BARBER & BAUERMEISTER - Key Persons
Mr. Barber graduated from the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland in 1967 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Upon graduation from the Naval Academy, he served as a naval aviator in the United States Marine Corps for 6 years. He flew 120 combat missions in the A-6 Intruder all-weather attack jet in the Vietnam War during which he was awarded 13 air medals. He obtained his law degree from Pepperdine University School of Law in 1976.
Mr. Barber specialized in insurance defense, product liability and aviation tort law with the trial firm of Brill & Hunt in Los Angeles for the first 8 years of his legal career, eventually becoming partner. For the past 34 years with the firm of Barber & Bauermeister, he has acquired extensive experience defending cities in Orange County and Los Angeles County in dangerous condition of public property, wrongful death, civil rights, and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) lawsuits. His ADA cases have related to public transportation, new construction, alterations, and program accessibility. He has more than 40 jury trials to verdict. He is a Fellow in the American Board of Trial Advocates [ABOTA] and a graduate of the Advanced National Institute of Trial Advocacy [NITA]. He is in his 37th year on the panel of defense attorneys for the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority [CJPIA] and has lectured at multiple seminars on public entity defense.
Mr. Moll is a 1984 graduate of Loyola Law School. He obtained his undergraduate degree at St. Michael's College. He practiced with Rigg, Dean and Mauer, a general defense firm in Santa Ana from 1984 to 2005. He has been a solo practitioner since 2005 and began working with the firm of Barber & Bauermeister in 2009. He has handled personal liability, premises liability, products liability, construction defect, medical malpractice and municipal liability, most specifically the County of Orange since 1984.
Ms. Bauermeister graduated with honors from California State University, Fullerton in 1980 with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. She is a 1983 graduate of Loyola Law School. In addition to being a partner at Garnett & Bauermeister-Schlott, she has been a principal at Barber & Bauermeister since 1991. Her prior experience includes an association with the Los Angeles District Attorney's office wherein she conducted felony preliminary hearings and Municipal Court trials. The primary emphasis of her practice is personal injury defense, civil rights violations, employment litigation, the defense of school districts including Title IX violations and handling DFEH and EEOC Complaints. She has been involved in governmental ligation defense including cities, water district and school Districts for more than 35 years with significant experience in construction defect, products liability, premises liability and commercial auto carrier representation. For the past 25 years a significant portion of her practice has been employment litigation involving water districts and school districts.
Ms. Bauermeister has a broad range of experience in conducting seminars before insurance agencies, insurance companies, attorney's professional organizations, Joint Powers Insurance Authorities, Professional Medical Association Seminars, PARMA and COSIPA.
Job Titles:
- Senior Trial Attorney / View Profile
Mr. Subat received his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Later, he earned his Juris Doctorate from St. John's University School of Law. Mr. Subat attended St. John's University School of Law with a St. Thomas More full-tuition scholarship.
While in law school, Mr. Subat was an Executive Editor for the Journal of Civil Rights and Economic Development and was named a Winner of the Journal's Best Legal Notes Competition for "Who has Standing? Why the Supreme Court's Holding in Hollingsworth v. Perry Empowers Politicians at the Expense of Citizens." While obtaining his law degree, Mr. Subat served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Judge Geoffrey Glass in the Orange County Superior Court.
Mr. Subat worked as a litigator representing several Fortune 500 companies in handling premises liability, negligence, automobile liability, and product liability cases. He has handled every aspect of the defense of such matters from pre-litigation resolutions through trial. He prides himself on his ability to obtain quick resolutions when possible, but also being able to provide effective, aggressive representation of our client's interests when required.
Job Titles:
- Senior Trial Attorney / View Profile
Mr. Kostrenich graduated from California State University, Long Beach in 1983, with a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science. He graduated from Western State College of Law in 1986. He is admitted to practice in both State and Federal Court. He is also admitted in the United States Tax Court. His prior experience was as a solo practitioner from 1986 to 2005 and as a partner at Cassidy, Warner & Associates from 2005 to 2007. From 2007 to 2011 he handled a variety of legal actions in the areas of real estate, business litigation and personal injury at his own firm until joining Barber & Bauermeister in 2012.
Mr. Kostrenich has extensive civil litigation experience including numerous trials. His litigation experience include the areas of construction accidents, construction defect cases, product liability, premises liability, automobile liability, real estate brokers errors and omissions and since 2012 has focused on school district defense, employment litigation, Title IX actions and defense of commercial auto carriers. He has handled numerous DFEH and EEOC Complaints and subsequent litigation.
Ms. Cruz graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles and then attended Pepperdine University Caruso School of Law. While at Pepperdine, Ms. Cruz served as Vice Chair for the Mexican American Bar Association. She also participated in the Education Law Clinic and Veterans Treatment Court Practicum. She received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award in Education Law in 2016. She was the Vice Chair of the Mexican American Bar Association and was a Certified Law Clerk for the Veterans Treatment Court Practicum.
Ms. Cruz has been practicing for the past five years concentrating on employment matters including sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination, whistleblower and retaliation. She has had the opportunity to be involved in managing several mass arbitration portfolios. She had actively litigated class action matters involving wage-and-hour, PAGA, ADA and CLRA. She has litigated dozens of cases involving California anti-spam litigation. She has now switched to the defense after five years on the plaintiff side.
At Barber & Bauermeister, Ms. Cruz is working on the Bauermeister team concentrating on employment, sexual harassment, discrimination, wrongful termination and retaliation matters. She is also involved in Title IX, sexual molestation, ADA, FAPE and accommodation issues. She is a welcome member of the team.