Three Murtaugh LLP lawyers named to Lawdragon’s 2027 leading litigators list

Murtaugh LLP said Senior Partner Robert T. Lemen and Partners Devin E. Murtaugh and Lauren E. Saint were selected for the 2027 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America. The recognition highlights the firm’s work in trust and estate disputes, business litigation, and design professional defense across Southern California.

Why it matters: - The Lawdragon list spotlights litigators handling high-stakes disputes across the country. - Three Murtaugh LLP attorneys earned the honor in the same year, underscoring the depth of the firm’s trial and appellate bench. - The recognition aligns with Murtaugh LLP’s core practices in trust and probate litigation, business disputes, professional liability and real estate matters.

What happened: - Murtaugh LLP announced that Senior Partner Robert T. Lemen and Partners Devin E. Murtaugh and Lauren E. Saint were selected to the 2027 Lawdragon 500 Leading Litigators in America. - The annual guide recognizes accomplished litigators handling significant disputes across a broad range of practice areas. - The firm is based in Southern California.

The details: - Robert T. Lemen represents family members, trustees, businesses and business owners in trust, probate and complex civil disputes. - Lemen’s practice includes will and trust contests, trust administration disputes, partnership and corporate ownership disputes, breach of contract claims, trade secret matters and employment litigation. - Lemen won a five-week trust trial that led to compensatory damages, statutory penalties, attorney’s fees and costs after representing a beneficiary whose inheritance had been depleted through transfers of trust assets. - Lemen also secured a unanimous arbitration award for compensatory and punitive damages in a business dispute, which ultimately led to a multimillion-dollar settlement. - Lemen is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. - Devin E. Murtaugh represents companies, owners, fiduciaries and individuals in complex civil disputes. - Murtaugh’s work includes breach of contract and fiduciary duty claims, shareholder and partnership disputes, business torts, real estate and construction litigation, high-value trust and estate disputes, and professional liability defense for architecture and engineering firms. - Murtaugh has tried numerous cases to verdict in Southern California courts. - His trial results include defeating a $20 million claim tied to an alleged exclusion from a major acquisition opportunity. - He also defeated claims seeking $2.8 million and a 50 percent ownership interest in a multifamily property. - Murtaugh won a defense verdict for a structural engineering firm in a $1.7 million professional negligence case. - On appeal, Murtaugh has obtained reversals of trial court rulings, including a probate judgment involving family real estate ownership. - Murtaugh regularly speaks on contract negotiation and risk management and participates in the ACEC California Attorney's Roundtable. - Lauren E. Saint focuses on complex trust and estate litigation for trustees and beneficiaries. - Saint’s practice includes fiduciary duty disputes, capacity, undue influence, contested estate plans and administration of significant family assets. - Saint also works on business and real estate litigation and handles matters through discovery, trial and appeal. - Saint recently served as lead trial counsel in a forged-deed case that produced double damages, attorney’s fees and a recovery exceeding $1 million. - She also helped prosecute breach of fiduciary duty claims in litigation over a family asset valued at more than $100 million, leading to findings of gross negligence. - In another trust dispute, Saint secured a judgment preserving her client’s interest in real property valued at more than $700,000. - Together, the three attorneys illustrate the range of Murtaugh LLP’s litigation work, which also includes employment matters. - Murtaugh LLP said the three lawyers’ selection reflects the firm’s broader litigation experience.

Between the lines: - The shared recognition suggests Murtaugh LLP is positioning its litigation group around courtroom depth, not just transactional breadth. - The individual results cited in the announcement emphasize trial wins, arbitration outcomes and appellate reversals, all of which are useful credentials in a competitive litigation market. - The firm’s mix of trust, business and professional liability work points to a practice built for complex, high-value disputes.

What's next: - Murtaugh LLP is likely to keep using the recognition to reinforce its litigation profile with clients facing trust, business and professional liability disputes. - The firm’s attorneys will continue handling matters through trial and appeal across Southern California and beyond.

The bottom line: - Lawdragon’s latest list gives Murtaugh LLP a high-visibility validation of the firm’s litigation bench, led by three attorneys with record-setting and high-value dispute experience.

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