The Law Offices of Duke Gerstel Shearer, LLP a California registered Limited Liability Partnership, was founded in 1972 as Duke and Gerstel. In the 1970's, the firm established itself as the premiere law firm in southern California, representing individual homeowners and associations, in construction defect litigation against developers.

The widespread use of the condominium program by developers in the 1970's and 1980's led to rapid development and construction of common interest projects. At the same time, the rains in the vicious winters of 1978/1979 and 1980/1981 led to an unprecedented growth in construction defect litigation. Our firm led the fight for many of the most hard hit associations. In Villa Martinique v. Christiana Community Builders, the firm obtained the largest construction defect settlement in the entire country. Over 400 homeowners benefitted from a repair and buy-out program valued at over 36 million dollars. Since 1984, Duke Gerstel Shearer, LLP has tried, arbitrated, mediated, and settled cases in excess of 300 million dollars.

It is the firm's policy to staff our cases with a sufficient number of attorneys so that each association will have a professional to call upon, at any time, for updated information regarding the status of their case and the foreseeable judicial activities which will affect their position.

The firm's focus on representing homeowners in these technical cases has required the development of an extensive physical plant. It is not uncommon to have documentary records of the construction which fill an entire room.

To handle the volume of evidence, the firm has developed an office-wide integrated computer network which allows us to make use of computer-assisted drawings and multi-media presentations and make complex construction issues easily understandable. Currently, the newest CD-ROM technology is being added to our already extensive technological array.

Duke Gerstel Shearer, LLP has also represented our clients' interests at the appellate level where the rights of our associations have been expanded and defined in eight seminal decisions. These cases have lengthened time limits to bring suit, identified additional insurance coverage, and relaxed procedural restrictions in class actions. This capability allows the firm to provide our clients with complete, uninterrupted representation in every case at every judicial level.

Our lawyers have practiced in construction defect throughout Northern and Southern California, Nevada, and Arizona. In addition, we have been retained by lawyers in other states for consultation on the development of a construction defect case. Duke Gerstel Shearer, LLP is recognized throughout the United States as one of the preeminent firms in this field. Our main office includes five generous sized conference rooms for the conduct of depositions and the isolation of "war room" activities during the course of our pending trials. We have a comprehensive legal research library with all of the significant publications affecting homeowner associations. In addition, we have a full service video program for the preparation of videos describing the defective constructions of our clients' facilities. Wherever our clients are located, the Law Offices of Duke Gerstel Shearer, LLP are equipped to provide them with the finest representation in all their legal matters.