Kevin Place

Throughout his career, Kevin has practiced exclusively as a defense attorney, focusing on wrongful death, vehicle accidents, construction accidents, premises liability, toxic torts, habitability claims, unfair business practices, and products liability.

Kevin’s singular focus during his law career has been to provide the best defense to the individual and business clients he represents. In 2017, Kevin obtained a defense verdict on behalf of his client staffing agency in a toxic tort case. Plaintiff sought $23 million in damages, claiming he was born with birth defects after mother was exposed to pesticides while pregnant. The Daily Journal selected this case as a top ten defense verdict of the year.

Kevin’s jury trial experience also includes obtaining a defense verdict in a products liability case where plaintiff sought $36 million in damages for causing complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), a defense verdict on behalf of an Orange County engineering firm in a wrongful termination case, a defense verdict on behalf of a stucco manufacturer in an asbestos exposure case, and defense verdicts on behalf of Denny’s and Smart & Final in premises liability cases.

In 2021, Kevin defended a trucking company in a four-week admitted Traumatic Brain Injury trial.  The jury returned a verdict of less than 10% of plaintiff’s request for $6.5 million.

After a three-week trial in 2025, shareholders Kevin Place and Kristin Mathis obtained a defense verdict on behalf of a national retailer in a Traumatic Brain Injury case. Kevin and Kristin also beat the CCP section 998 offer.  Plaintiff sought a verdict in the range of $15 – $20 million during closing argument. The jury deliberated two-hours before returning their verdict.

Before practicing law, Kevin played one year of football at the U.S. Air Force Academy before returning to Southern California to work at the Orange County Probation Department and Disneyland.

Experience

Kevin has been a practicing attorney since 1994. His first six years of practice were spent as a trial attorney with Nationwide Insurance Company’s Trial Division. He was also a managing attorney for Liberty Mutual Insurance Company’s staff counsel.