Michael J. Chilleen

Michael Chilleen is a partner in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm's Orange County office.

Areas of Practice

Michael specializes in class action defense and disability access discrimination claims under both the Americans With Disabilities Act and California state accessibility standards. His experience includes representing Starbucks, Ralphs, Food 4 Less, Taco Bell, Home Depot, KFC, The Irvine Company, the City of Riverside, Covenant Care, Little Caesar’s Pizza, Live Nation, Regal Entertainment Group, Regency Theatres, Dollar Tree, Michaels/Aaron Brothers Craft Stores, Adir/La Curacao Stores, In-N-Out Burgers, and Auto Club of Southern California, with respect to disability access claims.

Michael has extensive trial experience, having tried over 30 cases to verdict, including several class actions. He has defended statewide class actions against Caltrans, Starbucks, Ralphs Grocery Stores, Adir/La Curacao Store, Sport Chalet, Regency Theatres, Auto Club of Southern California, Taco Bell, The Irvine Company, and Dollar Tree.

Michael’s practice focuses not only on all aspects of litigation, but includes consulting on disability access issues to prevent lawsuits, advising on landlord/tenant disputes regarding responsibility for common areas, implementing policies and procedures to train employees about accessibility laws, and interacting with state agencies to facilitate hardship waivers for accessibility remediations.

Michael’s experience also includes significant appellate work, including landmark Ninth Circuit decisions on disability access issues, such as Oliver v. Ralphs Grocery Stores and Lonberg v. City of Riverside.

Honors

Southern California Super Lawyer, Super Lawyers, 2015, 2016

Articles

• New ACA Regulations Require Online Accessibility, Employee Benefit Advisor, July 28, 2016
• The Proliferation of ADA Website Lawsuits, Association of Business Trial Lawyers, ABTL Report, Summer 2016
• New Affordable Care Act and Medicaid regulations Will Require Covered Entities Providing Healthcare Programs and Services to Have Accessible Websites, The National Law Review, July 2016

• "New ADA Lawsuits Target Website Accessibility," Corporate Counsel, June 5, 2015
• "New Point-Of-Sale ADA Lawsuits," Hospitality Business News, April 21, 2015
• "Litigation Strategies in Defending ADA Title II Lawsuits," League of Cities, April 2015
• "Do Self-Serve POS Devices Risk ADA-Type Lawsuits?" Restaurant Hospitality, March 23, 2015
• "Examining the New ADA Lawsuits on Point of Sale Devices," Inside Counsel, February 11, 2015
• "New ADA Lawsuits on Point of Sale Devices," National Association of Theatre Owners of California/Nevada, January 2015

Labor and Employment Law Blog Posts

• "Is Your Online Job Application Accessible To The Visually Impaired? The Newest Website Accessibility Claims," March 28, 2018 

Healthcare Law Blog Posts

• "New Affordable Care Act and Medicaid Regulations Will Require Covered Entities Providing Healthcare Programs and Services to Have Accessible Websites," July 15, 2016

Memberships

Member, Orange County Bar Association

Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers

Member, International Council of Shopping Centers

Member, Board of Directors, America on Track