ATTORNEYS

Stephen Acker

Stephen Acker was born on September 1, 1951, in Pasadena, California. He attended Pasadena City Schools and received a B.A. degree with high honors from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1972 and a J.D. degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in 1975. He was admitted to the Bar in California in 1975 and in Maryland and the District of Columbia in 1985. Stephen has performed distinguished service to organizations of the legal profession and the community as a member of the City Council of Pasadena, California, from 1979-1983, the Pasadena Housing Advisory & Appeals Board, 1978-1979 and the Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena Airport Authority, of which he was a Commissioner, from 1981-1983...

Anthony H. Whipple

Born in Los Angeles on October 29, 1948, Tony was admitted to the California State and Federal District Court Bars in 1979. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA and a J.D. degree from Whittier College. He has tried more than 100 jury trials to verdict. As a member of the State Bar of California Litigation and Environmental Law Sections, Tony was a delegate to the 1990 State Bar Convention and a member of the 1992 and 1994 delegations to the Inns of Court of the United Kingdom. He is an arbitrator for the Superior Court, and a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Litigation and Environmental Law Sections, the Italian American Lawyers Association, Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and Defense Research Institute...

Jerri Lynn Johnson

Jerri graduated from Drake University in 1986 with a BS in business. In May, 1989, she graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law and was sworn into the California Supreme Court and the U.S. District Court, Central District on December 11, 1989. Jerri joined Acker, Kowalick & Whipple in 1995 and accepted a shareholder position in 2000. In 2004, Jerri took on the responsibilities of managing partner for the firm. She continues, however, to maintain a full case load of larger exposure litigated matters as well as responsibility for the supervision and training of associate attorneys. Jerri's legal experience includes nearly 20 years of defense litigation in the areas of commercial trucking litigation, products liability, construction workplace accidents and general tort litigation such as automobile accidents and premises liability...

Leslie Anne Burnet

Leslie was born in Ada, Oklahoma, on June 15, 1963. She received a B.A. degree in accounting from the University of Oklahoma in 1984, and her J.D. from the University of Oklahoma, College of Law in 1987. She was a member of the Oklahoma Law Review, which published two of her articles. Leslie was admitted to the California Bar and local U.S. District Court in 1988. Her law practice includes experience in a wide variety of civil litigation matters, including personal injury, construction defect, and product liability cases. Leslie also has experience in federal court, and she was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003. She is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and has been active in various Bar Association activities, including the Landlord/Tenant Settlement Officer Program, the Domestic Violence Project, and the Barristers and the Arts Committee...

Colette Magnetta

Colette accepted a shareholder position in her seventh year of practice with Acker & Whipple. Colette earned her B.S. in Business Administration from the University of the Pacific and received her J.D. from Tulane University School of Law in May of 2000, graduating cum laude. She was admitted to the California State Bar and local United States District Courts in December of that same year. Colette is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, and the Defense Research Institute....

Vanessa M. Case

Vanessa was born in Englewood, New Jersey, but spent most of her childhood on the island of O'ahu, Hawaii. Vanessa received her B.A. in English Literature at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 2002 and earned her J.D. from Loyola Law School in 2005. During law school, Vanessa both worked and volunteered at Mental Health Advocacy Services, Inc., in the area of fair housing rights for persons with disabilities. Vanessa is a member of the American Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association...

Laurie Stayton

In May of 2002, Laurie graduated with highest honors from California State University Chico, where she obtained a B.A. in Political Science with an emphasis in Legal Studies and a minor in Business Administration. She received her J.D. from the University of Pacific, McGeorge, in 2005, where she served as the Managing Editor and Staff Comment Writer for The Transnational Lawyer, McGeorge Law Journal. While at McGeorge, Laurie participated in the International Studies Summer Program in Salzburg Austria, including taking a course co-taught by Anthony M. Kennedy, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States...

Erin Lahey

In 2004, Erin graduated magna cum laude from George Washington University in Washington, DC with a B.A. in Political Science and a minor in Spanish Language and Literature. In 2008, she received her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law in Boston, Massachusetts....

Kelley Harman

In May 2009, Kelley graduated summa cum laude from Whittier Law School in Orange County. Before moving to California, she attended the University of Arizona, where she obtained a B.A. in communications and a minor in pre-law, graduating with honors...

Paula Pendley

Paula earned a J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law as well as a Certificate for Dispute Resolution from the Straus Institute in 2009.  She previously completed her undergraduate work at Pepperdine also, earning a B.A. in Telecommunications with an emphasis in Political Science...