- Wrongful DeathKim has tried over 50 jury trials to verdict on her own across California with outstanding results. She has obtained dozens of defense verdicts on liability cases involving wrongful death, amputation, traumatic brain injury, and other catastrophic injuries. She has also obtained multiple low verdicts on admitted liability cases with traumatic brain injury or spinal surgery. Kim is often sought out to “parachute” in to a case for trial when asked by her clients to jump in and take over. Kim is known for her confident, efficient, and extremely effective trial skills and style, with jurors often giving her nicknames at the end of trial. She has been called a “firecracker” and a “commander” due to her assertive, but always professional presentation in the courtroom. She has an uncanny ability to keep the jury engaged and wanting to hear more.
- Sex Crimes
- Assault
- Business DisputesSHARLA N. HILBURN was born in Texas. She received her Bachelor of Arts in History in 1999 and her Master of Arts in History in 2001, both from San Diego State University. During her time at San Diego State, Sharla was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, a national liberal arts honor society, and the President of Phi Alpha Theta, a national history honor society. In 2004, Sharla graduated from California Western School of Law where she was Secretary of the Business Law Society and a member of the Dean’s Honor List. She was admitted to the California State Bar in 2005.
- Antitrust
- Employment DiscriminationEYDITH J. KAUFMAN is a civil litigation attorney with experience in defending cases involving personal injury, contractual disputes, bad faith, professional liability, employment discrimination and harassment, commercial and business claims, property damage, environmental claims and wrongful death. Ms. Kaufman was an adjunct professor of law at the University of San Diego from 2008 to 2012, and has been published in several venues, including the University of San Francisco’s Journal of Law and Social Challenges. Ms. Kaufman has served as an advisor and guest lecturer for PIMA Medical Institute.
- Premises LiabilityCHERYL A. KIRKPATRICK is the managing partner for the firm’s Orange County office. She has litigated civil cases in a variety of fields for over twenty-eight years. Her focus is on general liability defense, including bodily injury claims, pharmacy malpractice matters, premises liability claims, and property damage claims. Ms. Kirkpatrick works with a variety of insurance carriers as well as private clients. She has tried over 20 cases throughout California, obtaining numerous defense verdicts. She is an Associate in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), is listed as a “Super Lawyer”, and is a member of Claims and Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), and the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel. Ms. Kirkpatrick obtained her law degree at Southwestern University School of Law, where she was a Note & Comment Editor for the Law Review.
- Construction LitigationHorton, Oberrecht & Kirkpatrick handles all types of insurance defense matters, including auto, trucking, commercial, general liability, products liability, homeowners, landlord/tenant, HOA and construction defect.
- Property DamageThe firm has tried over 130 cases involving catastrophic injury, routine auto and trucking accidents, premises liability, trespass to trees, wrongful death, property damage, mold, and construction defect. Below please find a sampling of recent trial outcomes.
- Personal InjuryHorton, Oberrecht & Kirkpatrick is strictly an insurance defense firm and has earned a strong reputation in the industry for aggressively defending policyholders while maintaining cost-effectiveness for the carriers. Many carriers who have house counsel send Horton, Oberrecht & Kirkpatrick their catastrophic injury cases due to their specialty in brain injury, burns, trucking, and products liability matters. Carriers who do not have house counsel often send us their soft tissue auto personal injury matters because we handle them as efficiently as house counsel and do not over-discover such cases.
- Medical MalpracticeCHERIE A. ENGE earned her Bachelor of Science in Political Science from the University of California San Diego and earned her Juris Doctorate from University of California Hastings College of the Law. She began her career in Civil Litigation in a small insurance defense firm in Sacramento, CA, and then relocated to Los Angeles where she gained experience in medical malpractice, products liability, as well as personal injury defense. Cherie is a well-rounded litigator with experience working in law firms, as in-house counsel, and in private practice. She has had successful results in civil jury trials throughout Southern California and tried over 70 cases to verdict. Cherie also serves as
- Auto Accidents