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Dennis is counsel in the Appellate Group of the Litigation Department of Reed Smith LLP, resident in its San Francisco office.

For almost 20 years, Dennis served as a senior staff attorney at the Supreme Court of California.  For 17 years, he served as an attorney for the Honorable Stanley Mosk, the Court’s longest-serving member.  He then assumed a dual position as a supervising attorney, serving both as an attorney for the Honorable Ronald M. George, the Chief Justice of California, and also as the Director of the Supreme Court’s Capital Central Staff. 

During his tenure at the Court, Dennis worked on thousands of cases in a variety of substantive law areas.  He assisted in the consideration and decision of more than a thousand petitions seeking the Supreme Court’s discretionary review of decisions of the Court of Appeal.  In addition, he worked on almost 300 published opinions, which cover a broad range of matters, including issues of constitutional law, defamation, real property law, premises liability, family law, community property law, probate law, torts, summary judgment, contracts, antitrust, evidence, anti-discrimination law, insurance, insurance coverage and bad faith, fair political practices law; public-meeting law and procedure, professional responsibility, Indian gaming law, and criminal law and procedure.

Dennis has served as Chair, Vice-Chair, and Advisor of the Committee on Professional Responsibility and Conduct of the State Bar of California; as Chair and Vice-Chair of the State Bar Committee on the Administration of Justice; and as a member of the State Bar Committee on Appellate Courts.

As a member of the Appellate Group, Dennis specializes in appeals, writs, posttrial motions, and complex law and motion work.  He also spearheads the firm’s California Supreme Court practice, and provides assistance and representation to clients who may have matters before the Court.

Representative Matters

• Whitmire v. Ingersoll-Rand Co., Cal. Ct. App. B210211 (2009- ). Representing a major construction and engineering company in an appeal from a favorable judgment in an action for damages for asbestos-related injury.

• Short v. Sequoia Ventures Inc., 2009 WL 1163841 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009). Represented a major construction and engineering company in a successful appeal affirming a favorable judgment in an action for damages for asbestos-related injury.

• Norris v. Crane, Cal. Supreme Court No. S162878 (2008). Represented manufacturers appearing as amici curiae before the California Supreme Court in seeking review on issues involving asbestos-related cancer claims—namely, whether every exposure to asbestos is a substantial factor in causing cancer, whether the consumer-expectation test for design defect for strict products liability is appropriate for asbestos-related cancer claims, and whether that test may turn on the expectations of a bystander.

• Defended client SkyWest when California-based flight attendants claimed that their bargained-for pay and work rule agreement violated California's minimum wage, meal and rest breaks, and overtime wage requirements.  The decision is significant because SkyWest's method of compensating and giving meal and rest breaks to flight attendants is standard in the industry.

• Otto v. North American Airlines. Obtained $9.5M reduction of damages in wrongful termination verdict posttrial followed by further reduction to full settlement, avoiding appeal.

Publications

• Politeia and Adjudication in Fourth-Century B.C. Athens, 28 American Journal of Jurisprudence 16 (1983)

Experience

Legal Education

Graduate Education

Undergraduate Education

Professional Admissions / Qualifications

• California