Stephen John Estey

Stephen received his undergraduate education at the San Diego State University in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice. He received his Juris Doctor 3 years later in 1992 at the California Western School of Law and was admitted to the California State Bar that same year.[3]

In 1994 he founded San Diego personal injury law firm Estey & Bomberger, LLP.[3] with friend and longtime schoolmate Mike Bomberger.[4] The firm specializes in representing plaintiff's cases involving product liability, wrongful death, car accidents, premises liability and other serious injuries. Estey's practice has seen him successfully litigate against many large corporations and civil districts including the Corona-Norco Unified School District, Los Angeles County, Orange County, Kaiser Permanente, UPS, Medtronic, City of San Diego, State of California, Regents of the University of California, Ford Motor Company and McDonald's.[3][5] He is most notable for his 2010 verdict where he secured a $30,000,000 verdict in the case of John Doe vs. Giarretto, the largest sexual abuse verdict ever awarded in California to a single recipient.[6]

On August 10, 2010 a Santa Clara County jury awarded $30,000,000 dollars to a 25-year-old victim of sexual abuse in John Doe v. Giaretto. The jury decided on the verdict in a day after a two-and-a-half-week trial.[7] The case is one of the largest sexual abuse verdicts in the entire United States and the largest verdicts ever awarded for sexual abuse to a single recipient in California.[6][8]

The victim, referred to as John Doe for privacy, was 11 when he was sexually abused over 600 times between December 1995 and March 1999 in the home of Mountain Valley foster parent John Hardy Jackson.[6][8] Estey sued San Jose company Giarerretto Institute for failing to perform a preliminary background check on Jackson and ignoring the allegations of sexual abuse. The children were forced to engage in sexual acts amongst each other while Jackson filmed and watched, were forced to have sexual intercourse with Jackson and were forced to make cocktails and were occasionally beaten, according to the children.[9] Preliminary checks on the Mountain View resident revealed a troubling history of sexual acts with minors, drug and alcohol abuse, physical abuse towards his pregnant wife and a history of mental illness. Jackson was divorced by his first wife when she found him fondling their then 1-year-old son.[9] The jury found the Giarerretto Institute 75% responsible for the damages for failing to monitor the safety of the Mountain View home.[6] Jackson was found guilty and was indicted with a 220-year prison sentence.[10] EMQ Children & Family Services acquired Giarretto in March 1999 and released a public statement announcing they were, "unaware of any claims against Giarretto at the time of acquisition".[11]

Following the lawsuit, Santa Clara County reclaimed control over the foster care system and no longer outsourced foster care to private companies. "This case was not only about Mr. Doe but about the safety of all the children in the foster care system in Santa Clara", Estey explained.[7]

• Top Plaintiff Attorney, Daily Journal (2017)
• Trial Lawyer of the Year, Consumer Attorneys of San Diego[23]
• Martindale-Hubbell Bar Register of Preeminent Attorneys[24]
• Gold Member, The Verdict Club Premier Trial Lawyers[3]
• Super Lawyers (2008–present)[25]
• Highest possible AV-Rating by Martindale-Hubbell [24]
• AVVO Top Rated[3]
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum[26]
• Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum[26]
• Gold Member, The Verdict Club Premier Trial Lawyers[3]
• Law Firm of the Month, Attorney Journal[20]