Since 1994, Mr. Adelstein's practice has been almost exclusively limited to appellate work. He has served as lead counsel in over 75 appeals and has consulted or advised in many other appeals. His appellate cases have included commercial and business litigation, general tort law, contract law, real property law, entertainment litigation, First Amendment litigation, bankruptcy law, employment law, corporate and partnership litigation, construction defect litigation, insurance law, election law, administrative law, family law, and criminal law. He has appeared or filed briefs in the California Supreme Court, the California Courts of Appeal, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. His appellate cases have been featured in the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Daily Journal, the San Francisco Examiner, the Sacramento Bee, Variety, and Mirabella. He is a member of the appellate courts subcommittee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association and is also the moderator of CounselWeb's appellate law e-mail discussion lists.
Mr. Adelstein is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as a certified appellate specialist.
Mr. Adelstein was selected a Southern California Superlawyer by Law & Politics Magazine for 2006 and 2007. This honor is reserved for the top 5% of lawyers in Southern California.
Between 1990 and 1991, Mr. Adelstein worked as an economist on legal cases at Lexecon, Inc. in Chicago, Illinois. His work included assisting with mergers, antitrust cases, security cases, and calculating large damage awards.
From 1992 to 1994, Mr. Adelstein worked as a general litigator at Sidley & Austin (now Sidley Austin Brown & Wood) in Los Angeles, California. His practice included antitrust in the entertainment field, complex health care litigation, S&L officer and director defense, breach of contract, employment litigation, and copyright infringement.
From 1994 to 1996, Mr. Adelstein was an appellate attorney at Horvitz & Levy in Encino, California. At Horvitz & Levy, his appellate practice involved general tort law, corporate law, business litigation, and entertainment litigation.
Mr. Adelstein attended college at UCLA. He graduated in 1986 with a B.A., magna cum laude, in economics and an M.A. in economics. At UCLA, he was a Departmental Scholar in Economics, was a recipient of College Honors in the College of Letters and Sciences, and was elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Mr. Adelstein received a J.D. degree, with honors, from the University of Chicago in 1990. In law school, he was a Bradley Fellow in Law and Government and a research assistant to Professor Ronald Coase, 1991 Nobel Laureate in Economics.
Mr. Adelstein is currently a member of the California Bar, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Appellate Courts Committee of Los Angeles County Bar Association, and the American Law and Economics Association.