DORIS CHENG (download vcard)
Widely recognized for her legal work, Ms. Cheng has been profiled by the National Law Journal as one of the top Minority 40 Under 40 and listed as one of the top 50 women lawyers in Northern California. She has also been listed among the Best Lawyers of America ®, SuperLawyers ® and San Francisco Best Lawyers. Specializing in complex injuries caused by third party malfeasance, Ms. Cheng has obtained multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of disabled citizens throughout California. She recently negotiated a $6,800,000 settlement on behalf of a three-year-old child in a medical negligence action. In trial, she and the Walkup team obtained a $9,420,000 jury verdict on behalf of a young man who was rendered paraplegic due to delayed treatment of an evolving spinal infection.
In a wrongful death action against car company, Ms. Cheng obtained a $6,500,000 settlement for a family who lost their husband and father in an automobile collision. She successfully sued a trucking company for $1,575,000 on behalf of two adult children who lost their eighty-year-old mother in a car accident. In a negligent nursing case involving the death of a young woman leaving behind a husband and toddler, Ms. Cheng secured a settlement in the amount of $5,000,000. She has also obtained other seven figure awards in cases involving sexual molestation, defective property, and defective consumer products.
A frequent guest lecturer and adjunct professor, Ms. Cheng has trained lawyers and judges across the nationally and internationally. As part of the Rule of Law Initiative, she has had the privilege of training trial lawyers in Belfast, Mexico, Kosovo and Macedonia. Ms. Cheng is also the Program Director for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy's Western Region Advocacy Teacher Training Program. She has served as a team leader and faculty member for numerous NITA advocacy training programs around the country. She has also taught trial advocacy at Emory University, UC Berkeley Boalt Hall, and University of San Francisco School of Law.
Ms. Cheng is involved in local bar associations and community organizations. She has been elected to the American Board of Trial Advocates. She is a member of the Executive Board of the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association, a member of the Board of Directors for the Bar Association of San Francisco, and a member of the Kaiser Arbitration Oversight Board. In 2008, she chaired the San Francisco Bar Association Judiciary Committee, which vetted judicial candidates for appointment to the Superior and District Courts. She has been invited to serve as an early settlement panelist for the San Francisco Superior Court.
A loyal alumnus of the University of San Francisco School of Law and San Francisco's Lowell High School, Ms. Cheng continues to serve these academic institutions. She is currently a member of the USF School of Law's Board of Counselors. She previously served on the law school's Board of Governors, coached moot court and mock trial teams, and headed the USF Inn of Court. For her service, she was awarded the law school's Jack Meehan Distinguished Alumnus Award in 2007. For the past two years, she has proudly coached the Lowell High School Mock Trial Team. In the past, she has also coached the Lowell High School summer league basketball team.
