Congratulations to Zackary Schwartz – CLM Phenom Under 40

When evaluating this year’s “Phenoms Under 40” submissions, one thing became perfectly clear: The future is bright. The industry’s young professionals are not only dedicated to excellence in their claims and litigation roles, but also they are committed to lifting up those around them and serving their communities. This made it difficult to select just 10 young professionals for recognition; our list could have easily been twice that. This year’s winners, though, had an extra quality that elevated them. Maybe it was one truly unique accomplishment in their professional role. Maybe it was an inspiring way of giving back. Check out the below profiles to read about the top young professionals within CLM and discover why they can only be described as phenomenal.

Click here to see all the Honorees

Zackary Schwartz, Irvine Partner           

Zachary Schwartz’s rise within Koeller Nebeker Carlson Haluck LLP is impressive enough: After five years as an attorney, he became a non-equity partner at just 31 years old. A few years later, he was made equity partner at 35. Even more impressive, though, was taking the lead on the firm’s team that serves the County of Orange in California—the sixth-largest county in the U.S.—as outside counsel in civil litigation.

“For me, my work for the County of Orange is my proudest accomplishment and one of the more interesting aspects of my work because it is such a large entity with diverse types of issues I have to deal with,” says Schwartz.

Schwartz says his career-defining moment was his first solo trial after taking the lead for the County of Orange. “It was a civil rights case involving an inmate in the jail who was claiming he was sexually assaulted by a guard. I took that case to trial…and it went well. We got a unanimous defense verdict” in federal court.

Schwartz cites his strong writing skills as an attribute that helped him stand out at his firm. His nominator cites his work ethic, eagerness to learn, kindness, and excellent comprehension of difficult legal issues.

For his part, Schwartz highlights kindness when imparting advice to fellow young professionals: “You have to be willing to work hard, but you have to do it with kindness. You really have to be kind in your practice, whether it’s with your colleagues or opposing counsel.”