Mr. Bendel received his B.S. in Finance, magna cum laude, from the University of Connecticut in 1997. He then went on to receive his J.D., magna cum laude, in 2000 from Pepperdine University, where he was a member of the Pepperdine Law Review. Upon graduating from law school, Mr. Bendel joined the Los Angeles office of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, where he practiced for over twelve years. While at Stroock, Mr. Bendel handled complex business litigation, including securities disputes, small business dissolutions, insurance coverage and bad faith matters, and other business and commercial disputes. The primary focus of Mr. Bendel’s practice is insurance coverage and insurance bad faith litigation. He has provided coverage advice and/or been involved in bad faith litigation with respect to claims made under all types of insurance policies including Commercial General Liability, Directors & Officers, Errors & Omissions, Property, Homeowners, and Automobile insurance policies. Mr. Bendel is admitted to practice before all federal and state courts in California, including the California Court of Appeal and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. He has tried cases in federal and state courts in Northern and Southern California. In total, Mr. Bendel has over fifteen weeks of trial experience. Mr. Bendel also has experience at the appellate level; he has drafted a number of successful appellate briefs.

I was born and raised in Nebraska and lived there until I relocated to California in 1990. Early on, I was expected to work and because of that, I have developed a strong work ethic, which I have carried forward with me. I treat each client with equal importance, no matter how small or large the value of their case. I have been practicing full-time in California for over seventeen years. Since 1995, the focus of my practice has been in representing victims of personal injury and accident claims in the Southern California area. Prior to representing injured victims, I worked for approximately four years as an insurance defense attorney, representing the insureds of various insurance companies who were being sued in a wide variety of accident and injury matters. The insurance defense experience that I possess has provided me with invaluable insight into how the insurance companies work, and has given me an edge in maximizing compensation for my clients. I am a strong believer in keeping all clients informed on a regular basis as to the status of their case, and make it a point to respond to all client inquiries on a timely basis. I understand that my clients need fair compensation and reimbursement in a timely fashion, and do what I can to ensure that there are not any unnecessary delays. I have extensive experience in representing injured victims in all types of personal injury accidents, and look forward to discussing your case with you and representing you in your injury case.

Douglas Shaffer practices out of Santa Monica, CA and has been licensed for 34 years. This attorney attended Pepperdine University School of Law and handles cases in Accident & Injury.