Anthony Lanza
Anthony Lanza, a founding member of Lanza & Goolsby, PLC, has 19 years of experience in general corporate, business, and commercial litigation and transactional counseling.
Anthony Lanza has successfully handled multiple sophisticated litigation matters through resolution, in state, federal, and appellate courts, including actions involving manufacturer, distributor, and retailer disputes under the Commercial Code, breach of fiduciary duty, directors & officers liability, breach of trust instrument, malicious prosecution, securities, fraud, and dozens of contract disputes. Anthony Lanza has substantial real estate litigation experience, including: commercial unlawful detainer, landlord-tenant disputes, nuisance, trespass, construction claims, mechanics liens, judicial and non-judicial foreclosure, premises liability, construction defect, inverse condemnation, eminent domain, environmental disputes, and breach of developer, contractor, and real property purchase contracts. He has also represented, and continues to represent, employers in disputes involving wrongful termination, breach of employment contract, harassment, discrimination, common law and statutory public policy claims, whistleblower, ADA, and ERISA.
Mr. Lanza is a successful trial attorney, as partially evidenced by a $1.5 million unanimous jury trial verdict he obtained - as lead trial counsel - in federal court in the matter of Martin v. Arrow Electronics, which was the second largest federal trial verdict in Orange County in 2006. Recently, Mr. Lanza and associate Brodie Smith successfully defended a $6.5 million RICO lawsuit for three defendants, pursuant to a unanimous jury verdict in federal court in 2009.
Transactional practice areas for Anthony Lanza include general corporate counseling for small cap and local start-up companies, including business entity formation, capital financing, employment matters, and general compliance issues.
Anthony Lanza graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1987 from the University of Notre Dame, with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science with Minors in Philosophy and Military Science. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army in May of 1987, and retired from reserve military service nine years later as a Captain. Anthony Lanza received his Juris Doctorate degree in 1991 from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where he served on the Hastings Law Review. He was admitted to the California State Bar that same year. He clerked for Chief Justice J. Clifford Wallace on the United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Diego, California. He is a member of the California State Bar and the Notre Dame Law Association. Anthony Lanza has also served on the Board of Directors of the Notre Dame Club of Orange County, an arm of the Alumni Association. He is married with two children.
Areas of Practice
- Business Litigation
- Real Estate
- Mortgages & Foreclosures
- Contracts
- Civil RICO
- Debtor/Creditor
- Closely Held Businesses
- Directors' & Officers' Liability
- Americans with Disabilities Act -- Employer
- Employment Discrimination -- Employer
- Wrongful Termination -- Employer
- Complex Litigation
- Federal Appellate Practice
- Federal Trial Practice
- State Appellate Practice
- State Trial Practice
- Professional Malpractice
- Commercial Real Estate
- Eminent Domain
- Landlord/Tenant
- Malicious Prosecution
- Corporate Law
Litigation Percentage
- 80% of Practice Devoted to Litigation
Bar Admissions
- California, 1991
- U.S. District Court Central District of California, 1993
- U.S. District Court Southern District of California, 1998
- U.S. District Court Northern District of California, 1998
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of California, 1998
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit, 2005
Education
- University of California, Hastings College of the Law, San Francisco, California
- J.D. - 1991
- Law Review: Hastings Law Review, 1989 - 1990
- University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Indiana
- B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) - 1987
- Major: Political Science (Government)
- Minor: Philosophy & Military Science
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Notre Dame Club of Orange County (Arm of Alumni Association), Board of Directors, 2002 - 2005
- State Bar of California, Member, 1991 - Present
- Notre Dame Law Association, Member, 2006 - Present
Past Employment Positions
- Chief Justice J. Clifford Wallace, United States Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Diego, California, Clerk, 1990 - 2009
- U.S. Army, Captain, 1987 - 1996

