Jessica Klarer Pride

Law School
University of San Diego School of Law

Major Cases
Doe Plaintiffs. v. Doe Defendant
Female Plaintiffs were sexually assaulted at a co-ed psychiatric institution by male patients in the middle of the night. The facility failed to supervise their patients and allowed mentally ill sexual predators to enter into other rooms to prey upon medicated and sleeping patients. When the Plaintiffs reported the incidents, the facility declined to provide assistance or to report the instances to the police. Pride obtained a confidential settlement for the Plaintiffs.

Ana Baumgarten v. Mohammad Sad Erfani M.D., dba Spirit Lift Plastic Surgery
Baumgarten worked as a sales associate for Spirit Lift Plastic Surgery. Erfani made offensive sexual remarks and called her a slut. Baumgarten asked him to stop and he refused. Erfani made no offers. Pride tried the case and the jury returned a verdict for Baumgarten for $49,400.

Pride is proud of this case because it went back to the jury with zero evidence. It was a classic he said, she said. The odds of success were against them. However, Pride believed in her client and had faith that the jury would see the truth in her story -- they did.

Professional Background
Pride has devoted her legal career to the representation of victims of sexual assault, catastrophic injuries and wrongful death. With a B.A. in English from UC Irvine, Pride went on to graduate from USD School of Law. Prior to graduation, she garnered a position as a legal clerk at Girardi Keese in Los Angeles. She then was an associate for six years at Casey, Gerry, Schenk, Francavilla, Blatt & Penfield, where she honed her legal advocacy skills. In 2013, Pride decided to venture out on her own and to join her husband at the Pride Law Firm.

Professional Affiliations
Pride is the immediate past chairwoman of the New Lawyers Division for the national trial lawyers’ association, the American Association for Justice. She also sits on their Executive Committee and travels around the country promoting consumer rights. Pride is also on the Board of the local trial lawyers’ association, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego, which she has done for the past five years.

Personal Affiliations
Pride is dedicated to the Center for Community Solutions, an organization committed to the healing and prevention of sexual assault violence. Pride took a 60-hour sexual assault training course. With this knowledge and her legal skills, she assists victims in obtaining justice through civil litigation.

Pride is also supportive of the International Violence Against Women organization. She just spoke at their annual conference about civil remedies available to sexual assault victims. Pride also appears on local television stations and speaks on KPBS talk radio regarding preventing sexual violence and recent news cases.

Pride attended Gerry Spence Trial Lawyer College in September 2012. Pride is also dedicated to Big Brothers Big Sisters and Habitat for Humanity.

Personal Background
Pride is the first college graduate in her family and the first attorney. She is half Mexican and half Swiss, and a first-generation Klarer in the United States. She grew up in Orange County, and speaks English and Spanish.

In her spare time, Pride enjoys spending time with her husband, Dante Pride, and their 4-year old daughter, Nyah, and 2-year old son, Daxton. They enjoy traveling, watching movies in their backyard, dancing in the living room and making silly faces.