Amy R. Margolies

Overview

Ms. Margolies has spent the last decade defending public entities and public employees, handling all aspects of litigation, specializing in police liability, civil rights, and employment matters, both in state and federal courts.

Ms. Margolies graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law on an academic scholarship and received her Juris Doctorate with a concentration in Criminal Litigation. Ms. Margolies has prior experience interning at the District Attorney’s Office, working in the Sex Crimes and Stalking and Family Protection divisions, as well as at the Public Defender’s Office, handling cases from misdemeanors to high crimes, including sitting second chair in a felony murder trial.

Ms. Margolies then spent nearly a decade as lead counsel handling all aspects of peace officer legal defense including responding to officer-involved shooting incidents, in-custody deaths, Internal Affairs investigations, post-disciplinary evidentiary hearings, and course-and-scope criminal defense. She has represented local, state, and federal officers in superior state court, arbitrations, and administrative hearings. Additionally, Ms. Margolies has served as lead counsel on numerous oral arguments and briefings in the San Diego Superior Court and California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District defending her law enforcement clients.  Her work also included representation of peace officer unions in contract negotiations and labor matters.

For the last several years, Ms. Margolies’ practice has focused on public entity defense, and she has been successful in dismissing a number of cases through Motions to Dismiss and Summary Judgment.  Ms. Margolies was successful in obtaining a Motion to Dismiss in the matter of Pastora v. County of San Bernardino, Case No. 5:21-CV-01410-JGB, a wrongful death case involving an inmate suicide in the County jail, and she obtained summary judgment in the matter of McCormack v. County of San Bernardino, Case No. 5:21-CV-00148-JGB, a wrongful death case involving an inmate-on-inmate attack in the County Jail.

Ms. Margolies has also prepared briefing resulting in recent citable orders and opinions helping shape the legal landscape in civil rights and police liability cases on behalf of her clients including, M.D. v. County of San Bernardino, 2023 WL 2342338 (C.D. Cal. 2023) involving an inmate on inmate attack in a County jail and Monell claims against the County and Jackson v. County of San Bernardino, 2023 WL 9066307 (C.D. Cal. 2023) involving civil rights claims for excessive force and unlawful arrest.

Ms. Margolies was recently second chair in two downtown Los Angeles federal jury trials, earning favorable results for her law enforcement clients: the first, a civil rights use of force case, earning a unanimous defense verdict and the second, a complex negligence case, resulting in a hung jury.

Finally, Ms. Margolies has extensive experience in, and enjoys, providing training seminars, including legal updates, and best practices for police and sheriff departments throughout the state.

When not working, Ms. Margolies loves spending time with her two children, husband, and dog, and exploring new cities.

General

Practice Areas

• – Appellate Practice
• – Labor and Employment
• – Police Liability Defense
• – Public Entity Defense
• – Employment Practices Liability

Education

Professional

Notable