Daniel Forouzan of Forouzan Law sat down with Attorney at Law Magazine Los Angeles to discuss his solo practice and the different issues that brought him to his legal career.
AALM: When did you first know you wanted to become an attorney? What drew you to this career?
Forouzan: My parents would tell you that I became an attorney the day they told me, “no more toys.” Joking aside, I think what got me started was bullying. I can still remember a student at my high school who was regularly tormented by his peers. The teachers seemed aloof, allowing it to continue and sometimes even blaming the victim. While childhood bullying isn’t the biggest deal in the world, seeing it happen molded my view of things. Today, nothing motivates me more than a wrongdoer who is trying to get away with it or a victim who feels hopeless. Thankfully, through my practice, I can hold people accountable. If you do something wrong, please take responsibility. Otherwise my office will assist you in doing so.
AALM: What experiences have taught you the most?
Forouzan: During my first few years of practice, I was fortunate to procure a significant amount of contract work. I drafted motions for big law attorneys and regularly attended their hearings and trials. As a result, I gained both a familiarity and comfort with written discovery, motions, and oral arguments. I was also contracted by another firm to defend hundreds of depositions. After a year, I had nearly three hundred deposition defenses under my belt. That’s nearly three hundred client preparations and thousands of lines of questions, answers, objections, and theatrics that I gained familiarity with. As a result, I picked up on patterns and tendencies within oral testimony and, to this day, am invited to various outlets to lecture on the topic.
AALM: What do you find most rewarding about your career? What do you find particularly challenging about your practice? How to you overcome these challenges?
Forouzan: Winning my client’s respect. I recently handled a wrongful death case on behalf of a widow. The defendant had little insurance coverage and was otherwise judgment proof. After months of investigation, I came to the conclusion that the meager insurance policy was all the compensation I could obtain for my client. In the end, I waived my attorney fees and apologized to my client since there was nothing more I could do. She responded to me in a tone that only a widow could, saying “I lost my husband, but without you guiding me, I would have lost myself too.” We tearfully embraced. As I gave her the final paperwork, I could tell I had fulfilled my duty as her advocate. That’s what counts.
AALM: How would you describe your practice? What is your main area of law?
Forouzan: Forouzan Law is a boutique consumer advocacy firm. We do all forms of consumer law, including catastrophic injury, wrongful death, employment and labor, class action, and child abuse and molestation claims. We purposefully maintain a small pool of high value clients, allowing us to dedicate significant levels of analysis to each case. This way, each of my clients gets the attention to detail and zealous advocacy they deserve.
AALM: What do you enjoy doing outside of work? Hobbies? Sports?
Forouzan: Quite a bit. For starters, I began playing piano when I was eight years old. I was trained in both American jazz and Russian classical. By twelve, I was writing my own musical pieces and to this day I still compose. I’m also an avid cigar collector. I’ve sought out rare cigars and, after nearly two decades of doing so, have amassed an impressive collection. While it may sound dichotomous, I’m also rather health conscious. I spend a lot of time sprouting seeds, growing microgreens, or “farming” as I jokingly call it. It went from a “health kick” to a hobby and now to a full-blown obsession. In fact, launching my second non-profit organization, the Forouzan Foundation, in 2020 to discuss the dramatic new findings in the arena of anti-aging sciences and hopefully proliferate the importance of a healthy diet. I’m also a fan of sciences such as astrophysics, quantum physics, and social anthropology.
AALM: What events are you most looking forward to in the coming year?
Forouzan: Any and all Westside Bar Association events.
