Over a 20-plus-year career, June P. Bashant has developed a reputation for relentless advocacy, strategic experience, and deep compassions for her clients as a partner at Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn, where she focuses on cases involving workplace injuries, elder abuse, defective products, and auto accidents.
“I grew up with this law firm,” she said. “I started doing insurance defense work at first, learning my trade, and then I had a case against the lawyers here. I was ready for a change, because insurance defense can be very cookie-cutter. One of the partners spotted me and suggested it might be a good move for me to come to work here.”
“I wanted a place where everybody valued nimble creativity, and I found it.”
Cases that advance public safety concerns are a primary focus. She’s currently suing Uber Technologies, Inc. on behalf of a couple severely injured in a highway crash on their way to San Francisco International Airport in a rainstorm. The complaint alleges that their driver lost control of the vehicle, in part because of worn tire treads.
“Part of this case is about negligence and vehicle maintenance,” Bashant said. “You get in an Uber and what I call the Christmas tree lights appear on the dashboard —“check engine,” “tire pressure,” “oil change,” the warning lights. But your ride is already in progress and you are trapped in the car. One question in one of her current cases is how Uber tracks the maintenance records of vehicles.
Last year, Bashant obtained a $15 million settlement from UCSF Hospital for a woman injured when caregivers mistakenly injected her with a type of formaldehyde instead of the intended anesthetic.
Bashant had to overcome California’s cap on medical malpractice by demonstrating that her client was a victim of “medical battery,” a category of harm exempt from the malpractice limits.
Earlier this year, Rouda Feder Tietjen & McGuinn was selected by the Daily Journal as a Top Boutique Law Firm.
