Hon. Mary H. Strobel (Ret.)

With a long and distinguished career, Hon. Mary H. Strobel (Ret.) brings extensive experience in a wide range of civil matters and unparalleled expertise in claims by and against public entities.

Judge Strobel served as a Superior Court Judge in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. For the past eight years, she presided over a specialized department focused on challenges to governmental action, handling over 200 writ trials. Her caseload included complex matters such as CEQA and Coastal Act challenges, land use disputes, public employment issues, and public office candidacy claims. Judge Strobel was also assigned to rule on requests for temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and receivership appointments for more than 30 civil courtrooms. These involved a variety of matters, including corporate governance, trade secrets, and real property conflicts. Previously Judge Strobel had an all-purpose civil assignment, managing civil cases from complaint to resolution. She conducted dozens of court and jury trials including in the areas of contract dispute, employment, civil rights, insurance bad faith, and legal malpractice.

Judge Strobel managed numerous class actions, culminating in a successful class action trial affirmed by the California Court of Appeal. Her judicial acumen is evident in over a dozen published affirmances from the Court of Appeal, reflecting the soundness of her legal judgments and the efficacy of her rulings.

After graduating from the University of Southern California Law Center in 1983, where she was Order of the Coif and a member of the Law Review editorial board, Judge Strobel began her legal career as an associate with Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, with an emphasis on state and federal business litigation. From there, she joined the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office, where she worked for 12 years as deputy city attorney and senior land use attorney, advising the planning commission, council, and city departments on land use regulation, conflicts of interest, open meeting law compliance, environmental laws, and related regulations. Judge Strobel later became staff counsel and deputy director for the City of Los Angeles Charter Reform Commission. In this capacity, she drafted comprehensive revisions to the Charter of the City of Los Angeles and supervised legal staff in research, drafting, and preparing Commission presentations. During her later tenure as an assistant city attorney for the City of Los Angeles, she navigated complex and unique legal matters related to the proposed secession from the City of the Valley, Hollywood and Harbor areas.

Judge Strobel is also an experienced educator. She served as an adjunct professor at USC School of Law from 2013 to 2019 teaching trial advocacy and was also a statewide instructor for six years in civil matters for the Administrative Office of the Courts, which provides education for California judges statewide. She taught a week-long Civil Overview course on a yearly basis that is required for judges who are new to the Civil bench, and an Advance Civil Overview course to experienced Civil judges.

Judge Strobel actively shared her knowledge with colleagues on the bench by instructing and leading the civil subcommittee for the Los Angeles Superior Court Judicial Education Seminars. She served as chair of the Los Angeles Superior Court Rules Committee and is a past member of the Executive Committee. Beyond the court, Judge Strobel was a board member of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL) and executive board of the Los Angeles County Bar Litigation section, and a presenter for the Rutter Group on Administrative Agency law.

Judge Strobel’s wealth of experience makes her a strong addition to Signature Resolution’s esteemed panel of neutrals. She thoroughly understands what it takes to bring parties to a mutually acceptable resolution through thoughtful analysis of complex legal issues.

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