Steven Knott graduated from U.C. Davis Law School, and he received his bachelor’s degree from U.C. Berkeley. At U.C. Davis, he received the American Jurisprudence awards for first in his class in appellate advocacy 1 and 2. He also took first place in the moot court oral advocacy competition and received the award for best brief. His classmates elected him as the 1990 graduation ceremony student speaker. He has been featured in Los Angeles Magazine as one of Southern California’s “Super Lawyers” and is rated “AV” by Martindale Hubbell.

Before attending law school, Mr. Knott served as a field artillery canon battery officer in the United States Marine Corps, First Marine Amphibious Brigade. His last assignment in the Marines was as a non-lawyer prosecutor. He prosecuted eighty-three contested misconduct administrative hearings and twelve courts martial.

After law school, he started in the litigation section of Texaco Inc. in Universal City, California, trying state and federal lawsuits and arguing appeals in the areas of commercial fraud, breach of contract, the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act, trademark infringement, antitrust, and environmental contamination under CERCLA and RCRA. Mr. Knott then left Texaco Inc. to join a newly formed firm, Zevnik Horton, which eventually grew to a firm of over 100 lawyers. Mr. Knott was elected to partner, and in 1996 he became the managing partner of the Los Angeles office. While there, Mr. Knott handled environmental insurance coverage cases for Sunoco, Crane Co., ITT Corporation, Conoco, Kaiser Steel, and PepsiAmericas. In 2001, Mr. Knott formed his own law firm, with offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. He represented PepsiAmericas, Crane Co., Lockheed Martin, Philips Electronics, and other clients including television broadcasters, hospitals, finance entities and individuals in breach of contract, fraud, CERCLA, insurance disputes, business torts, and counseling in contract negotiations with Boeing.

Mr. Knott has tried over forty jury and bench trials as lead counsel. The cases cover a wide range of issues from fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, groundwater contamination, computer network disputes, petroleum franchise disputes, and asbestos bodily injury defense. He has also briefed and argued appeals before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and California Courts of Appeal and has briefed a case before the United States Supreme Court to defeat certiorari.

Mr. Knott joined Baute Crochetiere & Maloney LLP in January, 2012. Mr. Knott focuses on achieving business results where settlement is reasonable. If not, then he will turn to executing a plan to achieve a prompt judicial decision or a trial win.

Areas of Practice:

Anititrust

Business and Commercial Law

Contracts

Employment Law--Employer

Employment Law--Employee

Insurance Coverage

Litigation and Appeals

Asbestos Defense

Petroleum Marketing Practices Act

Real Estate Litigation

Toxic Torts—Defense and CERCLA cost recovery

Trademarks

 

Education:

University of California at Davis School of Law, Davis, California

 

Honors: American Jurisprudence Awards in Appellate Advocacy

 

Honors: First place for moot court brief and first place oral advocacy, National moot court team, student commencement speaker

 

University of California, Berkeley Bachelors

Bar Adminissions:

California, 1990

Representative Cases:

Simaan v. Texaco

Claussen v. Texaco

Cavalaris v. Texaco

Kompanion v. Texaco

California RWQCB v. Texaco

Texaco v. Douglas Oil

Sunoco v. Lloyds of London, et al.

Conoco v. Allianz, et al.

Crane Co. v. Allstate, et al.

Jeong v. Chevron Texaco, Unocal

Military Courts Martial

Multiple State Criminal Prosecutions

Durham v. Lockheed Martin Corporation

Jalisco v. Argonaut Insurance

Flores v. Philips Electronics North America (one of over 12 similar actions)

California Regional Water Board v. PepsiAmericas, Inc.

National RV v. Crane Composites

KJLA v. Charter Communications

United Television Broadcasting Systems v. Rancho Palos Verdes Broadcasters, Inc.

Representative Clients:

Texaco Inc.

ITT Corporation

Sunoco Inc.

Conoco Inc.

PepsiAmericas, Inc.

KXLA Television

KJLA Television

Crane Co.

ChemFree Corporation

Krystal Air, Inc.

Lockheed Martin Corporation

Precision Castparts Corp.

Textron Inc.

Downey Regional Medical Center

Philips Electronics North America Corporation

Costa de Oro Television, Inc.

U.S.K. International, Inc.

Inglewood Park Cemetery

AK Steel Corporation

Kaiser Steel, Inc.

Thorpe Insulation Company

Philips Medical Systems North America Company

Grubb & Ellis, Inc.

Mount St. Mary’s College

Entravision Communications Corporation

Honors and Awards:

California Super Lawyers, Los Angeles Magazine

Past Employment Positions:

United States Marine Corps, Captain

Texaco Inc., Attorney

Zevnik Horton, Partner

Knott & Glazier, Partner

Birth Information:

January 3, 1961, Columbia, South Carolina, United States of America