Wendy Chang represents businesses in all types of business litigation, with particular emphasis in high exposure complex litigation, trials and appeals. Ms. Chang represents corporate and governmental entities in a variety of high exposure media interest litigation, including complex tort defense, commodities litigation, fraud and conspiracy claims, insurance litigation (coverage litigation, bad faith), contracts, and complex business disputes from filing through mediation, trial, arbitration, and/or appeal. She regularly appears before the trial courts and the courts of appeal. Ms. Chang also represents businesses in defense of employment litigation, in discrimination, harassment and retaliation claims. She has served as an independent workplace investigator for public entities in sensitive matters relating to human resource issues.

Ms. Chang also represents lawyers (both outside counsel and in house counsel) in all types of complex matters that involve the practice of the law, including risk management counseling, ethics, crises management, shadow counseling, fee claims, fee disputes, conflicts, disqualification, discipline and litigation defense. Ms. Chang is a certified specialist in Legal Malpractice Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization.

Ms. Chang’s reported decisions include:

• Myrick v. Mastagni, (2010) 185 Cal.App.4th 1082. Held: city ordinance retrofitting deadline does not insulate owners from negligence for death or injury that occurs from earthquake related damage occurring prior to the compliance date; Civil Code 1431.1 and 1431.2 limiting tort liability for non-economic damage does not apply to defendants in joint venture.
• Zenith Insurance Company v. Cozen O’Connor, (2007) 148 Cal. App. 4th 998. Held: No duty of care owed by attorneys to reinsurer.

Prior to joining Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP in February 2004, Ms. Chang was a senior associate at the national law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Los Angeles, where she focused on complex business litigation. Prior to Manatt, Ms. Chang was a senior associate with Baker, Keener & Nahra, a boutique Los Angeles trial firm, where her practice focused on litigation of high exposure and high profile matters. Ms. Chang has also served a stint as Vice President of Claims for a surety company, and was an intern for the Taipei-based law firm Lee & Li.

Ms. Chang serves on the California State Bar’s Standing Committee on Professional Responsibility & Conduct (COPRAC). She is also a 2007 appointee as an alternate to the California State Bar’s 2008 Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE). In addition, Ms. Chang serves on the Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee (PREC) and the State Appellate Judicial Evaluation Committee for the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Ms. Chang is a member of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA), where she serves as a co-chair to its Judiciary Committee. In May 2012, as NAPABA’s representative, Ms. Chang met with President Barack Obama and senior Obama administration officials on the issue of judicial vacancies and the resulting crisis in the federal courts. Ms. Chang is the 2009 recipient of NAPABA’s Presidential Award. In addition, she was selected as one of NAPABA’s “Best Lawyers Under 40” for 2009.

She also serves on the Board of Governors of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles (WLALA), where she serves as Chair of the Appointive Office Committee. In addition, Ms. Chang is a member of the Advisory Board of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Los Angeles.

Ms. Chang’s professional memberships also include the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the Asian Business League, the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, the California Association of Workplace Investigators and the Labor & Employment Section of the California State Bar.

Ms. Chang is a Past President of the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association (2002 – 2003). She was a member of the Executive Advisory Counsel of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (2003), and is also a past Executive Committee Member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Barristers (Young Lawyers Division) (1998 – 2002).

Ms. Chang has received recognition and commendations from a number of organizations, including the State of California Governor’s Office, California State Board of Equalization, the Speaker of the California State Assembly, the County of Los Angeles and the Office of the Los Angeles City Attorney.

Ms. Chang speaks conversational Mandarin. In September 2010, Ms. Chang was interviewed along with certain United States Senators on National Public Radio (NPR) and quoted in the article "No Clear Path Yet For Many Obama Judicial Nominees," which appears on the NPR website. Ms. Chang was interviewed for the judiciary work she has been doing with NAPABA as part of a larger story about the stalled judicial nominations. The article is available and the interview can be heard on the NPR website.

Ms. Chang’s presentations include:

• “Crisis Management for In-House Attorneys: Business and Ethical Considerations,” Strafford, live webinar, May 2012.
• “When Consent is Not Enough: Ethical Issues in Joint Representations,” American Lawyer Institute/American Bar Association (ALI-ABA), live webinar, March 2012.
• “Ethical Implications of Technology Use in Your California Law Practice,” Disability Rights of California, live webinar, March 2012.
• “Recent Developments Concerning the Attorney-Client Privilege and Work Product Protection for In-House and Law Firm General Counsel,” Hinshaw’s annual Legal Malpractice & Risk Management Conference, Chicago, Illinois, March 2012.
• "Dealing with Difficult Clients," State Bar of California Annual Meeting, Long Beach, California, September 2011.
• “Ethics in a Wireless World," Kolodny & Anteau, Beverly Hills, California, July 2011.
• “The In-House Lawyer as Plaintiff: Legal and Ethical Considerations Surrounding How In House Counsel Can Sue for Wrongful Termination – a Jurisdictional Analysis,” WestLegalEdcenter, live webcast, May 2011.
• “Establishing and Maintaining Successful and Profitable Client Relationships: Strategies for Appropriate Client Selection,” OC Managing Partners, Los Angeles, California, May 2011.
• “Disbarment Cocktail: 1 Drop of Thoughtless E-Mail Plus 2 Drops of Questionable Judgment,” Minority Corporate Counsel Association (MCCA) 10th Annual CLE Expo, Chicago, Illinois, March 2011.
• “You Can Do It! (Lawyering and Mothering),” Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and Loyola Law School Women’s Law Association, Los Angeles, California, March 2011.
• “Diversity on the Bench,” University of Southern California Gould School of Law Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Los Angeles, California, March 2011.
• “Using Pretrial Remedies – Anti-SLAPP Statutes and Other Evidentiary Early Disposition Motions,” Hinshaw’s annual Legal Malpractice & Risk Management Conference, Chicago, Illinois, February 2011.
• “Best Practices for Protecting Your Law Practice from Lawsuits and/or Discipline,” Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Los Angeles, California, January 2011.
• “Strategic Considerations for Navigating the Anti-SLAPP Statutes for Claims Against Lawyers,” WestLegalEdcenter, live webcast, December 2010.
• ”Five Ways to Protect Yourself from Being Sued or Disciplined,” Southwest Riverside County Bar Association, Riverside, California, September 2010.
• “Risk Management Issues in Having a Green, Paperless Law Practice,” WestLegalEdcenter, live webcast, September 2010.
• “Screening in California: The Evolving Debate,” Fourteenth Annual California State Bar Ethics Symposium in San Francisco, California, May 2010.

Her publications include:

• “Ethical Rules Require Reasonable Care When Using Technology in the Practice of Law,” Los Angeles County Bar Association’s County Bar Update, Vol. 32, Number 2, February 2012.
• “Are You Properly Engaged?” Big Meeting Magazine, a publication of the Small and Solo Section of the State Bar of California, 2011.
• “Resist Temptation: Reviewing Privileged Documents You Are Not Supposed to Have,” Los Angeles County Bar Association’s County Bar Update, Vol. 31, Number 8, September 2011.
• “Giving Credit Where It’s Due,” GP Solo, a publication of the General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Division of the American Bar Association, Vol. 28, Number 5, July/August 2011.
• "Barristers Tips:  Making Your First Court Appearance," Los Angeles Lawyer, June 2001
• "Advancing Yourself, Advancing Your Career," ABAYoung Lawyer, August 2001.

Ms. Chang has served on the Board of Directors of the Harriet Buhai Center for Family Law, and the Board of Trustees for the Asian Pacific Women's Center (domestic violence transitional housing for women and children) where she currently serves as an Advisor. In addition, she is a volunteer advocate for the Alliance on Children’s Rights Foster Adoption Project.

Ms. Chang is a member of the Board of Governors of the Loyola Law School Los Angeles Alumni Association. Mandarin Chinese