Brian Walters is a partner in the law firm of Poole Shaffery. He specializes in innovative legal strategy and creative problem solving on behalf of clients. His practice includes civil litigation and appeals, probate litigation, trust litigation, alternative dispute resolution, insurance coverage, employment, transactional, regulatory, healthcare, intellectual property, religious organizations and religious freedom, real estate, environmental and land use, corporate governance, privacy and cybersecurity, entertainment, constitutional law, higher education and general counsel services.
Graduating magna cum laude, Mr. Walters was the first ever graduate of the Bachelor of Arts in political science and Master of Public Administration joint degree at The George Washington University in 2000. He is a 2003 graduate of the UCLA School of Law, where he served as the Chief Articles Editor for the UCLA Journal of Law & Technology and on the Moot Court Honors Program Executive Board.
While in law school, Brian worked in the legal department of a Fortune 200 company. Upon graduating, he was an associate at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP representing Fortune 100 companies and other plaintiffs and defendants in commercial and general business litigation, antitrust, and unfair competition, class actions, regulatory and securities actions, higher education and intellectual property disputes. His clients included industry leaders in technology, retail, entertainment, insurance, telecommunications, transportation, accounting, energy and healthcare. He was also part of a legal team representing a pro bono client that helped obtain a rarely granted writ of certiorari from the United States Supreme Court that eventually led to a Supreme Court victory.
Mr. Walters left Gibson Dunn to become the General Counsel and top-3 executive for a publicly traded company. For more than a decade, he served as in-house general counsel advising companies in diverse industries, including real estate, private equity, healthcare, logistics, consumer goods and fintech.
His clients have also included three major world religious organizations, two of the largest healthcare organizations, multiple colleges, and one of the largest private companies in California, as well as startups. He is admitted to practice in the Central District of California and District of Colorado, as well as all California state courts. Mr. Walters is a member of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Since 2009, Brian Walters has served on the Governing Board of the Newhall School District, recently identified in a Stanford University research study as the top elementary school district in the state of California. He is a past Director (2008-2013) for CPI Holdings, LLC, manufacturer of Champion and Tomco auto parts. He is the co-founder of the William S. Hart District (WiSH) Education Foundation (leading the legal team that set up the organization’s 501(c)(3)), also serving two terms as Board Chairman. He is a founding member of the ESCAPE Theatre Advisory Board and also serves on the Board of Directors of the West Ranch Lacrosse Foundation. In total, he has served on the management team of more than a dozen organizations. He worked on Capitol Hill for both his Congressman and Senator. He also coached youth basketball, baseball, flag football and soccer. Mr. Walters is conversant in Spanish.
He is an Eagle Scout and was recognized in 2010 by the Santa Clarita Valley Business Journal and SCV Jaycees as a 40 Under Forty Honoree for exemplary professional and community contributions. In 2014, the California State Assembly honored Mr. Walters for his professional work and civic and community service.
Mr. Walters has represented plaintiffs and defendants evenly over the course of his career. Because of his lengthy tenure as a general counsel, and the breadth of his practice, he also has substantial transactional experience throughout the entire business life cycle, with deals totaling approximately $100 million, including real estate portfolios, commercial properties, landlord/tenant matters, mergers and acquisitions, buy-sell and partnership and business entity agreements.
He has appeared and argued in local and state administrative proceedings. He has led internal investigations, cybersecurity incident response teams, and government inquiry response teams. Leveraging his diversified and unique business and legal experience, knowledge and background, Mr. Walters is able to identify issues and solutions often overlooked by other legal counsel.