Los Angeles · Contract Litigation Guide
Read the fee clause before you read anything else. Under Civil Code section 1717 an attorney fee provision in a California contract is reciprocal whether or not it says so, which means the party who loses pays the winner’s legal bill even if the clause was written to protect only one side. That single rule decides whether a $60,000 dispute is worth fighting or worth settling on Tuesday. We compared three contract litigation lawyers in Los Angeles on State Bar of California records, the contract work each firm actually publishes results for, fee structure and verified client reviews, then set out who each one suits and where each one falls short.
DJA Editorial · Legal Directory Research
Checked against state bar licensee records, court sources and public review platforms ·
The short answer
Three firms, each built for a different kind of contract fight. This is a shortlist rather than a ranking, and none of the three carries enough verified reviews for a rating to be shown.
1
Law Offices of Steven J. Horn
Best for a mid-sized dispute you want one senior lawyer to carry to trial
2
Miller Shah LLP
Best when the contract problem is really a class or fiduciary claim
3
Goodkin APC
Best when the contract is a lease, a development deal or an operating agreement
At a glance: Contract Litigation Lawyers in Los Angeles, compared
| Firm |
Best for |
Focus |
Bar record |
Fees |
Rating |
| Law Offices of Steven J. Horn |
Best for a mid-sized dispute you want one senior lawyer to carry to trial |
Contract, partnership, shareholder and real estate disputes |
Steven J. Horn, California 105855, admitted 1982 |
Free case evaluation, rate not published |
not verified |
| Miller Shah LLP |
Best when the contract problem is really a class or fiduciary claim |
Class actions, ERISA and False Claims Act work |
James C. Shah, the sole Los Angeles partner |
Not published, contingency on class work |
not verified |
| Goodkin APC |
Best when the contract is a lease, a development deal or an operating agreement |
Real estate, lease and business contract disputes |
Daniel L. Goodkin, California 131347 |
Positions on affordable rates, no figure published |
not verified |
Contract Litigation in Los Angeles: the local picture
Both ways
The fee clause you signed cuts in two directions
Civil Code section 1717 makes an attorney fee provision reciprocal by operation of law. If the contract says the vendor recovers fees when it sues you, you recover fees when you beat the vendor. Costs are recoverable separately under Code of Civil Procedure sections 1032 and 1033.5. Read the clause before you decide anything, because it can double your exposure or fund your case.
4 or 2
Which clock you are on depends on paper
Four years from the breach on a written contract under Code of Civil Procedure section 337. Two years on an oral one under section 339. A deal agreed on a call and performed by conduct is oral, and a written agreement varied by a phone call can put that variation on the shorter clock. The clock runs from the breach, not from when you found out about it.
$35,000
The cheaper track most people miss
Since 1 January 2024 a dispute worth $35,000 or less is a limited civil case, with restricted discovery and a faster route to trial. Below $12,500 an individual can go to small claims, where no lawyer appears at the hearing. The bill that raised those limits was sponsored by the Los Angeles Superior Court itself.
What clients in Los Angeles say: Something unusual happens when you pull the Google records for all three of these firms: there is almost nothing there. One has ten reviews, one has twelve, one has none at all. That is not a knock on any of them. Businesses do not post public reviews of the lawyer who handled their partnership fight, and the counterparty certainly does not. It does mean the ordinary consumer shortcut fails here. What is left is the material you can actually verify: the bar record, the published results, whether the firm names the attorney who would run your file, and references you ask for directly. Ask for two clients with a dispute the size of yours.
How we chose these Contract Litigation Lawyers in Los Angeles
We looked at firms handling business contract disputes for Los Angeles clients, then compared them on things you can check yourself: the State Bar of California licensee record for each named attorney, whether the firm publishes contract-specific results rather than general litigation claims, how it charges, where its office actually is, and the visible client reviews on Google.
The three are a shortlist, not a ranking, and each leads for a different kind of dispute. Firm details come from each firm’s own site and attorney pages, cross checked against Google Business Profile listings, State Bar of California licensee records and public attorney directories, plus the Civil Code, the Code of Civil Procedure and the 2023 jurisdiction statute for the fee, deadline and threshold figures. Bar numbers we could not confirm against the official State Bar search are flagged on the page, and Google ratings drawn from fewer than 15 reviews are omitted rather than shown, which in this guide means all three.
1. Law Offices of Steven J. Horn
Best for a mid-sized dispute you want one senior lawyer to carry to trial
Forty four years at the California bar with a clean record, and the only lawyer here who also sits on the other side of the bench. Steven Horn was admitted in December 1982 and hears small claims matters as a temporary judge at Van Nuys Courthouse East, which means he has spent time watching how a judge reacts to a contract file rather than only presenting one. He works alone from Encino. If you want a contract litigation lawyer in Los Angeles who will personally try the case rather than hand it to an associate, that is what this is.
Identity and footprint
Office16000 Ventura Blvd, Suite 1000, Encino, CA 91436
Not central Los AngelesEncino is in the San Fernando Valley, roughly 20 miles north west of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse downtown. The page title itself reads Encino rather than Los Angeles.
Phone(818) 385-1050, with fax 818-385-0351, consistent across the site, Google and the bar record
HoursThe Google listing shows open 24 hours, seven days a week
AttorneysSteven J. Horn is the only attorney listed on the site, although the practice page repeatedly refers to “our attorneys”
Directory listingsHolds a Distinguished Justice Advocates listing, plus Leaders of Law and Legal Ambassadors listings, all badged in the site footer
Memberships shownConsumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles, San Fernando Valley Bar Association and a Super Lawyers badge
Site faultsThe mobile menu Call link contains no number at all, and all 33 entries under Cities We Serve point to a dead anchor rather than a page.
Practice and scope
Core workCommercial litigation, contract disputes, partnership disputes, shareholder disputes, real estate litigation and landlord-tenant eviction work, alongside a personal injury practice
The mix mattersBusiness litigation sits beside car accident, dog bite and slip and fall pages on the same site. Ask what share of the current caseload is commercial.
An unusual nicheThe firm’s own summary lists recycling laws among its areas, which is not something the other two touch
What the page covers wellContract formation, the elements of breach, six defences including capacity, agency, mistake, duress and fraud, and the remedies available including specific performance and liquidated damages
The fee clause is missingThe page notes that fees are recoverable if the contract provides for them but never mentions Civil Code section 1717 or that the clause runs both ways by law. That is the most consequential fact in a contract dispute.
Deadline detailThe FAQ gives the limitation period as “typically about four years” without separating written from oral contracts, where the period halves to two years
Page freshnessFirst published August 2020, last modified 10 September 2026
Credentials and licensing
State Bar of CaliforniaSteven Jeffry Horn, licence number 105855, status Active, admitted 3 December 1982, with no discipline and no administrative actions shown on the licensee record
Years in practiceForty four years, which is the longest unbroken California record among the named attorneys on this page
On the benchSits as a temporary judge hearing small claims matters at Van Nuys Courthouse East. Judge pro tem service is by court appointment and is not something a firm can buy.
Trial recordClient testimonials describe two cases taken to trial and won over a ten year relationship, and a separate attorney retaining him as co-counsel on a landlord-tenant matter for another firm’s client
Registered contactThe State Bar record lists a gmail address as the registered email for the practice
Public disciplineNone appears on the licensee record.
Fees and consultation
ConsultationFree case evaluation, advertised throughout the site (firm site)
The clause decides the economicsAsk the firm to read your contract’s fee provision at the consultation and tell you what your exposure is if you lose. Under Civil Code 1717 that number is real.
Track matters tooIf the claim is $35,000 or less it belongs in limited civil, where discovery is capped. Ask whether the firm would file it there and what that does to the fee.
What clients say
· Ten reviews only, rating omitted
✓ Two trials won for one long-term client
✓ Another attorney brought him in as co-counsel
✗ Two complaints about first contact
· One negative review concerns his judicial role
Ten Google reviews is below the threshold for showing a rating, and the ten split sharply. The positive entries are substantial: a client of roughly ten years describing two trials won, an attorney who observed him in court and then hired him, a family business using him for fifteen years. The negative entries are about first contact rather than casework, and one of them is not about his representation at all, it is from a self-represented small claims litigant who appeared before him while he was sitting as a temporary judge. Read them individually rather than averaging them.
Why they fit Los Angeles: The right fit for a dispute in the tens or low hundreds of thousands, where the economics will not carry a large firm’s leverage model and you want the person on the pleadings to be the person at trial. Forty four years with a clean bar record and regular judge pro tem service is a combination none of the other two offer, and the testimonials that matter come from repeat clients and from another lawyer who hired him. Go in knowing the trade offs. This is one attorney in Encino rather than a downtown bench, the page speaks of “our attorneys” when the site lists one, no rate appears anywhere, and the Google record is thin and mixed with two complaints about the first phone call. Ask who covers a hearing if two matters collide, and ask for the fee clause analysis in writing.
2. Miller Shah LLP
Best when the contract problem is really a class or fiduciary claim
The national plaintiff machine, and a poor fit for an ordinary two-party contract fight. Miller Shah runs eleven offices from Beverly Hills to Milan and states more than a billion dollars recovered, but look at what the billion is made of: a $642 million False Claims Act settlement with Novartis, a $124.6 million ERISA class settlement, antitrust and securities work. Its breach of contract page sits inside a class action practice. If your contract problem is systemic, repeated across many counterparties, or really a fiduciary claim, these are the breach of contract lawyers in Los Angeles to call.
Identity and footprint
The Los Angeles office is in Beverly Hills8730 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 400, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. The site labels it CA Los Angeles.
Eleven officesBeverly Hills, Foothill Ranch, San Diego, San Francisco, Chester in Connecticut, Miami, Collingswood in New Jersey, New York City, Raleigh, Philadelphia and Milan
Phone866-540-5505, a single national number across every office and every attorney profile. Only one Los Angeles attorney publishes a direct line.
HoursMonday to Friday, 9:00am to 7:00pm, closed at weekends
Who is actually in Los AngelesPartner James C. Shah, two of counsel attorneys and one office staff member. Everyone else on a roster of more than fifty sits in another city.
LanguageThe firm states Spanish is spoken
Site faultsThe office map block carries a Get Fort Lauderdale Directions link above the Los Angeles address, Raleigh is listed twice in the footer and once mislabelled as CN rather than NC, and the fax and telephone labels sit under the wrong numbers
Page freshnessHomepage updated 10 September 2026
Practice and scope
Core workClass actions, ERISA and employee benefits, False Claims Act and whistleblower matters, antitrust, securities, labour and employment, and corporate transactions
Where contract work sitsBreach of contract is one sub-page under Commercial and Other Complex Litigation, alongside franchise disputes, partnership and joint venture disputes, false advertising and trademark infringement
Also transactionalA Contract Negotiations and Drafting page sits under corporate transactions, so the firm papers deals as well as fighting about them
Published results$642 million Novartis False Claims Act settlement, $124.6 million DST ERISA class settlement, $54 million Teva, $33 million Norwegian salmon antitrust, $31 million Virgin Airlines wage and hour, $18 million AMC securities, and a long run of ERISA class settlements. These are the firm’s own published figures.
What is not in the resultsNot one published result is a two-party commercial contract dispute. Every headline figure is a class, ERISA, False Claims Act, antitrust or securities recovery.
RecognitionRecognised in the Chambers USA New York Spotlight Guide 2026 for corporate practice and M&A work, which is a New York recognition rather than a California one
InternationalA Milan office and a named practice representing Italian business clients, unusual for a firm of this profile
Credentials and licensing
James C. ShahNamed partner and the only partner based in the Los Angeles office
Other Los Angeles attorneysIsack Fadlon and Zacky P. Rozio, both of counsel. Rozio is the only Los Angeles attorney with a published direct line.
Firm scaleMore than fifty named people across partners, of counsel, associates, staff attorneys, law clerks and project analysts
Firm figureOver one billion dollars recovered. That is the firm’s own aggregate across all offices and practice areas and cannot be attributed to the Los Angeles office.
Leadership profileManaging partner James E. Miller, based in Connecticut, has addressed the United Kingdom All-Party Parliamentary Group on financial regulation and investment fraud
Fees and consultation
ConsultationBy enquiry form or the national number. No free consultation is advertised.
Scale question to askA firm whose published results start at $2.45 million may have a minimum matter size. Ask directly whether it takes contract disputes below a threshold.
Text messagingThe site states that providing contact details is consent to be contacted by SMS. Read that before submitting the form.
What clients say
· No Google reviews at the Beverly Hills office
· Homepage testimonials link to the Connecticut office
· One testimonial is duplicated on the page
· Named praise is for Connecticut partners
· No contract matter described anywhere
There is no verified review record for the Los Angeles office at all, so no rating is shown. The firm publishes four testimonials on its homepage, three of which link through to the Google listing for its Chester, Connecticut office, and one of those four is the same review printed twice. The named praise goes to James and Chris, who are Connecticut and Philadelphia based. For a firm of this size and recognition the absence of California client feedback is worth noting rather than reading anything into.
Why they fit Los Angeles: The firm to call when what looks like a contract dispute is actually something bigger: a charge repeated across hundreds of customers, a benefit plan being run badly, a supplier defrauding a government programme. Nobody else on this page has the machinery for that, and the published recoveries are real and large. The honest caveats are fit and location. Not one published result is an ordinary two-party contract case, the Los Angeles presence is one partner and two of counsel inside a fifty-person firm, the office is in Beverly Hills rather than Los Angeles, there are no California reviews at all, and no fee terms are published. Ask whether the firm takes a straightforward breach claim of your size and who in California would actually run it.
3. Goodkin APC
Best when the contract is a lease, a development deal or an operating agreement
The boutique with actual contract outcomes on the board. Goodkin has been going since 2006, runs seven attorneys out of Wilshire Boulevard in Westwood, and publishes results that are contract results: an $800,000 summary judgment against a national chain restaurant tenant, and a high six-figure settlement for breach of lease against a top ten tech company whose general counsel had refused any liability. Real estate is the centre of gravity. If your contract dispute is really about a lease, a development or an operating agreement, this is the contract dispute attorney in Los Angeles built around it.
Identity and footprint
Office10880 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1420, Los Angeles, CA 90024, in Westwood. The only one of the three with an office inside the City of Los Angeles.
Three live phone numbersThe site displays 424-245-7446 while its own call link dials 424-245-7480, and the footer prints both run together. The Google listing carries 310-552-3322, which is the number the founder’s directory profile has used since the firm traded as Goodkin & Lynch.
HoursMonday to Friday 9:00am to 5:00pm, and Saturday 9:00am to 4:00pm. The only firm here open at the weekend.
AttorneysDaniel L. Goodkin, Michael A. Shakouri, Elisabeth Anne Turner, Randy Aguirre, Michaela R. Heil, Maurice A. McCall Jr. and Lance Dismukes
Founded2006, originally as Goodkin & Lynch, previously at 1800 Century Park East
Badges shownLos Angeles County Bar Association, American Bar Association, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, a Persian American Bar Association mark, a consumer directory badge and Super Lawyers
Worth knowingMembership of a defense counsel association alongside an insurance coverage and risk management practice suggests the firm also acts for insurers and developers. Ask about conflicts if your opponent is one.
Practice and scope
Core workReal estate law first, then insurance coverage and risk management, then business law. The page title leads with real estate.
Where contract work sitsBreach of Contract is one of three pages under Business Law, alongside business and corporate litigation and operating agreement disputes
Adjacent contract workCommercial leases, construction disputes, investment partnerships, landlord-tenant disputes and partition actions, all of which are contract fights by another name
Published results$800,000 and possession on summary judgment in an unlawful detainer against a national chain restaurant tenant, a high six-figure breach of lease settlement against a top ten tech company, a $6.3 million commercial mortgage loan closing, and a $500,000 confidential settlement in a partnership dispute. These are the firm’s own published figures.
Why those results matter hereTwo of the four are contract outcomes with a named posture and an identifiable opponent type, which is more contract-specific evidence than either other firm on this page offers
Cost positioningThe site states outright that it aims to provide large-firm representation at a lower rate and talks about return on investment, which is unusual candour for a litigation boutique
Site faultsTwo of the seven attorney pages sit on legacy .html addresses rather than the current URL structure, which suggests an unfinished migration
Credentials and licensing
Daniel L. GoodkinCalifornia State Bar number 131347, with an undergraduate degree from UCLA and a J.D. from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
Name cautionA different California attorney with a closely similar name practises in Westlake Village under a different bar number. Search by number rather than by name.
Michael A. ShakouriNamed in more client reviews than any other attorney at the firm
Bench depthSeven attorneys, which sits between the solo practice and the fifty-person national firm elsewhere on this page
RecognitionA Super Lawyers badge is displayed for the founder. Inclusion in a list is not a rating of skill.
Fees and consultation
ConsultationBy request through an online form or the Los Angeles number. No free consultation is advertised.
The fee clause questionOn a lease or an operating agreement the fee provision is usually the whole economic story. Ask this firm in particular to price both outcomes under Civil Code 1717, because lease disputes are where that section bites hardest.
Insurance angleIf a policy might respond to the dispute, the firm’s coverage practice is a genuine advantage. Ask whether tender to your insurer is worth trying before suit.
What clients say
· Twelve reviews only, rating omitted
✓ A real estate broker refers repeatedly
✓ Michael Shakouri named most often
✓ A four year matter described in detail
✓ Reviews are contract and landlord disputes
Twelve reviews is below the threshold for showing a rating, but it is the most on-topic set on this page. A real estate broker describes meeting Daniel Goodkin through his own contract dispute and then referring clients for years. Another client describes a four year fight with a landlord over withheld funds, handled by Goodkin and Shakouri together. Michael Shakouri is named repeatedly, including by another lawyer sending him work. These are contract and property disputes rather than personal matters, which is what you want to see here.
Why they fit Los Angeles: The strongest fit when the contract at the centre of the fight is attached to property: a commercial lease, a development agreement, a construction contract, an LLC operating agreement between co-owners of a building. Two published contract outcomes against serious opponents, seven attorneys, an office in Westwood and a coverage practice that can look for an insurer to fund the defence is a genuinely useful combination. The honest caveats are focus and consistency. Real estate leads everything here and pure commercial contract work is one page inside business law, three different phone numbers are live across the site and Google, no rate is published behind the affordable rates claim, and only twelve reviews exist. Ask what share of the firm’s contract work has no property in it at all.
What to check before hiring a Contract Litigation Lawyer in Los Angeles
✓ Find the attorney fee clause and read it twice
Civil Code section 1717 makes it reciprocal whether the contract says so or not, so a clause drafted to protect the other side now protects you if you win, and exposes you if you lose. This single provision changes the settlement value of most contract disputes. Bring the contract to the first meeting with that paragraph marked, and ask the lawyer to price both outcomes.
✓ Work out whether the deal was written or oral
Four years from breach on a written contract under Code of Civil Procedure section 337, two years on an oral one under section 339. Most business relationships are a hybrid: a signed master agreement, then changes agreed by phone and confirmed by conduct. Those variations can sit on the shorter clock. Date the breach, not the discovery, because that is when the clock started.
✓ Check for an arbitration clause before you plan anything
If the contract sends disputes to arbitration, the litigation strategy you just discussed may be unavailable. Arbitration changes the cost profile, the discovery available, the appeal rights and the timeline, and the filing fees can run into thousands before anyone reads a brief. Find the clause, read what body it names, and ask what that body charges.
✓ Match the claim to the right track
Since January 2024 a dispute of $35,000 or less is a limited civil case with capped discovery and a faster route to trial, and below $12,500 an individual can use small claims without a lawyer at the hearing. On a modest claim the unlimited civil track can cost more than the dispute is worth. Ask which track the firm would file in and why.
✓ Get the fee basis and a phase estimate in writing
Contract litigation is normally hourly, and none of the three firms on this page publishes a rate. Ask for the hourly figure for each person who would touch the file, the retainer, and a realistic estimate to reach the end of written discovery, which is where most of the cost lands. Ask what happens to the estimate if the other side files a cross-complaint.
✓ Look up the bar number yourself, it takes two minutes
The State Bar of California licensee search is free and shows the number, admission date, current status, office of record and any public discipline. Search the individual who will sign the complaint, not the firm, and search by number where you have one, because similar names are common. None of the three firms here publishes a bar number on its own site.
Contract Litigation Lawyers in Los Angeles: frequently asked questions
How long do I have to sue for breach of contract in California?
Four years from the date of the breach on a written contract, under Code of Civil Procedure section 337, and two years on an oral contract under section 339. The clock runs from the breach rather than from when you discovered it, which catches people out on instalment agreements and long-running supply relationships. If the written deal was varied by a conversation, that variation may be treated as oral and carry the shorter period, so get the chronology in front of a lawyer early rather than assuming you have four years.
Who pays the legal fees in a contract dispute?
It depends entirely on the contract, and then not in the way the drafter intended. Under Civil Code section 1717, if the agreement contains an attorney fee provision it is reciprocal by operation of law, so the prevailing party recovers fees even if the clause named only the other side. Without such a clause each party normally bears its own fees, though recoverable costs still shift under Code of Civil Procedure sections 1032 and 1033.5. Read the clause before you decide whether to fight.
What does contract litigation cost in Los Angeles?
Almost always hourly. There is no contingency norm here the way there is in injury work, because the recovery is often a defence or an offset rather than a cash award. None of the three firms on this page publishes a rate, so ask for the hourly figure for each timekeeper, the retainer, and an estimate to the end of written discovery. Then ask the question that actually matters, which is what your exposure is under the contract’s fee clause if you lose.
Is my dispute too small to litigate?
Possibly, and the court has made the cheaper routes bigger. Since 1 January 2024 a claim of $35,000 or less proceeds as a limited civil case, with restricted discovery and a faster path to trial, and an individual claiming $12,500 or less can use small claims where no lawyer appears at the hearing. Businesses are capped at $6,250 in small claims. The Los Angeles Superior Court sponsored the bill that raised those limits, which tells you what it thinks belongs on those tracks.
What can I actually recover for a breach?
The general measure is what you would have received had the contract been performed: compensatory damages for the economic loss. Specific performance is available where money is inadequate, most commonly with unique property. Liquidated damages apply where the contract sets a sum in advance, provided it is a reasonable estimate rather than a penalty. What you generally cannot recover on a straight contract claim is emotional distress or punitive damages, which is why claimants often plead fraud alongside breach.
Does an arbitration clause mean I cannot go to court?
Usually it means the merits will be decided by an arbitrator rather than a judge, though a court still handles enforcement. Arbitration changes almost every assumption in a litigation plan: discovery is narrower, there is no jury, appeal rights are very limited, and the filing and arbitrator fees can be substantial before any argument happens. Find the clause first, note which arbitration body it names, and get the fee schedule for that body before you commit to a strategy.
DJA Editorial
Legal Directory Research
Compiles Distinguished Justice Advocates city guides from state bar licensee records, statutes and publicly visible client reviews. Firms appear as a shortlist rather than a ranking. Figures a firm publishes about itself are labelled as such, ratings drawn from very small review bases are omitted, and anything that could not be verified is flagged on the page rather than estimated.
Sources and method
- State Bar of California licensee search: licence numbers, admission dates, registered offices, current status and public discipline for each named attorney, with anything unconfirmed flagged on the page.
- Firm websites, practice pages and attorney directories: office addresses, phone numbers, named attorneys, practice scope, published results, memberships and fee positioning.
- Google Business Profile listings for each firm’s Los Angeles area office: review counts, opening hours and the review text behind the client themes, with ratings omitted throughout because every listing carries fewer than 15 reviews.
- California Civil Code section 1717: the reciprocal effect of a contractual attorney fee provision.
- California Code of Civil Procedure sections 337 and 339: the four year and two year limitation periods for written and oral contracts.
- California Code of Civil Procedure sections 1032 and 1033.5: the costs recoverable by a prevailing party independently of any fee clause.
- Senate Bill 71, Chapter 861, Statutes of 2023, amending Code of Civil Procedure sections 85 and 116.221: the limited civil and small claims jurisdictional limits effective 1 January 2024.
- Public attorney directories and claimed profiles: additional background on education, prior firm names and practice history.
