Zahed Amin is a partner in the San Diego office of Lewis Brisbois and a member of the Toxic Tort & Environmental Practice and a Vice Chair of the Lithium-Ion Battery Practice.

Mr. Amin handles the following types of matters:

• Toxic Torts and Environmental Litigation
• Commercial Litigation
• Products Liability
• Mass Torts and Class Actions
• Insurance Coverage
• Professional Liability
• General Liability

Mr. Amin has substantial experience litigating and influencing high-impact civil actions in state and federal courts for commercial, environmental, insurance coverage, surety, real estate, landlord-tenant, unfair competition, products liability, professional liability, toxic torts, asbestos litigation, business torts, and intellectual property legal matters. Mr. Amin has taken and defended in excess of 1,000 party, third party, and expert witness depositions.  Mr. Amin has completed more than 20 jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations, and administrative enforcement proceedings.

Mr. Amin has successfully prepared and argued numerous law and motion matters in state and federal courts around the nation, including motions for summary judgment/adjudications, demurrers, motions to dismiss, motions to strike, motions for judgment on the pleadings, motions to compel, motions for financial discovery, motions for conditional relief from automatic bankruptcy stay, motions for protective orders, motions for good faith settlement, motions contesting good faith settlement, motions in limine, and motions for nonsuit.

Mr. Amin has represented clients in multiple different industries, such as manufacturers, recyclers, transporters, logistics companies, environmental professionals, financial professionals, accountants, attorneys, design professionals, insurance companies, sureties, construction subcontractors, automotive corporations, craning companies, chemical distributors, distributors of kitchen and bathroom products, third party administrators, manufacturers of cellular technology equipment, and farming companies.

Prior to joining Lewis Brisbois, Mr. Amin served as an associate attorney for a boutique litigation firm in San Ramon, California.

Immediately prior to becoming a California licensed attorney, Mr. Amin worked in the Real Estate Law Department of The Men’s Wearhouse, where he identified the company’s rights and obligations delineated in negotiated real estate documents.

Some of Mr. Amin’s representative matters include the following:

Environmental

• Represented a degassing company in a lawsuit involving an aboveground storage tank fire at a refinery;
• Represented a hydrostatic testing company in a lawsuit involving an oil spill;
• Represented a petroleum company in a lawsuit involving an oil spill;
• Represented a transporter in a lawsuit involving the disposal of recycled oil;
• Represented a recycling company in a lawsuit involving the alleged management and handling of hazardous waste; and
• Represented a real estate developer in a lawsuit involving the excavation, composition, transportation, and disposal of allegedly contaminated soil.

Toxic Torts

• Obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a chemical distributor in a lawsuit involving occupational exposure to flavoring products;
• Serve as National Coordinating Counsel for a chemical distributor sued in more than 250 lawsuits around the nation;
• Represented a manufacturer of cellular technology equipment in litigation and arbitration involving human exposure to radiofrequency radiation energy;
• Secured summary judgment on behalf of a company sued in an asbestos exposure lawsuit; and
• Represented a manufacturer of adhesives in multiple benzene exposure lawsuits.

Commercial

• Represented a radio manufacturer in a contractual indemnification dispute involving the emission of radio frequency energy;
• Represented a manufacturer and distributor of cellular modules in a multi-party dispute concerning allegedly defective memory chips;
• Obtained a dismissal of a lawsuit for a farming corporation after applying recent changes to the state’s redevelopment laws and regulations;
• Represented excavation, demolition, painting, and framing subcontractors in contract disputes;
• Represented a logistics company in a contractual indemnification dispute involving warehousing of consumer products;
• Represented a logistics company in a contract dispute concerning the transportation of heavy industrial equipment;
• Represented a logistics company in a contract dispute concerning the procurement of cargo insurance in a foreign country;
• Represented a logistics company in a contract dispute concerning the transportation of washing machines;
• Represented a manufacturer in a contract dispute involving an electronic marquee;
• Represented a manufacturer of industrial equipment in a mining contract dispute;
• Represented a logistics company in a contract dispute involving products damaged during transport;
• Represented a surface preparation company in a contract dispute regarding the maintenance of a runway at a major international airport; and
• Represented a ride-share company in a contractual indemnification dispute.

Products Liability

• Represented a lithium-ion battery manufacturer in multiple lawsuits around the nation involving alleged product failures;
• Represented a lithium-ion battery manufacturer in lawsuits involving alleged failures in cell phones, tablets, and power tools;
• Represented a manufacturer of televisions and washing machines in multiple lawsuits alleging product defects;
• Represented a manufacturer of bathroom and kitchen fixtures in multiple lawsuits around the nation involving alleged product failures;
• Represented multiple e-bike manufacturers in lawsuits around the nation for alleged product failures;
• Represented a tank manufacturer in a lawsuit involving a chemical leak at a refinery; and
• Represented a chemical distributor in multiple lawsuits around the nation alleging product defects.

Mass Tort and Class Action

• Successfully opposed a motion for class certification involving 1,000 putative class members regarding alleged habitability issues at a 325-unit hotel;
• Represented a government contractor in lawsuits involving 116 Plaintiffs arising out of a ship fire;
• Represented a manufacturer in lawsuits involving more than 300 Plaintiffs arising out of alleged odors emitted from a biodiesel facility;
• Represented a recycling company in lawsuits involving more than 3,000 Plaintiffs arising out of alleged odors emitted from the facility;
• Represented a utility company in lawsuits involving 110 Plaintiffs that allegedly sustained property damage due to a landslide following a 1,000 year rain event;
• Represented a fruit grower in lawsuits involving 125 Plaintiffs that allegedly sustained personal injuries after consuming contaminated fruits;
• Represented a manufacturer in involving 95 Plaintiffs that allegedly sustained personal injuries after consuming contaminated vegan products; and
• Represented a landlord in lawsuits involving more than 1,000 Plaintiffs that allegedly sustained personal injuries and property damage due to habitability issues.

Insurance

• Represented an insurance company through appeal in a bad faith lawsuit involving employment practice liability policies;
• Represented an insurance company in a subrogation arbitration involving a contractual indemnification dispute;
• Represented an insurance company in a subrogation arbitration involving products damaged during transport;
• Represented an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving the alleged historical contamination of a harbor;
• Represented an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving alleged pollution incidents originating from a gold mine;
• Represented an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving the recycling of LCD screens;
• Represented an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving the recycling of electronic waste;
• Represented an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving the disposal of green waste;
• Represented an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving the discharge of pollutants at a real estate development project;
• Represented an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving a lender placed policy; and
• Represented an insurance company in a coverage dispute involving the discharge of tetrachloroethylene from a dry cleaning facility.

Professional Liability

• Represented a third party administrator against allegations of fraudulent billing and mishandling of insurance claims;
• Represented multiple attorneys and law firms in legal malpractice lawsuits;
• Secured a dismissal on behalf of a law firm in a legal malpractice action after serving comprehensive written discovery and filing a demurrer and a motion to strike;
• Represented financial professionals and accountants in lawsuits involving the use of life insurance products as an estate planning tool; and
• Represented accountants and an accounting firm in an internal employee embezzlement lawsuit.

General Liability

• Represented a farming company in a lawsuit involving fire damages to a historical railroad bridge;
• Represented a farming company in a lawsuit involving a fatality that occurred while an individual was riding a recreational vehicle on the premises;
• Represented a national restaurant chain in a lawsuit involving an individual injured by the criminal act of a third party;
• Represented a landlord in a lawsuit involving two individuals injured by the tenant’s security guards;
• Represented a property management company in a lawsuit involving a police officer injured by a resident; and
• Represented a property management company in a lawsuit involving a minor that almost drowned in the community’s pool.

Publications

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • California

Admissions

California

Associations

American Bar Association

Awards & Honors

• Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (“CALI”) Award for Appellate Advocacy
• CALI Award for Constitutional Law
• CALI Award for International Trade
• CALI Award for International Law
• CALI Award for International Human Rights

Education

The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law

Juris Doctor, cum laude, 2007

• Managing Editor, Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution
• Member, American Bar Association National Moot Court Team
• Member, Corporate Law Moot Court Team

University of California, Los Angeles

Bachelor of Arts, 2004