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Professional Background
Professional Background
I'm an attorney and counselor at law admitted to practice in all California
courts and in the federal courts for the Central District of California. My
California Bar number is 174014. I'm proud to say I run an ethical practice and
have always been in good standing with the ; you can check my here.
I've been in private practice since being admitted to the Bar in 1994. My
practice is based in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, California. I serve
individuals, families and businesses with strong emphasis in litigation
(including personal injury claims), small business and health care practice
transactions, trusts, wills and criminal law. I am also a . To learn more about my practice areas,
While attending at , I held employment and externships that exposed me to a broad
spectrum of legal knowledge and experience. Southwestern built upon the strong
foundation I laid during my undergraduate Criminal Justice and Business
Administration studies at the .
During my first year of law school, I worked full-time as a Probation
Violation Law Clerk with what is said to be "the world's largest law
firm" - the . I worked with criminal prosecutors and police officers to
save the People of the State of California money by sending probation violators
to jail without the need for expensive trials (for your information, we did this
by means of inexpensive but Constitutionally sound probation violation
hearings). It was an interesting job that exposed me to the inner workings and
realities of the criminal justice system.
While still attending evening classes at Southwestern, I left the District
Attorney's Office and joined a specialized judicial research and support team,
the Los Angeles County Municipal Courts (now ) Planning and
Research Unit. As a PRU Legal Research Assistant, I delved into issues of civil
and criminal law and procedure for Los Angeles County Municipal Court judges and
others who subscribed to the PRU's services and publications. I conducted short
and long-term legal research, prepared legal memoranda for judges and staff
attorneys, analyzed new legislation and helped prepare the PRU's annual
Legislative Report for publication. In short, my time at the PRU made me very
good at quickly finding reliable answers to a wide range of legal questions.
Southwestern's curriculum also offered me the opportunity to participate in
two externships. The first was as a California Bar Certified Law Clerk. I was
assigned to my old employer - the LADA's Office - this time at the Kenyon
Juvenile Justice Center in South Central Los Angeles immediately after the 1992
LA Riots. This was a particularly important rotation for me because it opened my
eyes to a world I had never experienced first hand - one of burned-out inner
city neighborhoods home to a lot of good people who were being terrorized by
hard, brutal children. It was my job to take these "kids" off the
streets. According to Kenyon's Deputy-in-Charge, I did exceedingly well
representing the People in numerous arraignments, plea agreements, witness and
victim interviews and the like. I tried 14 cases while under the detached
supervision of a DA and won them all. Even so, I realized that the juvenile
justice system was badly flawed. I also realized I was hooked on lawyering.
My final law school externship - also as a California Bar Certified Law Clerk
- was with the Office of the City Attorney, in ,
California, the city where I now practice. There I gained civil litigation
experience through drafting pleadings and motions, watching trial and appellate
lawyers in action and learning to tread carefully in what Van Alstyne's has
called the "mine field" of government claims law. The highpoint of
this externship was serving as a mediator and hearing officer in neighbor
dispute and city code cases; when it comes to learning how to create win-win
situations, there's no substitute for working hands-on with people in a dispute
resolution setting. Even now, a decade after my work with the City Attorney's
Office, my tour there continues to pay huge dividends.
In my pre-law school days, I served as Executive Director of the Glendale, California-based Earthquake Relief Fund for
Armenia. I established and managed the ERFA's offices, implemented the
Executive Council's policies and directives, coordinated with other charities,
researched donation and grant sources, conducted media relations, supervised
staff and volunteers and - of course - solicited funds. Working with the ERFA
was a blessing in that I could do good while developing specialized and valuable
skills and abilities; many of my ERFA relationships are still alive today.
Segueing into my personal life but still on professional ground, one of the
most influential times in my life - certainly important in motivating me to
become a lawyer - was the summer of 1987. I worked as an intern lobbyist,
researcher and analyst for the in Washington, DC. Part of my work involved
researching grant sources for humanitarian projects while on temporary
assignment with the Armenian Relief Society. To me, however, the most meaningful
part of this internship was my work interacting with Members of Congress and
developing legislative and constituent support for human rights legislation
concerning recognition of the genocide of the Armenians by the Ottoman Turks -
one of the most terrible but downplayed events in modern history. HJ Res. 132
was - and its successor legislation remains - strongly opposed by today's
Republic of Turkey. Still, just-minded people across America and the world,
working with the ANCA and other organizations like the , continue to strive against Turkey's campaign of
historical revisionism - its efforts to deny that the ever occurred.
A Little About My Personal Life...
I was born in Hollywood, California on August 3, 1964 to Ararat
("Art") and Anya Babachanian. I grew up in the Los Angeles, California
suburbs of Montebello and Whittier and received my primary education from
Mesrobian Armenian School, a parochial school administered by the Western
Prelacy of the ; I'm a member of the Class of 1982.
At Mesrobian I met most of my dearest friends and even after 30 years in
several cases, my buddies and I remain extremely close; I was Best Man to two of
them and Godfather to the children of one. My own Best Man attended Mesrobian
and another of my pals went on to become our Alma Mater's principal. To say
we're a close community is an understatement.
You've by now concluded that my folks were ethnic .
In fact, they were immigrants from the then-Soviet Union, Art from Armenia and
Anya an Armenian from the Ukraine. Their stories of the tribulations they
endured at the hands of the communists and the fascists (circa WWII) helped to
form my character as a person who dearly values and is willing to fight for
traditional ideals like justice and fair play. My being a lawyer is in no small
part related to lessons taught by these two people who sailed into New York
Harbor singing God Bless America under the gaze of the . The words you just read might sound "corny" to some,
but to me they remain true, critically important investments in what America has
meant to so many who never knew liberty before landing at - notions taken for granted by too many of my fellow Americans today.
My parents went on to found , a successful toy company which has made millions of kids of all
ages happy while servicing the amusement park and carnival industries. Today,
I'm not only a practicing lawyer, but also Wonder Toys' Vice President and
General Counsel. God Bless America!
No summary of my life would be complete without mention of my lovely wife,
Melanie, and my infant son, Aren Ararat Babachanian. I am blessed to have
Melineh and Aren in my life. | 
