Early life and education Larson was born in
Fontana, California. He received a
Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service degree from
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1986 where he was a member of the
Philodemic Society, and a
Juris Doctor from the
USC Gould School of Law in 1989. He was admitted to the
State Bar of California in 1989.
Prosecutor and federal judge After two years in private practice at O’Melveny & Myers, Larson began working for the
United States Attorney's Office for the
Central District of California. From 1991 to 2000, he led 24 criminal trials, was responsible for handling 49 appeals before the
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and received the U.S. Department of Justice Director's Award for Superior Performance from Attorney General
Janet Reno. As chief of the office's organized crime section, Larson conducted joint training exercises and investigations with foreign law enforcement agencies in Russia, Kazakhstan, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, and South Korea. Larson's work as a U.S. Attorney led him to the bench, first as a
United States magistrate judge in September 2000. In December 2005, he was nominated by President
George W. Bush to a seat on the
United States District Court for the Central District of California vacated by
Robert J. Timlin. Larson was confirmed by the
United States Senate on March 16, 2006. Important cases he presided over included
United States v. Nazario, involving a former Marine sergeant ultimately acquitted of manslaughter for his role in four fatal shootings during the Battle of
Fallujah in
Iraq;
Mattel v. MGA Entertainment, the so-called "Bratz doll" case involving
copyrights and trade secrets; and
United States v. Duro, in which Larson blocked the
U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs' decade-long effort to close down a major migrant worker camp on the Torres Martinez Indian Reservation in the
Coachella Valley.
Private practice Larson joined Arent Fox in Los Angeles as a partner in 2011, became the practice leader of the Complex Litigation group in 2013, and earned a string of dismissals in high-profile white-collar and commercial litigation cases. In 2012, Larson secured dismissals of money laundering and conspiracy charges for Angela Aguilar in
U.S. v. Noriega, one of the few
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act cases to go to trial. Larson's push to suppress intercepted communications helped lead to the court's finding of broad government misconduct and, ultimately, a dismissal of charges against his client. In 2012, Larson successfully defended
Taco Bell against a lawsuit seeking $51 million in damages over alleged unwanted telephone marketing calls. On October 25, 2012, Larson received the Jennifer Brooks Lawyer of the Year Award from the Western San Bernardino County Bar Association. In December 2015, Larson argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Arizona voters challenging the constitutionality of unequally populated voting districts created by a state commission. In their case,
Harris v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission, Larson and co-counsel argued that the five-member Commission violated the Supreme Court's one-person, one-vote principle under the 14th Amendment. Soon after, he was hired to serve as interim general counsel for the Ontario International Airport Authority during the time that it was finalizing its separation from Los Angeles World Airports. Larson was also appointed by the Orange County District Attorney and the Orange County Board of Supervisors to monitor the District Attorney's compliance with a Blue Ribbon commission's recommendations related to jail informants. In 2018, Larson received the Daily Journal's California Lawyer Attorneys of the Year (CLAY) Award for his trial advocacy in
People v. Biane et al. He also obtained a $10 million jury verdict and judgment against the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center and in favor of a minor child abused at the defendant's facilities. In 2019, Larson served as trial counsel in the trial of lawsuit spanning 17 years regarding claims that the federal government mismanaged tribal assets, which resulted in settlements of $82 million and $137 million for the Quapaw Nation and tribe members. and by the
Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the “LA500: Most Influential People in L.A." and “Leaders of Influence: Litigators & Trial Lawyers.”
Teaching career During law school, Larson was an instructor at
Daniel Murphy High School in
Los Angeles from 1988 to 1989. From 1995 to 1999, he was a lecturer at
California State University, Long Beach. From 1997 to 2001 he was an adjunct assistant professor at the
Glendale University College of Law, and from 2001 to 2005 he was an instructor at the
California Southern Law School. He was later an adjunct professor at the
University of La Verne College of Law.
Additional work On October 21, 2020, the General Assembly of the Office of American States (OAS) elected Larson to the Inter-American Juridical Committee for a four-year term beginning on January 1, 2021. He is a founding member with the
U.S. Department of State in its Public-Private Partnership for Justice Reform in Afghanistan. He was also a member of the
Pacific Council on International Policy and is a frequent lecturer on law and international affairs. In 2011, Larson, a
Catholic, was awarded the Amar Es Entregarse Award from Diocese of San Bernardino. ==References==