role in perspective, Spagnoli reflected on how advocacy helped shape the law and product safety in general—both directly and indirectly. “Over the last 15-20 years, civil cases are where auto safety or product safety are being addressed, not through government regulation or supervision,” she said, noting that in cases like the recent spate of Toyota accidents, government agencies can get too close to the companies they supervise. “I think there’s a lot of change in the auto industry because they are paying heed to these kinds of issues. For example, we are going to have electronic stability control on pretty much every SUV and light truck in another year or two to prevent people from sliding off the road.”
Building on her earlier experience, Spagnoli continued to represent the victims of defective Goodyear tires. She not only represented Air Force personnel injured in a crash in Saudi Arabia blamed on the same tire defect, but also is involved in larger initiatives on tire safety. Currently, she serves as the plaintiffs’ liaison counsel for Cooper Tire cases in California, and is also engaged in a similar trial of a man who was paralyzed after a tire-related crash.
Spagnoli’s successes extend beyond tire defects to a range of other issues involving assistance to plaintiffs severely injured by actions of large corporations. As co-counsel for an electrocuted farm worker, she obtained a $21 million verdict against Southern California Edison, and a $25 million verdict against the City of Alameda for an electrocuted construction worker.
For her work in the courtroom, Spagnoli has racked up a range of accolades. Loyola presented her with its 2001 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award. The American Association for Justice presented her with the F. Scott Baldwin Award in 2001, marking her as the most outstanding young trial lawyer of the year. The Los Angeles Daily Journal ranked her as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Attorneys in California.” In addition, she was named among the “Top 50 Women Southern California Lawyers” during 2005-2008, and made the list of Southern California Super Lawyers in 2005 and 2007.
Life is not all about the law for Spagnoli. The automobile-defect specialist is an avid bicyclist. She has taken cycling tours through France, New Zealand and Ireland. She is an avid cook and gardener, having achieved a certain culinary synergy with the produce grown just steps away from her kitchen. “Why have a lawn? It’s boring,” she said. “I turned my front lawn into a vegetable garden with tomatoes and artichokes. People stop by and ask what I’m growing. It’s taking off. My neighbor did the same thing.”
As for her future plans, Spagnoli hopes to see a day in which automobile and tire defects are no longer a problem. “I’d be happy to retire in another 10 years because there aren’t enough cases for me to handle,” she said. But she has plenty of work for now. “Some tire companies still don’t want to change what they’re doing.”