Kendall Strabala (JD '24) Secures Verdict in Jury Trial for Redondo Beach City Attorney's Office

Pepperdine Caruso Law alumna Kendall Strabala (JD ’24), a first-year litigation associate at Gibson Dunn, helped secure a guilty verdict at a jury trial for the Redondo Beach City Attorney’s Office as a pro bono volunteer prosecutor.

During the five-day trial, Strabala assisted in jury selection, delivered the opening statement, and conducted a witness examination. She worked alongside fellow Gibson Dunn associate Jessica Walters Dent, under the guidance of Redondo Beach prosecutor Sydne Michel.

Strabala was participating in the “Trial Advocacy Project,” which provides up-and-coming Gibson Dunn litigation attorneys with hands-on jury trial experience in partnership with the Redondo Beach City Attorney’s Office. “This experience was both challenging and rewarding, allowing me to apply my litigation skills in an entirely new context,” said Strabala. “I’m incredibly grateful to both Gibson Dunn and the Redondo Beach City Prosecutor’s Office for giving me the opportunity to take such an active role in the trial.”

Coincidentally, Strabala's trial was assigned to the same courtroom as prosecutor and Pepperdine Caruso Law alumnus John Irwin (JD '23).

“It was a pleasure to have the chance to see a Pepperdine Caruso Law alum who’s a first-year litigation associate not only get to have so much trial experience but also be successful,” said Irwin. “This particular type of case Kendall was assigned can actually be very challenging to get juries to side with the prosecution, even for prosecutors with lots of trial experience,” Irwin said. “For her to have been an integral part of securing a guilty verdict as a volunteer prosecutor at her first trial in a challenging type of case says a lot about the quality of legal training at Pepperdine Caruso Law.”