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Partner
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San Francisco
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- T: +1 415.655.8100
- D: +1 415.655.8157
- F: +1 415.655.8099
- lfales@bwslaw.com
Leslie Fales is an accomplished litigator with more than a decade of experience successfully handling complex, high-stakes disputes. She is recognized for her strategic judgment, courtroom precision, and steadfast commitment to client advocacy.
As a partner in Burke, Williams & Sorensen LLP’s Litigation and Construction Practice Groups, Leslie manages all phases of case management, from early case assessment through trial. She has successfully defended clients in complex personal injury matters involving motor vehicle and trucking accidents, workplace and construction site injuries, premises liability, and product defect claims. In her construction practice, she represents developers, contractors, and design professionals in defect litigation, guiding them through technically demanding disputes with a focus on efficient, favorable outcomes. She is also frequently called upon to take over problematic cases midstream, bringing fresh perspective and decisive strategy to resolve stalled or high-exposure matters.
Before joining Burke, Leslie practiced at regional and national defense firms, where she successfully represented Fortune 500 companies, industry leaders, homeowners associations, small businesses, and individuals in both state and federal courts. Her caseload included catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims, multi-party construction defect litigation, business and real estate disputes, habitability actions, and common interest development cases. In these roles, she earned a reputation as a trusted resource for clients navigating complex litigation, valued for her practical and results-driven approach.
Leslie earned her J.D. from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where she was a merit scholar, president of the Women’s Law Association, and a member of the school’s award-winning trial team. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating as a four-time leadership scholar.
Before practicing law, Leslie gained valuable institutional experience in the Office of Legal Affairs at UC Berkeley, where she supported the Chief Campus Counsel.
- Achieved summary judgment in Los Angeles County for two traffic mobility services clients in a catastrophic injury case, involving an allegedly defective traffic light system and claimed damages exceeding eight figures.
- Second chair of trial team which successfully resolved via trial/settlement over $50 million of claims for environmental contamination at the San Francisco Design Center.
- Second chair of arbitration team which resolved complex and longstanding HOA dispute regarding easement access between two associations. Achieved settlement terms which granted the client favorable outcomes as to all of its key demands.
- Achieved summary judgment in catastrophic injury matter involving an industrial degloving injury and eight figures of claimed damages in Alameda County.
- Defeated petition for joinder in arbitration which attempted to join mechanical engineering client to arbitration proceeding related to seven figures of alleged construction and design defects arising out of the construction of the Chase Center.
- Achieved favorable settlement in catastrophic injury case involving eight figure claimed damages from spinal injuries arising out of a truck collision.
- Achieved favorable settlement in traumatic brain injury case involving seven figures of claimed damages arising from a slip and fall accident at a national water park chain.
- Achieved favorable settlement in premises liability matter involving complex orthopedic injuries from accident at recreational facility.
- Obtained voluntary dismissal in personal injury matter involving negligence claim arising from use of a tomato staking tool.
- Deposed key corporate officer in seven figure personal injury case and elicited testimony which exculpated client from liability and leveraged dismissal.
- Achieved favorable settlement for defense client in intentional assault and battery case arising from trespass to private property in Sonoma County.
- Obtained order denying plaintiff’s Daubert motion to exclude client retained expert in multi-plaintiff vehicular collision case, in Federal District Court.
- J.D., University of San Francisco School of Law, 2012
- B.A., History, University of California, Berkeley, 2004
- State Bar of California
- United States District Court for the Central District of California
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of California
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
