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Barry R. Schirm
Email: BSchirm@gcslaw.net  vCard
Throughout his career, Mr. Schirm has principally focused on the pretrial preparation and trial of product liability cases. However, he has also defended and tried cases involving contract disputes, complex commercial transactions and legal malpractice matters. Barry's efforts have minimized or eliminated the substantial risk his clients have faced, resulting in the savings of millions of dollars.
Beyond his efforts at the trial court level, Barry also has considerable experience at the appellate level. He was trial and lead appellate counsel in Soule v. General Motors, 8 Cal.4th 548 (1994) [significantly limited application of the consumer expectation test in design defect cases]. He also submitted amicus curiae briefs on behalf of General Motors in Buttram v. Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corp., 16 Cal.4th 520 (1997) [established that the application of Proposition 51 is triggered by the date of diagnosis of a latent disease, not the date of exposure to the product at issue], and Rutherford v. Owens-Illinois, Inc., 16 Cal.4th 953 (1997) [rejected application of the Summers v. Tire burden shifting rule and established a plaintiff, in an action for asbestos-related injuries, must prove, within a reasonable degree of medical probability, that a particular exposure or series of exposures to a defendant's product was a substantial factor in bringing about the injury]. In addition, he was lead counsel and directed the briefing in the published decision in Southwest Pet Products v. Koch Industries, 89 F.Supp.2d 1115 (2000) [involving application of the economic loss rule to prevent plaintiffs' reliance on tort theories to impose liability on major wheat producer].
He has also been generous in devoting his time to matters beyond his immediate practice. Barry has served as an arbitrator and a judge pro tem for the Los Angeles Superior Court on numerous occasions. He has also spoken before many groups on the damage to the justice system caused by abusive lawsuits. Barry also devotes considerable time to the Boy Scouts of America, for whom he acts as an assistant scoutmaster, a merit badge counselor, and troop advisor. His strong interest in and devotion to scouting stems from his own scouting experience, having achieved the rank of Eagle at the age of 13.
Barry attended California State University, Fullerton, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics in 1977. Thereafter, he attended Southwestern University School of Law, where he was repeatedly named to the dean's list before graduating in 1980. He was admitted to the California bar that same year. Barry joined the firm in 1981, and was elected an officer and director in 1988.
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In Focus:
Southwestern University School of Law (J.D. 1980)
California State University, Fullerton (B.A. Economics 1977)
Courts Admitted: California State Courts; all District Courts in the State of California; U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals; U.S. Supreme Court
Sustaining Member of the Product Liability Advisory Council
Member of the Society of Automotive Engineers, Defense Research Institute, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (ASCDC),
and the Los Angeles County Bar Association
Committee Chair on the Product Liability Substantive Law Committee of the ASCDC (2004 and 2005)
One of the founding members of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA), a grassroots organization which aims to eliminate abuses of the civil justice system
Martindale-Hubbell AV rating
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