Gregory Stone

Gregory Stone (’86) was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2008.

My most memorable moments at the Wildcat were working along side and being mentored by Clyde Lowery and George Morley. After a rather intense interview process, I was honored to be appointed as Business Manager and I was humbled by the amount of responsibility that came with the post. The paper was supported by advertising revenue only and the size of the paper and whether certain stories or articles made it to press was dependent upon the performance of the sales force. The Wildcat afforded me the opportunity and experience of working with and staying within a budget; hiring (and sometimes terminating) sales associates; mediating disputes among staff, sales associates and editors; and creating, building, and maintaining client relationships. There was no class or course offered and no other position on campus that provided this experience. My experience at the Wildcat and the learned, hands-on skills it allowed me to develop, I believe were instrumental in my founding my own law firm of 22 attorneys and which I attribute, in large part, to my success as a trial attorney. The Wildcat will always be a part of me and now I am privileged that as an inductee into the Hall of Fame, I will always be a part of it.

Gregory E. Stone, founder and director of Stone Rosenblatt Cha, an LA law firm, brings a somewhat different resume to the Hall of Fame than that of his Wildcat newsroom peers. While at the Daily Wildcat he served as a sales rep for two years and student business manager in 1984-85–and then ran for and was elected executive vice president of ASUA, finding himself covered by the paper whose sales operations he used to oversee.

Greg also met his future wife at the Wildcat. Beatrice Eisman Stone, ’87, was a sales rep for the Wildcat from 1984-86. Greg and Bea live in Southern California with their three children.

As a deft litigator, Greg has built a reputation for achieving results. He has personally tried over 50 cases to verdict throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, Kern, Orange, and San Bernardino counties. He was recognized as a “Southern California Super Lawyer” by his peers in Los Angeles Magazine, Law & Politics Media, Inc., and Super Lawyer publications. He has also earned the highest rating (“AV”) for legal ability and ethics by Martindale-Hubbell and is listed in Martindale-Hubbell’s Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. In 2004 Greg was featured in the Los Angeles Daily Journal as a litigator to watch. The focus of the article (entitled “Defense Attorney is Batting a Thousand”) was on Greg’s outstanding trial record.

Greg single-handedly defended a billion dollar national corporation (Yucaipa Companies-Ralphs Grocery Company) in a three week, racial discrimination/civil rights jury trial televised live on Court TV in downtown Los Angeles. The jury rejected plaintiff’s $10,000,000 demand and awarded plaintiff nothing. The trial was Court TV’s first televised Los Angeles trial (pre-OJ).