Attorneys
Craig Donahue is a skilled and well regarded civil litigator and trial attorney in Southern California, earning both an associate membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates and an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. Craig joined Fonda & Fraser in 2007 to further concentrate on his trial practice after having been a partner at Thomas & Price and Thomas, Donahue, Thomas & Hurevitz collectively for 25 years.
Craig's career has focused almost exclusively on healthcare-related litigation, which expanded to include all areas of employment litigation at medical facilities, civil rights and governmental and immunity issues. He has represented more than 75 Southern California hospitals, numerous individual physicians and, for decades, defended the County of Los Angeles in medically-related cases, including trials representing Sheriff Lee Baca, sworn personnel from the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, individual care providers at Los Angeles County medical and jail facilities, and human resources personnel. Craig is attuned to potential appellate issues having contributed to numerous opinions including the landmark disability discrimination opinion in Finegan v. County of Los Angeles, the Ninth Circuit Laman Act opinion in Southland Sod Farms v. Stover Seed Co., as well as the important opinions in Life vs. County of Los Angeles, Cruz vs. County of Los Angeles, Lucas v. County of Los Angeles, and Guzman v. County of Los Angeles.
Craig's background also includes a variety of defense litigation: legal malpractice, insurance agent malpractice, intellectual property, defamation, fraud, premises liability and general liability cases. He has also acted as counsel for an Emmy-Award-winning post-production sound company.
Education
University of California at Berkeley, BA, 1973
Loyola University School of Law, Los Angeles, California,
Juris Doctor, 1977
Admission to Practice
State of California, 1977
United States District Court, Central District of California, 1978
United States District Court, Northern District of California, 1985
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, 1983
United States Supreme Court, 1995
Professional Organizations, Activities
Member, State Bar of California
Associate, American Board of Trial Advocates
AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell
Associate of Southern California Defense Counsel
Southern California Association of Healthcare Risk Management
Los Angeles County Bar Association
Former Board of Governors of the Wilshire Bar Association
Former Board of Directors for Verdugo Mental Health
Former Board of Directors of The International Institute of L.A.
Arbitrator, Mediator, Crash Settlement Officer for L.A. Superior Court.
Speaking, Mentoring & Honors
- Guest speaker on medical issues for Mensa
- Speaker on Fraud Prevention for So. Calif. Fraud Investigators Association.
- Presentations to medical, jail and human resources staff at facilities of the County of Los Angeles.
- Presentations various to physicians and human resources personnel, for medical insurers and administrators.
- Presentations to professional liability insurers, The Medical Protective Company and Sedgwick Claims Management Services.
- Organized and presented programs for all physicians at LAC+USC Medical Center/USC School of Medicine, including a complete mock trial and programs on depositions and other issues.
- Attorney Advisor for Constitutional Rights Foundation Burbank High School Mock Trial (2004 to present)
- Certificate of Appreciation, Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, for defense of the Lucas trial, January 1997
- Certificates of Appreciation, Burbank Mock Trial 2004-present (Attorney Advisor/Coach )