LOS ANGELES – Former US District Judge Stephen G. Larson has joined Arent Fox LLP as a partner in its Los Angeles office. Judge Larson is a member of the firm’s litigation practice, where he will focus on representing clients in intellectual property, antitrust, civil rights and complex business litigation matters. In addition to representing clients in civil cases, he will also be a member of Arent Fox’s national white collar and investigations group, which is headed by Terree Bowers, former US Attorney for the Central District. He will represent companies and individuals at trial and in government investigations alleging violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and related statutes, and counsel clients on the full range of compliance issues. Finally, Judge Larson will mediate and arbitrate disputes as part of his Alternative Dispute Resolution practice and will also take a lead role in further developing the firm’s appellate practice.

“Over the years I have gotten to know many of the attorneys at Arent Fox, some of whom I have worked with for decades,” said Judge Larson. “Their professionalism, talent, and integrity are extraordinary, and I am very grateful for the opportunity to join their firm.”

Judge Larson brings more than 21 years of litigation experience, including serving as Assistant US Attorney in the Criminal Division in Los Angeles where he led 24 criminal trials and received the US Department of Justice Director’s Award for Superior Performance. A respected and accomplished jurist, he served as a US Magistrate Judge and then, upon elevation, as a US District Judge in the Central District, where he presided over a number of high-profile cases, including United States v. Nazario, a landmark Military Extraterritoriality Jurisdiction Act case involving US Marines accused of manslaughter during the Battle of Fallujah in Iraq, and United States v. Duros, in which he blocked the US Bureau of Indian Affairs’ decade-long effort to close down and expel a major migrant worker camp on the Torres Martinez Indian Reservation in the Coachella Valley, home to thousands of migrant farm workers, and turned the operation of the settlement over to a court-appointed receiver. He also negotiated, approved, and supervised the consent decree entered into by the County of San Bernardino in John Doe v. County of San Bernardino, which resulted in systematic reform of educational and therapeutic services for disabled youths within the county juvenile hall system, and he determined the ownership of the copyrights to the iconic comic character Superman in Siegel v. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. While serving on the federal bench, Judge Larson also sat by designation on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, participating in approximately 40 decisions.

“Judge Larson is highly regarded for his work as a federal prosecutor and as a judge presiding over many complex and landmark civil and criminal trials. He brings a depth of experience and skill to his private practice that will further strengthen our ability to service clients from coast to coast,” said Mark Katz, chairman of Arent Fox.

“Stephen's intellect and integrity are well recognized throughout the bar, and he brings great strengths to the superb group of lawyers who have chosen Arent Fox in Los Angeles,” said Robert C. O’Brien, managing partner of the firm’s Los Angeles office. “We understand that Judge Larson had many options and we are delighted that he decided to join our firm,” said Steven Bledsoe, a founding partner of Arent Fox’s Los Angeles office.

Judge Larson shares an active involvement in international investigations and establishment of the rule of law in developing countries, which he will continue while at Arent Fox. Along with Mr. O’Brien, he was a founding member of the executive board of the US Department of State’s Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan, traveling to that war-torn nation to meet judges, prosecutors, and other government officials. While serving as chief of the organized crime section of the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, Judge Larson worked with foreign law enforcement agencies conducting joint investigations that took him to Russia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, the Ukraine, and South Korea. As a federal judge he was actively involved in promoting the rule of law and combating corruption in developing countries, including Uzbekistan, Croatia, and Rwanda. In joining Arent Fox, Judge Larson joins a law firm that includes a former US ambassador, two former US Senators, and a former Member of the US House of Representatives.

Active in civic and legal organizations, including various bar associations and Inns of Court, Judge Larson also has served and continues to serve as an adjunct professor at several law schools. He is the Distinguished Jurist in Residence at the University of La Verne College of Law, where he has lectured on such diverse issues as intellectual property, civil rights law, conflicts of law, professional responsibility, criminal law, and constitutional law. In 2009 the Inland Empire Chapter of the Federal Bar Association honored him with the Erwin Chemerinsky Defender of the Constitution Award. That same year, he was tapped by Dean Chemerinsky to serve on the Dean’s Advisory Council for the newly chartered University of California Irvine School of Law, a position he continues to hold today.

Judge Larson graduated from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service with a BS degree. A junior fellow of the Institute for Study of Diplomacy, he belonged to the National Political Science Honor Society and served as president of the Philodemic Debating Society. He obtained his JD in 1989 from University of Southern California School of Law and started his legal career at O’Melveny & Myers.

Judge Larson and his wife Dena live with their seven children in Upland, California.