He received his Bachelor's Degree cum laude from UC Santa Barbara, and graduated from UC Hastings College of the Law in 1976. He was admitted to practice law in 1976, and after briefly practicing with a law firm in San Francisco joined CHAIN | COHN | STILES in 1977. He became a partner in the CHAIN | COHN | STILES firm five years later, and recently celebrated his 30th anniversary with the firm.
In addition to the law practice, community service is a major priority. Mr. Stiles is serving his sixth year on the Board of Directors of Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA of Kern), an organization devoted to training volunteers to act as advocates for dependent and abused children in dependency court proceedings. He and his wife, Cynthia, have been Program Partners with CASA for many years, and together with the firm have hosted numerous events for CASA. His wife is past president of the Board for CASA. Mr. Stiles is currently on the Officer slate for the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) San Joaquin Chapter, an organization of trial attorneys dedicated to preserving the jury system in this country. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Kern County Bar Association, and has been a speaker locally and at the state level for legal continuing education programs. Mr. Stiles is a Trustee of the Walter Stiern Library at California State University, Bakersfield, and a member of the Roadrunners Club of Cal State sports fans. He has been a long time member of the 1066 Club of UC Hastings alumni, and in 2004 was honored by the California Teachers Association for long service to its members in education matters.
Since joining the firm, Mr. Stiles has been recognized as one of the most experienced and effective litigators in Kern County. He has handled personal injury cases of all kinds, including auto accidents, oilfield and construction accidents, air collisions, and medical, legal and nursing/assisted living malpractice. His multi-million dollar results include cases as diverse as a runaway semi-truck accident and oilfield construction cases. He has been extensively involved in nursing home neglect cases in the last ten years, and is on the panel of the California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform. He successfully tried the first such case in Kern County, resulting in a six-figure recovery for his client. Mr. Stiles has also been active in environmental and health issues, having represented large groups of clients in ground water litigation and silicone disease multi-district litigation. His jury trial experience spans over 20 years in all of the Central California counties, as well as most of the Southern California jurisdictions.
Mr. Stiles has also maintained an active administrative law practice representing teachers, county employees and the Central California Association of Public Employees, California State Employees Association, and others.
In addition to the American Board of Trial Advocates, Consumer Attorneys of California, and the American Trial Lawyers Association, Mr. Stiles has served on committees of the local Bar Association to evaluate the current "Fast Track" scheduling system for court cases, and to establish Alternative Dispute Resolution systems. He has served as an expert witness, and is frequently appointed as an arbitrator. He regularly presents at the Kern County Superintendent of Schools "Coaches Clinic" for volunteer and walk on coaches.
Mr. Stiles is married to Cynthia Stiles, and they have two children: Dr. Anne Stiles Kelsey, an Assistant Professor at Washington State University, and John Stiles, a software programmer at Blizzard Entertainment, where he has worked on such products as "Starcraft", "Warcraft", and "World of Warcraft". For hobbies, he enjoys weight training at the gym three times a week, and golf if time permits.
