ESNER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Certified Specialist
Andrew N. Chang is a certified specialist in appellate law, certified by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization. He received his J. D. in 1978 from Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco where he was on Law Review and a member of the Thurston Society. After starting his legal career as a litigation associate at Pettit & Martin in San Francisco, Mr. Chang worked for two years as a staff attorney at the California Supreme Court. In 1984 he furthered his appellate career as an associate at the appellate firm of Horvitz & Levy in Encino, California. In 1989 he returned to the Bay Area where he continued his appellate practice, and in 1995, Mr. Chang joined Mr. Esner to continue the appellate firm now known as Esner, Chang, Boyer & Murphy.
He has participated in a number of seminars on appellate matters, and is a past chair of the State Bar's Committee on Appellate Courts. Mr. Chang has been selected as a Northern California "SuperLawyer" every year since 2007, and was named the Appellate Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer's Attorney Association of Los Angeles for 2007.
Holly N. Boyer is a certified appellate specialist and a partner at Esner, Chang, Boyer & Murphy. In addition to handling all aspects of appellate litigation, she also assists trial lawyers with dispositive and post-judgment motions. While the firm represents tort victims in all areas of the law, Holly specializes in representing victims of sexual abuse and has assisted with drafting legislation and testifying before the California State Legislature on such issues. She is a frequent author and speaker on issues facing the plaintiff's bar.
Holly has been recognized as one of Southern California's Top 100 lawyers consecutively from 2020 through 2023, one of the Top 50 Women Attorneys of Southern California from 2018 through 2023, and a Super Lawyer from 2014 through 2023. Holly also received the Appellate Attorney of the Year by the Consumer's Attorney Association of Los Angeles in 2019.
A graduate of Southwestern University School of Law, where she was a participant in Southwestern's Conceptual Approach to Legal Education (S. C. A. L. E. ), an intensive two-year law program, Holly excelled in oral advocacy as a member of the Moot Court Honors Program and persuasive legal writing as a staff member for the Southwestern University Law Review. Holly also externed for the Honorable Arthur Alarcon of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal.
Kevin K. Nguyen is an associate in the firm's Southern California office. Since joining the firm, Kevin has worked on numerous appellate briefs, dispositive trial motions, and post-trial motions. Kevin brings his experience from prior litigation practice, covering a wide range of substantive areas including business torts, breach of contract, shareholder disputes, and professional negligence.
Kevin graduated cum laude from Loyola Law School, and was admitted to the Order of the Coif and Alpha Sigma Nu National Jesuit Honor Society. He earned First Honors in Property, Evidence, and California Civil Procedure. While at Loyola, he served as Chief Research Editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, Board Member of the St. Thomas More Law Honor Society, and Coordinator of the Young Lawyers Program.
During law school, Kevin served as a judicial extern for the Honorable Andrew J. Guilford of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, and worked as a law clerk for the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office and California Department of Justice.
For his undergraduate degree, Kevin attended Loyola Marymount University and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in Theater.
Kevin is licensed to practice law in California. He is also a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, and the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles County.
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Appellate Specialist
Shea Murphy is an Appellate Specialist, certified by the State Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization. He primarily handles appeals and writs as well as assists plaintiffs' attorneys with dispositive trial proceedings, including the preparation of pleadings, and pre-trial and post-judgment motions in civil matters. Shea draws from a broad base of experience including working for a Southern California plaintiff's firm on a wide variety of complex and high profile matters, and, prior to that, for the City and County of Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney's Office as a deputy prosecuting attorney. Shea also served as a judicial clerk for the Honorable Alexa D.M. Fujise of the Hawaii State Intermediate Court of Appeals.
Shea was selected to Super Lawyers for 2021 - 2022. Super Lawyers is an exclusive list of top-rated attorneys in specific practice areas who were chosen after thorough evaluation of numerous criteria
Shea received his law degree from McGeorge School of Law, where he served as a member and then on the board of editors of the Pacific McGeorge Global Business and Development Law Journal. Shea received a Bachelor of Arts in Physics from the University of California, Santa Barbara
Stuart B. Esner graduated magna cum laude from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles in 1982. He then worked as a law clerk for the Honorable John L. Cole in the writs and receivers department of the Los Angeles Superior Court, and for more than four years as a research attorney for Associate Justice Eugene McClosky at the Second Appellate District Court of Appeal, Division Four. He gained further appellate experience as an associate at Horvitz & Levy (then Horvitz, Levy & Amerian), before co-founding the appellate firm now known as Esner & Chang in 1990.
Mr. Esner was an adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola Law School of Los Angeles teaching appellate advocacy from 1989 until 2017. He has been selected as a Southern California "Super Lawyer" every year since 2005 and was selected as one of the top 100 lawyers in Southern California in 2007, 2010, 2011 and each year between 2016 through 2023. Mr. Esner was also named the Appellate Lawyer of the Year by the Consumer's Attorney Association of Los Angeles for 2005.