The former Federal Defender for the Central District of California, Chambers ranked for White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations in California, and a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Hilary Potashner is highly regarded by the bench and bar alike. As underscored by Chambers USA “she is held in particularly high regard for her excellent courtroom skills.”
Recognized by judges and peers for her “unwavering commitment to high-quality, client-centered representation,” Hilary applies this full-service approach by listening attentively, developing a strong working relationship with each client, and ensuring their perspective is clearly depicted through every stage of litigation. She uses a strategic blend of tenacity and creativity to excel at negotiation and prevail at trial. Even keeled in her demeanor and consistently thoughtful in her approach, Hilary “always remains calm, even when the roads get rough.” Having built her reputation as a skilled courtroom advocate, Hilary was honored by the Los Angeles County Bar Association Criminal Justice Section as the 2020 “Defense Attorney of the Year.”
Notable Experience and Results
Throughout her 30 years of practice, Hilary has tried dozens of cases to verdict and has argued before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She has developed a deep familiarity and impressive credibility with state, federal, and appellate courts, and her wealth of experience serves the advantage of her clients. Hilary successfully defends individuals facing charges in both state and federal court in a wide range of matters, including conspiracy, wire fraud, bank fraud, healthcare fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and other white collar cases. She also represents public and prominent figures and entities in pre-indictment investigations.
In her civil practice, Hilary represents individuals and entities in high-stakes commercial litigation and appeals. Her experience includes representing both plaintiffs and defendants in intellectual property and contract disputes, civil forfeiture, misrepresentation, negligence, civil theft, and garnishment cases. Her appellate victories include the SEC v. Yang et al. decision in which she secured the reversal of a $15.5 million judgment in favor of her clients and reduced their final judgment by millions, and the KST Data, Inc. v. DXC Technology Co. et al. decision in which she secured the reversal of a summary judgment and a $5.24 million judgment in a commercial contract dispute.
Professional Impact
Hilary’s impact on the law extends outside her practice to her involvement in committees and professional organizations. Based on her system-building experience and acumen, Hilary was selected to serve on the United States Courts, Defender Services Offices Performance Measurement Working Group; the Ninth Circuit Jury Trial Improvement Committee; the Systems Builders Committee of the National Association for Public Defense; and the Local Rules Advisory Committee of the Central District of California. In these current and former roles throughout her career, as well as through her role as a member of the Board of Directors for and the former president of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and as a member of The Chancery Club of Los Angeles, Hilary collaborates with judges and other influential lawyers to effect systemic change in the law. She also serves on the Steering Committee of Just the Beginning—A Pipeline Organization, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting the advancement of young adults from underrepresented backgrounds in the legal profession.
Prior Experience
Hilary joined Larson after years of public service, having started her career in the state court as deputy defender for the County of San Diego. In 2012, Hilary was selected to serve as the Acting Federal Defender for the Central District of California by the United States Court of Appeals by the Ninth Circuit. Hilary was then twice-appointed to serve as the Federal Defender for the Central District of California by Ninth Circuit, where she served for nearly two decades. As the chief defender, Hilary was responsible for leading the largest defender’s office in the country, with more than 200 employees and an annual budget of nearly $40 million, and oversaw the representation of thousands of individuals facing federal charges in magistrate and district court.
Additionally, Hilary was instrumental in creating one of the first federal diversionary courts in the country, the Central District’s Court Conviction and Sentence Alternatives (CASA) program. This program successfully launched due in part to her effective collaboration with the Central District Court, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, and U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services. As described at the time by U.S. Circuit Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw, who chairs the Ninth Circuit’s Standing Committee on Federal Defenders, “as the Federal Defender, Hilary has led by personal example, maintaining high morale within the office during the government shutdown, creating a non-capital habeas unit, working effectively with our courts and other stakeholders, and contributing on a national level. She has set a very high bar for anyone to follow.”
Education
- UC College of the Law, San Francisco, J.D.
- Duke University, A.B.
Admissions
- California
- New York
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- U.S.D.C. Central District of California
- U.S.D.C. Southern District of California
- U.S.D.C. Eastern District of New York
- U.S.D.C. Southern District of New York
Hilary has a successful track record of representing companies, counties, and individuals in a wide array of professions in civil and criminal matters and government investigations. Demonstrative of just some of her recent representations, Hilary:
Represents lawyers and law firms, including:
- Successfully defended a highly-regarded law firm and partner in a complex legal malpractice litigation and obtained a dismissal with prejudice of all claims during trial; and
- Successfully represented a lawyer who was being threatened with contempt of court.
Represents companies, including:
- Representing a commercial dive boat company and its owner in connection with a federal limitation of liability action and state wrongful death actions related to a multi-fatality fire that was one of California’s deadliest maritime disasters in modern history and garnered national media attention;
- Representing Visit Anaheim in an internal investigation into allegations of misuse of public funding and with respect to an official inquiry from the California State Auditor;
- Represented a Fortune 100 company in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, securing a reversal of the district court’s grant of summary judgment and a $5.24 million judgment in a commercial contract dispute;
- Represented multiple defendants in an SEC action in federal court after successfully appealing and reversing a $15.5 million disgorgement and penalties judgment against them in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals;
- Represented a multinational oil and gas company in a civil dispute and successfully obtained an order granting the motion for summary judgment, which fully disposed of all of the plaintiff’s claims against the client;
- Represented a multistate company in connection with a criminal investigation into a multiple-fatality wildfire, in which Hilary and her team secured a non-prosecution for their client;
- Representing four corporate defendants who are appealing their federal wire fraud, conspiracy, and international money laundering convictions and as well as a $1.8 billion restitution order;
- Representing multiple corporate entities in related civil forfeiture actions;
- Represented a tech startup on appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a federal trade secrets case; and
- Representing a company being criminally investigated for alleged Cal/OSHA violations.
Represents counties including:
- Retained by Riverside County to conduct an independent investigation into allegations regarding the treatment of the 13 Turpin children while under the care of the County departments after being rescued from their abusive home in 2018, as well as into the care provided to all children and adults by the County departments. This matter gained national media attention and instigated state-wide policy changes to improve communication within government social service providers in California;
Represents doctors and other medical professionals including:
- Successfully represented a medical doctor who was charged with 32 felony counts of healthcare fraud in a multimillion dollar fraud case, and obtained a dismissal of all 32 felony counts and secured a non-custodial sentence for the client;
- Successfully represented a doctor who was being investigated by a state’s Medical Board regarding their professional license, and secured a finding that there was no violation of statutes or regulation and closed the complaint; and
- Represents doctors and other medical professionals in administrative hearings before licensing boards and has obtained no action closure letters on multiple occasions.
Represents individuals including:
- Successfully obtained a non-prosecution agreement for a high-level administrator being investigated for violation of a state’s reporting requirements;
- Successfully defended a college student against a Title IX accusation for which he was found not responsible, and after facing expulsion due to the allegation, he was able to graduate and start his career;
- Successfully represented an individual who was being investigated by the federal government for soliciting and receiving illegal remuneration for medical referrals and first negotiated a single count resolution, and then secured a non-custodial sentence for the client;
- Representing an individual accused of a $12 million conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, money laundering, and criminal forfeiture;
- Representing an individual in a civil action pursuant to the Drug Dealer Liability Act (DDLA);
- Represented multiple public officials who were being investigated by the Fair Political Practices Commission;
- Representing an individual charged with conspiracy to commit International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) violations and money laundering; and
- Representing an individual seeking transfer to their home country in an international prisoner transfer.
Significant Prior Representations:
- Obtained a complete dismissal for a tax professional charged with dozens of counts of tax fraud.
- Obtained a complete dismissal for a doctor charged with extensive healthcare fraud.
- Obtained pretrial diversion for a person charged with theft of government property.
- Secured a favorable disposition for a client charged with multiple conspiracies to commit mortgage and bank fraud case for properties in California and New York with allegations of loss in excess of $13 million dollars.
- Secured a favorable disposition for a former Major League Baseball Player charged with bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets, and money laundering with allegations of loss of over $200,000.
- Prevailed at trial for a client charged with international smuggling of goods into the U.S. and making a false statement, obtaining an acquittal on the smuggling count and a time-served sentence for the false statement.
