Success on Appeal

Ari Stiller handles appeals in a wide range of areas, including personal injury, employment, contract and business disputes, insurance bad faith, and anti-SLAPP. Ari will only work on appeals he thinks he can win. His most notable successes involve employment disputes, where his briefing has helped to shape California law in favor of workers’ rights. He also serves as a panel attorney for the California Appellate Project, where he writes and argues appeals for indigent criminal defendants. Representative cases include:

Current Representations

• Business Litigation Appeal. Stiller Law Firm is currently handling an appeal on behalf of a general contractor for a multi-million-dollar real estate development. The trial court dismissed the case against the contractor and Stiller Law Firm is attempting to have the dismissal affirmed on appeal.

• Family Law Appeal. Stiller Law Firm is currently representing a husband in an appeal from a family law bench trial. The family court awarded half of the husband’s community property to his wife as a sanction and Stiller Law Firm is seeking a reversal on appeal.

Previous Representations

• Guerrero v. TruConnect Communications (May 8, 2024, BB324938). The California Court of Appeal affirmed denial of arbitration, deferring to the lower court’s finding that an arbitration agreement signed by Stiller Law Firm’s client was tainted by unconscionability.

• Johnson v. Pasadena Hospital Association (Dec. 28, 2023, B321794). The California Court of Appeal reversed summary judgment that had been entered for Huntington Hospital. This allowed Stiller Law Firm’s client, a nurse at the hospital, to proceed to trial on claims of retaliation and wrongful termination.

• Olague v. United Care Facilities, LLC (Sept. 29, 2023, B323075). The California Court of Appeal agreed with Stiller Law Firm’s argument that a healthcare company had not provided a sufficient record to reverse the trial court’s order denying arbitration.

• Nirschl v. Schiller, 91 Cal.App.5th 386 (2023). The California Court of Appeal held that severance negotiations do not necessarily qualify as protected speech under California's anti-SLAPP law. This ruling allowed Mr. Stiller’s client, a former nanny for a powerful Hollywood movie producer, to move forward with claims that the producer defamed her during severance talks.

• Espinoza v. Warehouse Demo Services, Inc., 86 Cal.App.5th 1184 (2022). The California Court of Appeal agreed with Mr. Stiller’s argument that demonstrators at Costco are entitled to Labor Code protections.

• Meda v. Autozone, Inc., 81 Cal.App.5th 366 (2022). The California Court of Appeal found triable issues of whether Autozone failed to provide Mr. Stiller’s client with suitable seating.

• Kim v. Reins International California, Inc., 9 Cal.5th 73 (2020). The California Supreme Court agreed with Mr. Stiller’s argument that his client retained standing to seek penalties on behalf of the state for Labor Code violations that he had settled in his individual capacity.

• Frlekin v. Apple Inc., 8 Cal.5th 1038 (2020). The California Supreme Court adopted the reasoning in Mr. Stiller’s amicus brief arguing that employers must compensate employees for mandatory security screenings.

• Troester v. Starbucks Corp., 5 Cal.5th 829 (2018). The California Supreme Court adopted the reasoning of Mr. Stiller’s amicus brief arguing that employers cannot rely on a “de minimis” theory to avoid paying employees for all hours worked.

• Mostafavi v. Serratos (May 28, 2019, B285638). The California Court of Appeal agreed with Mr. Stiller’s argument for enforcing an arbitration agreement and upheld an arbitration award in favor of his clients.

• Kane v. Valley Slurry Seal Co. (May 8, 2018, C079558). The California Court of Appeal upheld a class-action trial verdict in favor of Mr. Stiller’s clients as well as a fee award of approximately $1 million.

• Cortez v. Doty Bros. Equipment Co., 15 Cal.App.5th 1 (2017). The California Court of Appeal partially reversed an order compelling Mr. Stiller’s client to arbitrate his employment claims based on an arbitration clause in a collective bargaining agreement.

• Lopez v. Friant & Associates, LLC, 15 Cal.App.5th 773 (2017). In an issue of first impression, the California Court of Appeal agreed with Mr. Stiller’s argument that employees do not need to prove injury to prevail on private attorney general claims for wage statement violations.