Makoa Kawabata has been featured twice in the Daily Journal’s Top Verdicts of 2024 – a defense victory in a $5mm defamation case and a plaintiff victory in a $12mm breach of contract case.
Prior to starting Rosenberger + Kawabata, he was a member of the team representing owners of VW vehicles impacted by “dieselgate,” a scandal resulting in the largest fine ever imposed on an automaker. Mr. Kawabata was also a member of the team that represented the EPA’s environmental remediation contractor involved in multi-district litigation arising from the Gold King Mine spill. Both events were covered on the front page of the New York Times.
While at UCLA Law, Mr. Kawabata was enrolled in the entertainment, media and intellectual property concentration and worked at Sony Pictures Entertainment and NBCUniversal. He also spent time as an editor for the flagship UCLA Law Review, a tournament champion competitor on the moot court and trial advocacy competition teams, the co-chairman for the Public Interest Law Fund (alongside Mr. Rosenberger), and the 1L class president.
During and after law school, Mr. Kawabata coached college and law school mock trial for the national award-winning UCLA trial advocacy teams. He serves as co-managing editor of the PIABA Bar Journal, a publication of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association.
