Ellen A. Pansky

Ellen A. Pansky specializes in the defense of attorneys, bar applicants and other professionals in regulatory and licensure proceedings and represents both plaintiffs and defendants in civil legal malpractice actions. She consults with and advises lawyers in legal ethics and risk management. She frequently serves as an expert witness in legal malpractice proceedings. Ms. Pansky is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in the area of Legal Malpractice Law. In 2021, she was appointed to the State Bar of California’s Ad Hoc Commission on the Discipline System. As a California State Bar certified MCLE provider, Ms. Pansky is a frequent lecturer on legal ethics and professional responsibility. She has presented well over 100 continuing legal education courses. She has been elected as a member of The American Law Institute, and was selected as one of the Inaugural Fellows of the National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism (NIFTEP). She also was an invited participant in Harvard University Law School’s 2001 focus group on law firm ethics advisors. Ms. Pansky has been a contributor to Legal Malpractice Law Review at legalmalpractice.com. Ms. Pansky is a member and past-president (1995-1996) of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (“APRL”), currently serving on the Diversity & Inclusion Committee. In August 2016, APRL presented Ms. Pansky with its prestigious Charles W. Kettlewell Legal Ethics Advisor Award, which acknowledges the lifetime achievement of a lawyer who has demonstrated excellence in and dedication to the field of legal ethics and professional responsibility. She has long been active with the Los Angeles County Bar Association, serving as a member of the Board of Trustees (2005-2012) and Assistant Vice President (2009-2012), and has served on several of its committees including: Committee on the State Bar (1989-1995); Ad Hoc CLE Planning Committee (1990); Committee for Evaluation of Professional Standards and the State Bar (1995-2002); Professional Responsibility and Ethics Committee (chair 1996-1997, and member 1992-present); Ethics 2000 Liaison Committee (2000-2007); Judicial Appointments Committee (1999-2002); Ad Hoc Membership Committee (2006-2008); Shattuck-Price Award Committee (2009, 2010); Projects, Inc. Board of Directors (2010-2012); LACBA-WLALA Joint Task Force on the Retention and Promotion of Women Lawyers (co-chair 2010-2011, and member 2010-2020). She also served as a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Senior Lawyers Division Executive Committee (2010-2013), the Ad Hoc Committee on State Bar Admissions Regulation Reform Proposals (2013-2016) as well as the Ad Hoc President’s Advisory Committee on Women in the Legal Profession (2013-2021). Ms. Pansky is a longstanding member of the American Bar Association and has been a member of its Practice Management Section and the ABA Women Rainmakers Committee. She served as a member of the Editorial Board of the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct (2004-2007), as a liaison member to the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility representing APRL (2006-2008) as well as a full voting member of the SCEPR (2012-2015), and is a charter member of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility. Ms. Pansky is also a member of The Fellows of the American Bar Foundation. Additionally, Ms. Pansky previously served as a member of the California State Bar’s Pilot Program Interaction Advisory Committee, addressing the effect of the Lawyer Assistance Program on the State Bar disciplinary system. She served by appointment of the then presiding judge of the State Bar Court as a member of an Advisory Rules Revision Committee of the Executive Committee of the State Bar Court. Ms. Pansky is a member (2008-present) and section chair (2009-2015) of the United States District Court, Central District, Standing Committee on Discipline. Ms. Pansky is a lifetime member and past president (2002-2003) of the National Association of Women Lawyers, and is also a lifetime member of the Women Lawyers’ Association of Los Angeles. Ms. Pansky is a member of the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel. She has been a member of the Steering Committee of the Breakfast Club. Ms. Pansky is a prior chair of the State Bar of California Committee on Women in the Law (2000-2001), and is a lifetime member and previously served on the Board of Governors of California Women Lawyers (co-chair of Bias in the Law Committee and chair of its Judicial Evaluations Committee). Between 1978 and 1983, Ms. Pansky served as a prosecutor in the Office of Trial Counsel for the State Bar of California. In that capacity, she handled approximately 100 formal disciplinary proceedings and thousands of investigations of California attorneys. A number of the prosecutions conducted by Ms. Pansky resulted in California Supreme Court opinions, including Rimel v. State Bar (1983) 34 Cal. 3d 128 and Ballard v. State Bar (1983) 35 Cal.3d 274. In 1983, Ms. Pansky became an Assistant General Counsel for the State Bar of California, involved primarily in briefing and arguing disciplinary cases before the California Supreme Court, and other courts. A partial list of those cases include: Greene v. Zank (1984) 158 Cal.App.3d 497; Palomo v. State Bar (1984) 36 Cal.3d 785; Tarver v. State Bar (1984) 37 Cal. 3d 122; Leoni v. State Bar (1985) 39 Cal.3d 609; Ritter v. State Bar (1985) 40 Cal.3d 595; and Trousil v. State Bar (1985) 38 Cal.3d 337. Between 1985 and 1988, Ms. Pansky was associated with a downtown Los Angeles litigation firm, practicing primarily in the areas of insurance defense litigation and physician peer review proceedings. In 2006, Ms. Pansky was “of counsel” to the law offices of Robie & Matthai. From 2009-2017, Ms. Pansky practiced in a partnership, Pansky Markle Ham LLP. In 1989, Ms. Pansky and her late husband, R. Gerald Markle, opened the law offices of Pansky & Markle, emphasizing State Bar disciplinary defense and admissions; ethics consultations; professional liability defense and, to a limited extent, prosecution of legal malpractice actions; and expert testimony. Since that time, Ms. Pansky has defended attorneys in numerous cases before both the California Supreme Court and the State Bar Court, as reflected in reported decisions, including Lister v. State Bar (1990) 51 Cal.3d 1117; Sternlieb v. State Bar (1990) 52 Cal.3d 317; Lybbert v. State Bar (Review Dept. 1993) 2 Cal. State Bar Ct. Rptr. 297; In Re Paguirigan (2001) 25 Cal.4th 1, and In Re Lesansky (2001) 25 Cal.4th 11. Additionally, she has briefed and argued many legal malpractice cases before the California courts of appeal with favorable results. Ms. Pansky was admitted to the California Bar in 1977, and is also admitted to practice before the United States District Courts for the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California, as well as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a native Southern Californian, having graduated from Hawthorne High School in 1971 with honors. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1974. She is a lifetime member of the UCLA Alumni Association. She received her J.D. degree from Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles in 1977. Ms. Pansky has twice been awarded the Wiley W. Manuel Pro Bono Services Award. In 2006, Ms. Pansky served as a moot court judge in the National Civil Trial Competition sponsored by Loyola Law School. [Biography continued, see Additional Information below.]