Attorneys
Experienced Attorney, Proven Results
Jivaka Candappa
J.D., Hastings College of Law
Jivaka Candappa is the principal of the Candappa Law Firm. He is an aggressive and passionate trial lawyer with 18 years of experience in civil rights, employment, health care, personal injury, criminal defense, and public entity litigation. He has tried over 50 cases to verdict in federal and state courts.
Mr. Candappa has served as lead counsel in many employment, civil rights, personal injury and criminal defense cases. Through hard work and creative trial lawyering, Mr. Candappa has secured a number of seven-figure settlements on behalf of his clients in civil cases. Mr. Candappa successfully represented Janice Dickinson in her defamation case against Bill Cosby. His representation of Ms. Dickinson in the California Court of Appeal resulted in a published opinion in Ms. Dickinson’s favor and paved the way for Ms. Dickinson’s highly publicized settlement of her case.
Mr. Candappa was formerly a Deputy Public Defender with the Contra Costa County Public Defender’s Office in Northern California, where he maintained an excellent track record as a trial attorney. In cases that he tried before juries, Mr. Candappa obtained better results for his clients than the plea bargains offered by prosecutors and the courts.
Education
- Hastings College of the Law, University of California, J.D., 2002
Professional Recognition
- Named “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers Magazine (2012, 2013)
- Named “Top Attorneys Rising Stars” in Northern California by San Francisco Magazine (2012, 2013)
- Named in 2011 Top Verdict Search Settlements by The Recorder (2012)
Bar Admission
- Licensed in California
Testimonials
Our child was summarily expelled from school without due process. Jivaka Candappa listened, advised, and deftly responded to the urgency of the circumstances with a well-conceived strategy that proved to be the winning one. Against the odds, with a limited budget, he calmly dueled with an institution that refused reason. Jivaka was careful to explain each step of the way in layman’s terms so that we were informed partners at every fork-in-the-road that eventually led to a satisfying outcome. Jivaka was a pleasure to work with: intelligent, personal and reassuring, yet passionate and smart about his law - he anticipated every move of our opponent. A five-star professional, highest recommendation.
I endorse Mr. Candappa. We worked together on a very difficult civil rights case. As a result of his hard work we were able to obtain a very successful outcome for our clients.
