Brenda Kocaj

Brenda Coleman comes to Easton & Easton with a lifelong passion for serving the underrepresented of our community after a recent stent representing defendants in high-stakes medical malpractice matters. Having used that time to learn the strategies employed to protect defendants in high value personal injury cases, Brenda is excited to now return to her roots and use her knowledge of defense tactics to better represent the victims of negligence and wrongdoing with the other talented litigators at Easton & Easton.

Brenda received her B.A. from the University of California, Irvine, in 2010, where she majored in Political Science. She went on to attend Whittier Law School, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and obtained her Juris Doctor in 2013. In December 2013, Brenda was admitted to the California Bar. During law school, Brenda earned a CALI award in legal writing (an award for the top grade in the class) among other honors.

After her first year in law school, she completed a judicial externship at Lamoreaux Justice Center with the Honorable Maria Hernandez, where she assisted the judge in her dependency court rulings. Brenda went on to complete two additional externships with County Counsel, at both the trial and appellate level, where she advocated for the best interests of the minors. Brenda also took part in Street Law, Inc., a program designed to teach at-risk youth about the law, where she volunteered her time at an Orange County continuation school. In her last year of law school, Brenda completed an externship with Whittier Law School's Child Advocacy Clinic, a pro bono clinic helping families seeking guardianship and conservatorship.

Following law school, Brenda completed two years of broad personal injury plaintiff work, both at the pre-litigation and litigation levels, including significant experience in drafting complaints, conducting depositions, engaging in law and motion, as well as research and settlement negotiations. She then spent an additional two years working in a more specialized area of personal injury - medical malpractice- on the defense side, learning the tactics and stratagems that high-stakes defense litigators use to devalue Plaintiff's cases. Specifically, Brenda handled cases involving birth injuries, elder abuse, and dental malpractice. Through this experience, not only has Brenda's knowledge of the law and litigation strategy advanced, but so has her commitment to justice and advocacy for the victims of negligence.

When not at work, Brenda enjoys being a puppy mother of two, reading, hiking, watching sports, traveling (particularly to Mexico City), and salsa dancing. Brenda speaks Spanish fluently and returns to Mexico City each year to visit family who still live there.

Brenda is admitted to practice in all California state courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District, and the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. 800x600 Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman",serif;}