The Firm

Joseph Farzam has a remarkable life story. When he was only 14 years old, he fled the daily bombings and missile attacks of the then war-torn Iran and escaped through the borders to Pakistan, leaving his family behind. After a few months, he and the other refugees he was living among flew to Vienna, Austria. After about a year, he was granted refugee asylum and permitted to enter the United States.

Mr. Farzam attended Santa Monica high school and worked at McDonalds and local coffee shops to support himself. Although he worked 2 or 3 jobs, he valued education greatly and earned a bachelors degree from California State University, Northridge in biology and attended the prestigious Pepperdine University School of Law. He graduated with high marks and passed the California bar exam on the first try.

Early in his practice, Mr. Farzam became a certified and registered patent attorney helping inventors prosecute their patent applications with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Having been a victim of war and discrimination and having grown up with modest means, Mr. Farzam’s heart was always with the victims. Accordingly, over 19 years ago, in 2002, Mr. Farzam founded Farzam Law Firm as a law firm that would represent victims against insurance companies and the big corporations.

For Mr. Farzam, no case was too big, no area of law too challenging and no adversary too formidable. He successfully took on many corporate giants and litigated ferociously and aggressively and obtained many millions of dollars in settlements and verdicts.

Mr. Farzam has conducted more than 20 jury trials in multiple states, resulting in impressive verdicts. He successfully litigated against big companies such as Apple, Macy’s, Starbucks, Air France, Carnival Cruises, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Ralph’s, Federal Express and celebrities such as Anna Nicole Smith and Keanu Reeves. He has litigated before state and federal courts.

He has argued in front of the California Courts of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit. While licensed and practicing in California, he has also litigated and tried cases through the pro hac vice process in Texas, Florida, Arizona, Nevada, Washington, New York, Alaska, Colorado, Iowa, Montana, Oregon, Alabama, Illinois, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Indiana, building a firm which services clients both locally and nationally.

Mr. Farzam has litigated in the areas of personal injury, labor and employment, maritime law, products liability, business and patent litigation and has been certified as class counsel in a number of class actions in state and federal matters where he was appointed to represent thousands of class members.  Joseph Farzam is a fearless warrior who will go to any extent to seek justice and help his clients vindicate their rights against those who harmed them.

He has built a very successful practice with no advertising; almost all of his clients are either referred by satisfied former clients or other attorneys who refer him cases or bring him on as co-counsel to litigate and try difficult and complicated cases. Mr. Farzam has received the coveted titles of Super Lawyer, Los Angeles Magazine’s Top Lawyers and has received The Litigator Awards.  He is a proud member of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) and California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA).

When he is not fighting for his clients, he enjoys spending time with his three children and spending time with friends.  Mr. Farzam is also an accomplished musician singing opera tenor and plays the piano, guitar and violin.  His favorite hobby however is giving back to the community through his charitable work providing legal services at no cost to those who cannot afford to hire an attorney.

Michelle Weiss is a seasoned personal injury attorney with more than a decade of experience fighting for clients across California. A graduate of Santa Clara University School of Law, Michelle finished in the top quarter of the class. Since law school, Michelle has built a reputation as a skilled litigator, persuasive advocate, and relentless defender of client rights.

Michelle focuses exclusively on personal injury litigation, where she combines the art of persuasion with litigation strategy to secure the best possible settlements for her clients. Beyond depositions, discovery, and trial, Michelle also excels at breaking down complex legal issues so that her clients feel informed and empowered throughout their cases.

Michelle has spent extensive time abroad, including teaching English in Nanjing, China, interning in Shanghai, and studying as an exchange student in Munich, Germany. As a result, Michelle speaks German fluently and Mandarin Chinese conversationally, bringing valuable cross-cultural understanding to the practice of law.

A lifelong debater, Michelle grew up watching Perry Mason and has wanted to be an attorney since elementary school. Much to her parents’ chagrin, Michelle has been honing the art of argument and persuasion her entire life, slowly mastering the art of getting what she (and her clients) want. That competitive spirit continues to drive her success in and out of the courtroom.

Outside of the office, Michelle enjoys spending time with her husband and children, caring for a lively household of pets (including a cat, dog, and goats), hiking, traveling, studying languages, and reading about military history and 19th-century exploration and shipwrecks.

Larry A. Strauss is a Senior Associate. His practice focuses on personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Mr. Strauss is a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent-rated and Avvo Superb-rated attorney with 22-plus years of diverse litigation experience in state and federal courts throughout the United States, including trials and multi-million-dollar verdicts/settlements. He has both a plaintiff and defense background, and his vast experience includes complex personal injury, wrongful death, property damage, commercial litigation, employment law, real estate, and bankruptcy matters. Strauss has previously worked in private practice at several law firms, served as in-house litigation counsel for a corporation, and in state government. In law school, he clerked for Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice J. Michael Eakin.

Examples of the diverse cases he’s handled include:

 A wrongful death matter in South Carolina involving a father of four who died in a catastrophic crash after the liquid fuel truck he was driving was hit by another trucker who ran a stop sign. The matter was removed to federal court and ultimately resolved in excess of $9 million;
 Prevailing at trial in the Bronx, NY, for $1 million in a bus vs. bicyclist injury case;
 Resolution of federal court litigation against an insurer who initially denied any coverage of the developer’s insurance claim, which asserted millions in losses due to flooding of the construction site pre-construction due to Hurricane Irma. The case settled at mediation for $1.85 million;
 Prevailing at trial in Panama City against an insurer who denied the contractor’sassignment-of-benefits claim for Hurricane Michael damages;
 A rape case involving a ride share service driver who attacked a woman after bringing her home. The matter resolved for $5 million in mediation;
 A discrimination claim against a major brewery involving racial and gender discrimination against 17 employees at multiple plants which settled pre-litigation for $17 million;
 A discrimination claim brought by a minority-owned vendor against a major bank resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement at mediation for discrimination in contracting;
 Litigation of multiple Takata airbag claims against various auto manufacturers, which each resolved at mediation for multi-million dollar settlements due to the catastrophic injuries which resulted;
 A rape case of a teen while in treatment in a St. Louis, Mo., drug rehabilitation facility which resolved pre-litigation at mediation for $1.5 million;
 An assault case involving the inappropriate touching of a woman by her masseur while getting a massage at a luxury resort hotel in Miami Beach. The case settled for $500,000 at mediation. Strauss’s diverse litigation skills, broad experience, and creative approach make him a valued member of the firm’s litigation team. A Florida native, Strauss worked as a journalist a newspapers throughout Florida and in Washington, D.C., for nearly a decade prior to beginning his legal career. Strauss obtained his law degree from Penn State, and journalism degree from the University of Florida.

He is admitted to practice in:

 Florida (Bar No. 654671);
 U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida;
 U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida;
 U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida;
 U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida;
 U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida;
 U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit;
 U.S. Supreme Court.

Christopher Forbes Goodrich, Esq. is our supervising employment attorney. Christopher has dedicated his legal practice to fighting for employees since joining the California Bar in 2016. Christopher has extensive litigation and arbitration experience handling cases that involve wrongful termination, discrimination, and sexual harassment, as well as countless wage and hour issues.

Christopher grew up in North Carolina, obtaining a bachelor’s of psychology from East Carolina University with a minor in sociology. There, he studied the intersection between law and psychology and developed a deep interest in using the law to help people who were underrepresented in the legal system. After receiving his undergraduate degree, Christopher accepted a scholarship offer to study at California Western School of Law.

At California Western, Christopher joined the Public Interest Law Foundation, which focuses on helping increase access to the law, and the Exonerate Student Organization, which focuses on raising awareness about wrongful convictions. Christopher also worked as a certified legal intern for the California Innocence Project and the San Diego Public Defender’s Multiple Conflict Major Case Unit. In both internships, Christopher represented criminal defendants facing life in prison. Despite the high stakes, Christopher was trusted to handle these cases against some of California’s most experienced prosecutors. Through these internships, Christopher learned how to advocate tirelessly for his clients, no matter the obstacle.

Christopher graduated from law school in 2016 in the top half of his class and passed the state bar on his first attempt. Afterward, he joined a large employment firm representing thousands of employees in cases against their former employers. Christopher was quickly promoted to team leader and assigned a large docket of cases to oversee from beginning to end—earning millions of dollars in settlements. Christopher was then tapped to lead that firm’s arbitration division, where he successfully navigated hundreds of cases through arbitration before leaving to join Farzam Law so that he could focus on providing a more personal approach to his clients.

As the supervising employment attorney at Farzam Law, Christopher makes sure that we never think of our clients as just a number. Christopher and his team maintain a smaller caseload than large corporate firms do so that he can dedicate more time and attention to your case.

Christopher and his staff are committed to helping distressed and mistreated employees obtain the largest possible recovery and peace of mind.