LOS ANGELES — The Scali Law Firm today announced that Halbert “Bert” Rasmussen has joined the boutique automotive law firm’s Los Angeles office as a partner.

Rasmussen, previously a partner at Arent Fox LLP, is highly regarded for the breadth and depth of his industry knowledge and experience in representing major players in car, truck, bus, and motorcycle sales, finance, and technology. 

“Bert’s addition represents a milestone in the expansion of the firm’s practice, which now includes 13 lawyers in five offices,” said Christian Scali, principal of the Scali Law Firm and F&I and Showroom contributor. “He shares our vision of the future — to develop an automotive law practice that can attend to and satisfy the full spectrum of client needs.”

At the Scali Law Firm, Rasmussen reunites with his former colleagues from Manning, Leaver, Bruder & Berberich, Christian Scali and Robert Daniels, as well as with Melanie Joo from Arent Fox. In representing the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA) as a client, Rasmussen also previously worked with Monica Baumann during her tenure as CNCDA’s director of legal and regulatory affairs.

“Rejoining Chris, Bob, Melanie and Monica was clearly a great opportunity,” said Rasmussen. “Collectively, our attorneys possess the knowledge and experience to provide our clients with unparalleled breadth and depth of legal representation.”

Scali added: “We are absolutely delighted that Bert is joining us. He was a wonderful colleague when we worked together previously, and it will be terrific to work with him again.”

Rasmussen has delivered critical litigation wins for clients on matters ranging from franchise disputes, such as franchise terminations, dealership sale disputes, and breach of contract matters, to name a few. At the same time, Rasmussen regularly counsels and represents clients on buy-sell, real estate, franchise, and regulatory matters.

Additionally, Rasmussen is certified as a franchise and distribution law specialist by the State Bar of California. He has received the AV Peer-Review Rating by Martindale-Hubbell. A prolific author on issues of importance to the dealer community, his books, which have been published by the National Automobile Dealer Association (NADA) and the California New Car Dealers Association, include “A Dealer Guide to the FTC Red Flags and Address Discrepancy Rule.” He also has been published in many dealer and professional publications.

Rasmussen obtained his bachelor’s degree from University of California, Los Angeles, and graduated cum laude from Loyola Law School in 1982. Prior to entering private practice, he served as associate general counsel to a publicly traded international pharmaceutical company.