Bio

PRIVATE PRACTICE OF LAW

January 2019 to present. General law practice as a sole practitioner using a broad network of attorneys and experts to handle a wide variety of matters including business litigation, product liability, tort liability, negotiations and trials. Mr. Rackauckas draws upon his many years of experience as District Attorney, private attorney and judge. He has been personally involved in thousands of criminal and civil cases and conducted hundreds of jury and court trials.

ORANGE COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY

January 1999 to January 2019. Administered an office of 840 employees including 260 attorneys and 175 investigators with the duty of enforcing California State Law which includes all criminal laws and civil laws which allow for enforcement by the district attorney. The District Attorney’s Office works with all local police agencies and the Sheriff’s Department as well as state and federal agencies as necessary and prosecutes over 60,000 criminal cases per year. During Mr. Rackauckas’ tenure, his office maintained a 90 percent conviction rate in felony cases prosecuted.

He took a hands-on approach to overseeing very complex criminal as well as civil cases. Some examples of complex civil matters which were filed and personally overseen by Mr. Rackauckas were the cases against General Motors and Toyota for defects involving safety and the case against Atlantic Richfield  et. al. for allowing underground fuel storage tanks to leak into the surrounding ground and endanger the water supply.

The General Motors and Toyota cases were settled after the companies each agreed to fix the problems by making sure all the defective cars were recalled and repaired as well as ensuring that the problem was cured for future cars. Both companies also paid several million dollars to the taxpayers of Orange County.  The Atlantic Richfield Company and the codefendant oil companies settled after agreeing to clean up and repair over 100 sites to the satisfaction of a neutral expert and pay several million dollars to the County of Orange.

ORANGE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE

March 1993 to January 1999. Appointed by Governor Pete Wilson, Judge Rackauckas’ assignments included Child Dependency Court, Criminal Court, Complex Criminal Court and Civil Trials. In 1996 he was appointed by California Chief Justice Ronald M. George to sit as Presiding Judge of the Appellate Department of the Orange County Superior Court. He served in this assignment simultaneously with his other duties.

NORTH ORANGE COUNTY MUNICIPAL COURT JUDGE

January 1990 to March 1993. Appointed by Governor George Deukmejian, Judge Rackauckas’ assignments included criminal calendars, criminal and civil trials and small claims trials.

PRIVATE PRACTICE OF LAW

October 1988 to January 1990. Associate Attorney with the Law Offices of Richard S. Rockwell, Incorporated. Mr. Rackauckas handled civil litigation and trials involving business and property matters.

ORANGE COUNTY DEPUTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY

September 1972 to October 1988. Mr. Rackauckas’ assignments included misdemeanor calendars and trials; felony calendars and trials; advisor to the Grand Jury; homicide trials.

PRIVATE PRACTICE OF LAW

January 1972 to September 1972. Sole practitioner, general practice of law.

LICENSED TO PRACTICE LAW

United States Supreme Court

United States District Court, Central District of California

All California Courts

EDUCATION

Loyola Law School of Los Angeles, J.D. Degree, 1971

California State University at Long Beach, A.B. Degree, 1968

Long Beach City College, A.A. Degree, 1966