Bio

Adam Harris is a Partner at Fortis LLP. Adam concentrates his practice in the areas of Family Law, Real Estate and General Litigation. Adam has substantial experience in both Family Law and Civil Litigation and has practiced in both California and Arizona. Adam’s current practice focuses primarily on family law litigation and mediation, having practiced at both the Law Offices of Michel & Rhyne and Stegmeier, Gelbart, Schwartz & Benavente in Orange County. Adam’s business background has assisted in his family law practice by simultaneously being responsive to the emotional difficulties of going through a divorce, while saving clients substantial money by counseling clients in making business decisions during a difficult and emotional time. Adam has experience in real estate legal issues ranging from transactional issues with real estate contracts to complex construction defect experience in California and Arizona. In California, Adam successfully assisted to defend a real property breach of contract action involving a multi-million dollar home property in Southern California. In complex construction defect litigation, Adam has the unique experience of representing both the plaintiff side by representing homeowners, Home Owners Associations and business owners in residential (400+ homes) and commercial properties in Arizona, while having represented the defense side for large national builders in California in construction defect disputes. Through Adam’s real estate and construction defect experience, Adam litigated matters in mediation, arbitration, and both state and federal courts, often involving disputes as to insurance coverage, jurisdiction and venue. Adam is also a California licensed real estate broker. Adam obtained his B.S. in Business Administration from the Marshall School of Business at the University of Southern California (USC) with a minor in Cinema and Television. At USC, Adam’s business plan in the entrepreneur program was voted in the top 5 out of 250 plans by various judges ranging from the founders of Trader Joe’s and Kinkos to various other Los Angeles business owners. After working for a top ten corporation after graduating from USC, Adam returned to school and earned his Juris Doctor from The University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law in May 2005. During law school, Adam was a judicial extern for the Chief Judge of the United States District Court in Arizona, and he successfully passed both the July 2005 California Bar Examination and the February 2006 Arizona Bar Examination consecutively. While working with his mentor after law school, Adam prepared an appellate brief that resulted in the unanimously reversed published opinion by the California Appellate Court, Fifth Appellate District in December 2006 – Faughn v. Perez (2006) 145 Cal.App.4th 592. Adam has been an active member of the southern California community, having been involved with USC alumni groups, the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Orange County Bar Association.