Monique Alarcon

Monique Alarcon is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Wisner Baum where she focuses her practice on the firm’s medical device cases, pharmaceutical drug liability and consumer fraud litigation. She is also an adjunct Professor of Law for Loyola Law School’s Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) Moot Court Team.

Monique recently successfully sued the Burbank Police Department (California) for police misconduct, civil rights violations, assault, battery, unlawful seizure, excessive force and negligence. She also obtained a settlement from the City of Irvine when its former mayor violated one of its citizen’s first amendment rights when she blocked him from posting to her personal Facebook page which she was using as a public forum concerning official mayoral business.

Our client was shot in the head with a bean bag projectile, fired by an LAPD officer. After two years of litigation, we obtained a $1.25 million settlement, the largest to date stemming from the May 2020 protests. KNX News, Los Angeles interviewed Monique about the case.

Before joining the firm, Monique worked as an associate attorney for the law office of Carol A. Sobel, where she gained valuable experience representing people in civil rights litigation that addressed police accountability, homelessness, First Amendment, and Fourteenth Amendment due process issues. During this time, Monique also represented homeless individuals cited for “quality of life” offenses by appearing for and presenting oral argument at arraignments, trials, and post-conviction hearings on infraction and misdemeanor offenses.

Monique Alarcon Attorney, Senior Associate

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Locally & Nationally Recognized

Monique served as an extern at Public Counsel’s Children’s Rights Project and clerked for Disability Rights Legal Center while she was attending Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. She received her law degree in 2016.

Monique is a member of the National Lawyers Guild in Los Angeles, and regularly volunteers at the NLG-LA’s legal clinics in Skid Row and Venice. She also coaches Loyola Law School’s Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) Moot Court Team and is a board member of the Latina Lawyers Bar Association and serves on the advisory board for the Elder Law and Disability Rights Center.

Education

Loyola Law School (J.D., 2016)
University of California (B.A., in Sociology and Law & Society, 2013)

Court Admissions

California, 2016
U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 2016
U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, 2018
U.S. District Court, District of New Mexico, 2021
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, 2021

Awards and Honors

Best Lawyers - Ones to Watch, 2023
Selected: Southern California Super Lawyers® – Rising Stars, 2022
Client Champion Silver Award - Martindale Hubbell, 2022
California Powerhouse, Law360 Regional Powerhouse Series, 2021
The National Trial Lawyers Top 40 Under 40

LITIGATION LEADERSHIP

Federal-State Court Liaison for Gardasil MDL No. 3036 - In Re: Gardasil Products Liability Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, 2022 -

Member

State Bar of California
National Lawyers Guild – Los Angeles
Latina Lawyers Bar Association, Board Member
Hispanic National Bar Association
The American Association for Justice; Leaders Forum - Champion; Police Misconduct Litigation Group
Consumer Attorneys Association of California
Elder Law and Disability Rights Center, Advisory Board Member

Legal Teaching Position

Adjunct Professor of Law, Loyola Law School’s Hispanic National Bar Association (HNBA) Moot Court Team, 2021 –

GUEST SPEAKER

Latina Lawyers Bar Association
Loyola Law School
National Lawyers Guild
University of California, Los Angeles, (UCLA) School of Law
Western Center on Law & Poverty

Pro Bono and Civic Activities

Represents people experiencing homelessness in infraction proceedings
Coaches law school students who compete in a national moot court competition
Serves as a board member for the Latina Lawyers Bar Association
Advisory Board member for the Elder Law and Disability Rights Center in Santa Ana, California

Additional Languages

Spanish

Published Cases

Astorga v. County of Los Angeles, Fed.Appx. (C.A.9 Cal. 2021) (In Case No. 21-55059, Plaintiffs appeal the denial of a preliminary injunction ordering Defendants to return their property following the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department's (“LASD”) seizure of various items during two protests in September 2020.)
Painters and Allied Trades District Council 82 Health Care Fund v. Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited. 520 F.Supp.3d 1258 (C.D.Cal. 2021) (Torts – RICO: Class action claims against pharmaceutical companies for violation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act were adequately alleged.)
Baldwin Park Free Speech Coalition v. City of Baldwin Park, 843 Fed.Appx. 21 (C.A.9 Cal. 2021) (Government — Municipalities: Temporary sign ordinances’ requirement that applicant submit drawing or photograph of proposed sign was justified without reference to content.)
West v. Shea, 500 F.Supp.3d 1079 (C.D.Cal. 2020) (Civil Rights — Free Speech: Commenter sufficiently alleged that a mayor’s social media profile was a public forum, as required to state First Amendment claim.)

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