Lawrence H. Jacobson, of the Law Offices of Lawrence H. Jacobson in Beverly Hills, was installed as President of the Board of Governors of the Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA) at the organization’s annual Installation and Awards Dinner on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles. He became the BHBA’s 80th President, serving during the organization’s 80th Anniversary year.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Louis M. Meisinger swore in Jacobson, as well as his cabinet, the officers for the BHBA Barristers, the young lawyers’ section of the Bar Association, and the Beverly Hills Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the BHBA. In addition, several BHBA awards were presented for outstanding service. The event also featured a special 80th Anniversary video presentation, “Moving Forward,†reflecting upon the storied history of the prestigious organization and looking forward to its next chapter.
With more than 40 years in the practice of real estate law, Lawrence Jacobson has extensive expertise in real estate and business matters, specializing in housing and construction defects, landlord/tenant, legal malpractice, and professional and broker malpractice law, and often testifies as an expert witness in real estate matters. He has written and lectured extensively on business, real estate and ethics, taught for the U.S.C. Broker Development Program and Graduate Realtors Institute of the CAR, and has lectured for the California CEB. His article “Brokers Liability for Sale of Defective Homes” was cited with approval by the Appellate Court in the seminal decision of Easton v. Strassburger. Jacobson is also a contributing author to the California CEB’s “California Real Estate Brokers: Law and Litigation.” The past chair of the BHBA Real Estate Section, Jacobson is the recipient of the California CEB’s 2011 “Spirit of CEB” Award. He is former Vice-President of Legal Affairs of CAR, currently serves as legal counsel to the Newport Beach Association of Realtors and is a member of the California State Bar Real Estate Sales and Brokerage Steering Committee. He received his Bachelor’s degree in political science from UCLA and his Juris Doctorate from the UCLA School of Law, where he was a senior editor of the UCLA Law Review and graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif.
Other Board of Governors officers sworn in were President-Elect John K. Rubiner, of Bird Marella et al APC, in Century City; First Vice-President Diane L. Karpman, of Karpman & Associates, in Beverly Hills; Second Vice-President Linda E. Spiegel, certified mediator-attorney at law; Secretary/Treasurer Howard S Fredman, Fredman Knupfer Lieberman LLP, in Century City; and Immediate Past President Stephen L. Raucher, of Reuben Raucher & Blum, in Westwood.
The BHBA Barristers cabinet members installed are President Jaison Benjamin, of Clinton & Clinton, in Long Beach; President Elect Jeanine Percival Wright, of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi, LLP, in Beverly Hills;
Treasurer Jonathan Dennis, of Rosen Sada LLP; Secretary Amanda Hill, of the Law Offices of Amanda Hill, in Beverly Hills; and Immediate Past President Leigh Leshner, of the Law Offices of Leigh Leshner, in Sherman Oaks.
Beverly Hills Foundation leadership invested includes President Uzzi Raanan, of Danning Gill et al, in Century City; President-Elect Dawn Coulson, of Epps Yong & Coulson in Los Angeles; Vice President Development Stephen P. Webb, of Tilles Webb et al, in Beverly Hills; Treasurer/CFO Bonita Moore, of Bird Marella et al APC, in Century City; Vice President Scholarship Nancy Knupfer, of Fredman Knupfer Lieberman LLP, in Century City; Assistant Vice President Scholarship Robert Aronoff, of Law Offices of Robert C Aronoff, in Beverly Hills; Vice-President Grants Linda Blank, of Law Offices of Linda M Blank, in Century City; Secretary Michelle J. Correll of the Law Offices of Michelle J. Correll; and Immediate Past President Paul Basile, Jr., of Edelstone & Basile LLP, in Century City.
Outstanding service awards were presented to the following BHBA members: Jonathan Stein, of Law Offices of Jonathan Stein, in Century City, received the President’s Award; Elizabeth Moreno, of Elizabeth A. Moreno, APC; was given the Board of Governors’ Award; Gary Weyman accepted the Executive Director’s Award; and the Barristers’ Lawrence J. Blake Award was given to Deborah Fontaine. The Louis B. Fox Award, which was established to acknowledge longstanding and exemplary service to the BHBA, was awarded to Kenneth G. Petrulis, of Goodson Wachtel & Petrulis APC, in Los Angeles.
Proceeds from the Installation and Awards Dinner support the educational and community outreach programs of the BHBA.
The Beverly Hills Bar Association, serving the Los Angeles region since 1931, is the sixth largest bar association in California with more than 4,600 members. Its mission is to serve its members, to lead the legal profession and to advocate for justice in the community.
The Installation Dinner was sponsored by West LegalEdCenter, providers of online continuing legal education; First Republic Bank, Beverly Hills; and The Matloff Company, providers of life and health insurance.
For tickets or information about the Beverly Hills Bar Association: www.bhba.org or 310-601-2422.
