Olu K. Orange handles civil rights, probate and class action litigation in state and federal courts. He has won millions of dollars in verdicts and settlements by successfully litigating civil rights and complex probate matters for iconic entertainers' estates.
Orange began practicing criminal law in California as a Deputy Public Defender with the Orange County Public Defender's Office. Thereafter, Orange litigated civil cases including plaintiffs' medical malpractice, elder abuse and other personal injury matters at the McNulty Law Firm in Bel Air, California. In addition to his civil work, Orange provides probono representation to Los Angeles area political activists, works as a Panel Attorney with the Los Angeles County Indigent Criminal Defense Appointments Program, and serves as a member of the Executive Board of the National Lawyers Guild - L.A. Chapter.
Orange compliments the joy of practice with teaching trial advocacy as a faculty member at the University of Southern California. He has directed the Dornsife Trial Advocacy Program at USC since he authored the instructional trial advocacy curriculum in 2001. Since 2006, Orange has also been a teaching team member for Harvard Law School's (HLS) Winter Trial Advocacy Workshop (TAW), a full-credit HLS clinical course. For HLS TAW, Orange has been selected to demonstrate the faculty closing argument, opening statement and cross-examination.
Peer Recognition:
Selection to the National Trial Lawyers Top 100
Selected as a Southern California “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters in the Civil Rights and First Amendment category.
Selected by American Lawyer Media to its list of "Top Lawyers In California."
Awarded the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and Martindale-Hubbell NITA Faculty designation. The NITA Faculty designation is awarded to trial advocacy, deposition and negotiation skills instructors who consistently rank among the best when evaluated by private firms, government and public interest law offices nationwide.
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Bar/Professional Activity:
Supreme Court of the United States - Admitted to Practice
Supreme Court of California - Admitted to Practice
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit - Admitted to Practice
U.S. Federal Court for the Central District of California - Admitted to Practice
U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of Texas - Admitted to Practice
Scholarly Lectures and Presentations:
"Closing Arguments", National Disability Rights Network: Annual Conference, Talk/Oral Presentation, Los Angeles, CA, Fall 2010
"Using Creative Problem Solving Negotiations to Prepare for Trial (and Lighten your Load)", National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) Centennial Conference, Talk/Oral Presentation, Washington, D.C., Fall 2011
"Tipping the Scales with Effective Trial Techniques: Direct and Cross Examination of Expert Witnesses", California Association for Parent-Child Advocacy, Lecture/Seminar, Los Angeles, CA, Summer 2012
"The Time for Pure Advocacy: Closing Argument", Inaugural Closing Argument Lecture for NITA Studio 71, National Institute For Trial Advocacy, Boulder, CO, Spring 2013
Notable Cases:
In 2009, Orange argued and won Millender v. County of Los Angeles before an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Millender was a blended 4th and 2nd Amendment case challenging pro forma 'seize all guns' warrants. Later, in the U.S. Supreme Court on Millender, Mr. Orange served as Second Chair and a briefing attorney, and was joined by both the NRA and ACLU as amici curiae against 26 states and the U.S. Solicitor General.
In 2010, Orange tried and won the will contest case over the Estate of Sammy Davis, Jr.
In 2011, Orange tried and won the first post-9/11 case wherein a police officer who also served as a member of the U.S. Armed Forces was found liable (with malice) by a federal jury for the unlawful shooting death of a Muslim man -- Chaudhry v. City of Los Angeles.
In 2014, Orange briefed, argued and won the plaintiffs’ Ninth Circuit appeal in Chaudhry v. Los Angeles, thereby establishing the legal precedent that decedents’ estates are entitled to pre-death pain and suffering damages when federal civil rights violations cause death.
Orange is a native of Detroit, Michigan who found his way to Los Angeles by way of the District of Columbia. He attended civil rights mecca Howard University in Washington D.C. for both his undergraduate and law degrees, a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Communication and a Juris Doctorate, respectively. At Howard, Orange earned advocacy honors including the Huver I. Brown Medal for Excellence in Trial Advocacy, the Earl Davis Award for Excellence in Public Interest Advocacy and two consecutive Lewis F. Powell Medals for Excellence in Trial Advocacy from the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) and the American Bar Association (ABA).
