or AIDS who face problems with housing, employment, and insur- ance, among other things. Fein- berg and the other attorneys at his firm also volunteer at clinics run by the Employment Law Center. He also speaks and publishes ar- ticles about ERISA.
“While litigation can be frus- trating with its delays, overall my practice is so rewarding,” he says. “People come to you with a serious problem concerning their pension or health benefits, and it’s very fulfilling to solve their problems. In this particular field, there’s also a lot of room for creativity.”
Doris Cheng Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger
You can hear it in Doris Cheng’s voice. When she talks about her practice, her tone turns passionate, serious, sober, as if remembering the hundreds of injured people who’ve come through her office door seeking help. “I can’t imagine practicing any other type of law,” Cheng says. “I find it very personally rewarding when I can make a difference in an individual’s life.”
Ever since she graduated from the University of San Francisco Law School thirteen years ago, Cheng has been with Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger, representing individuals and families who have suf- fered catastrophic losses. She has tried many trials and arbitrations, and obtained countless settlements. “My clients’ lives are completely altered because of someone else’s negligence, whether due to negligent driving, neg- ligent maintenance of property, or a defective product,” she says.
The vast range in her practice is reflected in her results. In 2006, in a three week trial, a San Francisco jury awarded Cheng’s clients $3 million for the death of their twenty-nine-year-old son in a medical negligence action.
The next year, she co-tried an- other medical negligence ac- tion in Sonoma and obtained a $9.5 million verdict on behalf of a twenty-six-year-old paraplegic man. In 2009, she represented two families in separate actions related to carbon monoxide expo- sure. In one case, a defective pool heater produced lethal levels of carbon monoxide, killing a young college student. In the other case, a mother and son suf- fered injuries as a result of chron- ic low-level carbon monoxide ex- posure. The confidential settle- ments were in excess of seven figures. In a wrongful death case against a rental car company, she successfully negotiated a $6.5 million settlement on behalf
of the decedent’s family. She recently completed a birth injury case in Southern California, wherein she obtained a settlement of $6.8 million on behalf of a severely disabled toddler with spastic quadriplegia.
Among other things, she is currently representing a thirty-five-year-old man who underwent a surgery to remove a stricture in the urethra. During the procedure, the blade of the surgical knife broke off—twice.
Cheng and the firm are no strangers to product liabil- ity. Early in her career, Cheng represented a sixty-three- year-old Sacramento woman who was prescribed a dia- betes drug that resulted in liver failure and the need for a liver transplant. The drug had been approved by the FDA, but was later recalled. The company settled that case in the amount of $2.5 million. More recently, the firm was one of the first to file suit against DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc., who was responsible for manu- facturing and distributing a defective hip replacement implant. In August 2010, DePuy announced a formal recall of its products.
Cheng is a strong believer in giving back to the legal community and has actively supported The Bar Asso- ciation of San Francisco. After completing a term as
THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY 37
Photo by Jim Block
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