Since 1971, Robin Meadow has dedicated his professional career to legal matters surrounding the appellate practice area, arbitration, bet-the-company litigation and trusts and estates. Meadow is a partner at the firm Greines, Martin, Stein & Richland LLP, located in Los Angeles, CA. Recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2006 in Appellate Practice, Meadow is currently being honored as “Lawyer of the Year” for Appellate Practice in Los Angeles for 2024, previously being honored in 2013 and 2018 for the same practice area.
Of his legal career and recent recognition, Meadow stated: “In the last few years, I’ve had several published opinions that either made new laws or provided a comprehensive survey of existing laws. Starting with Tufeld Corporation v. Beverly Hills Gateway, L.P. (2022). For the first time in a published opinion, the court explained the operation of an arcane statute, Civil Code section 718, that limits leases of city lots to 99 years. It also clarified novation principles and ruled that trial courts have equitable power to award interest on restitution awards in situations not explicitly governed by statute. As well as Friend of Camden, Inc. et al. v. Brandt (2022). This opinion resolved an important first-impression issue arising under provisions of the California Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act that govern dissolution and winding up of LLCs. In particular, the court resolved an apparent tension between the right of members owning at least 50% of an LLC’s interests to dissolve the LLC by vote and the right of members in a dissolution suit to avoid dissolution through a buyout election.
“It’s difficult to explain the appellate practice to clients, and often to trial lawyers, the extent to which the deck is stacked against an appellant. They want to reargue the facts that they feel the judge or jury got wrong, and we have to make them understand why that practically never works in the appellate courts. It’s also difficult to make trial lawyers understand why we refuse to include in our briefs their suggestions for the kind of aggressive language and incivility that unfortunately are all too common in the trial courts.”
With over 50 years of legal experience under his belt, Meadow is also regarded as an expert in matters of technology when referencing appellate law. As a pioneer in the usage of electronic records and legal briefs, Meadow co-authored the first protocol for electronic briefs and filed the first-ever electronic brief in California’s Second District Court of Appeals, which has since been adopted by other appeals courts throughout the state.
“From my earliest days as a litigator, I’ve always loved learning something new about the law and trying to work with the law in ways that serve my clients’ needs. Even now, after 50 years of practice, I’m still excited when a case requires me to explore an area of the law I’m not yet familiar with or presents an unusual problem in an area I already know. I consider myself extremely fortunate that cases like this still come my way. I also very much enjoy the civility and professionalism of the appellate bar. With that outstanding level of civility, whatever I’ve been able to accomplish flows from good mentoring, a lifetime of experience and teamwork.”
