David Stiles was born in Bakersfield, California on June 30, 1950. He graduated from Bakersfield High School, where he served as Student Body President. He received his bachelor's degree cum laude from UC Santa Barbara, and went on to graduate from UC Hastings College of Law in 1976. After working for a firm in San Francisco, he joined Chain-Younger in 1977, and became a partner five years later. The firm name changed to Chain, Younger, Cohn & Stiles in 1994. Mr. Stiles is married to Cynthia Stiles, and they have been active in philanthropic activities, most recently with CASA of Kern County, an organization devoted to finding volunteers to act as advocates for children in dependency court proceedings. They have two children: John, who is a video game programmer with a firm in Irvine and Anne, who is completing a Ph.D program at UCLA.
Since joining the firm, Mr. Stiles has been recognized as one of the most experienced and effective litigators in Kern County. He has handled personal injury cases of all types including auto accidents, commercial and private air crashes, oilfield and agricultural industrial injuries, as well as medical, legal and nursing home malpractice. Some of his more notable recent results include multi-million dollar settlements in cases involving such diverse settings as a runaway semi-truck accident and an oilfield maintenance mishap. He has become interested in the field of nursing and residential care for the elderly, and has recently successfully completed a number of nursing home neglect cases. He is on the panel of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform, and successfully tried the first such case in Kern County, resulting in a six-figure recovery for his client. He has also been active in environmental and health issues, devoting substantial time to the largest ground water pollution case tried in Kern County, and representing a large group of litigants in silicone disease multi-district litigation. He has jury trial experience spanning 20 years in all of the Central California counties, as well as most Southern California jurisdictions.
In addition to his litigation work, Mr. Stiles maintains an active administrative law practice representing public employees in disputes involving conditions of employment and disciplinary issues. He regularly serves members of the California Teachers Association and the Central California Association of Public Employees, among other organizations.
Mr. Stiles is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Consumer Attorneys of California, Kern County Bar Association (where he has served as a director), American Trial Lawyers Association, and has served on Committees of the Kern County Bar Association evaluating the current "fast track" system and working to establish an effective alternative dispute resolution and mediation panel. He has served as an expert witness, and is frequently appointed as an arbitrator. He has been a speaker at Kern County and California Trial Lawyer Seminars, and has appeared regularly to speak at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools "Coaches Clinic". For hobbies, he enjoys weight training at the gym three times a week, and golf when time permits.
David V. Stiles