Douglas M. DeGrave

Partner

Douglas M. DeGrave is a founding partner of Poliquin & DeGrave LLP. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Hawaii while serving in the United States Army. After his military service, he attended California State University at Long Beach, graduating in 1978 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science. He then attended Loyola Law School in Los Angeles where he received his Juris Doctor in 1981.

Mr. DeGrave is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and currently serves on its National Board of Directors. He is also Vice President of the ABOTA Foundation. In 2013, Mr. DeGrave served as President of CAL-ABOTA, where he led the effort to add a pledge of civility to the attorney’s oath. Mr. DeGrave served as president of the Orange County Chapter of ABOTA in 2008.

In 2016, he was named the CAL-ABOTA Trial Lawyer of the Year. Mr. DeGrave was presented with the CAL-ABOTA President’s Award in 2014 for championing the cause of civility. He received the Orange County Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates Trial Lawyer of the Year award in 2011.

He is a member of the National Board of Trial Advocates and is one of approximately 100 lawyers certified as a civil trial specialist in California. He is a Fellow in the prestigious International Society of Barristers and a Senior Fellow in the Litigation Counsel of America. Mr. DeGrave is a member of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel, Defense Research Institute and the Orange County Bar Association.

From 2007-2020, L.A. Magazine named Mr. DeGrave as one of Southern California’s Super Lawyers. Orange Coast Magazine has included Mr. DeGrave on its’ list of Top Attorneys in Orange County from 2010-2020.  He was named to the list of the “Top 50 Lawyers in Orange County” and “Top 100 Defense Litigators in California” from 2018 - 2020.  Mr. DeGrave received an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which he has held for more than twenty five years.

Mr. DeGrave has tried more than 100 cases to verdict or judgment and he is frequently asked to substitute into difficult cases at the last minute for trial. He specializes in the defense of personal and catastrophic injury cases, wrongful death, truck and bus accidents, insurance litigation, insurance bad faith claims and construction cases.  He has served as an arbitrator and mediator, privately and for the courts. Mr. DeGrave is a frequent lecturer on insurance bad faith, trial practice, and ethics.  He is also a former adjunct professor at Western State University College of Law.