David P. Baker

Bar and Court Admissions

• State Bar of California 1983

• Washington State Bar Association 2017

• U.S. District Court, Central District

Professional Activities

• State Bar of California

• American Bar Association

• Beverly Hills Bar Association

• Los Angeles County Bar Association

• Consumer Attorneys Association of California

• American Association for Justice

Education:

• Whittier College School of Law, J.D., 1979

Military service

• United States Navy Reserve. Active duty 1968 to 1970, Miramar Naval Air Station, California. Honorable discharge.

Civic Involvement

Deeply committed to community service, David Baker was the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors' appointee to the Board of Directors of the Marina del Rey Convention and Visitors Bureau as a founding member of that board, and served in that position for 15 years.

He was also a former member of the Board of Directors of the Marina del Rey Chamber of Commerce.

Active in the Southern California yachting community, Mr. Baker is a member of and has served as Judge Advocate for the Catalina Island Yacht Club and Pacific Mariners Yacht Club. He was recently appointed Judge Advocate for the Southern California Yachting Association (SCYA), a regional organization representing more than 90 yacht clubs throughout Southern California.

He also has served as President of Friends of Marina del Rey, and President of Pioneer Skippers Boat Owners Association (an organization formed in the 1960's to protect the interests of the Marina del Rey boating community).

Mr. Baker also served on the Board of Directors of the Catalina Island Yacht Club Charitable Foundation, a charitable non-profit foundation.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed Mr. Baker to act as its representative on the Marina del Rey Urban Design Guidelines Taskforce, which was formed to establish permanent guidelines for future Marina del Rey development. These guidelines protect the public’s interest by preserving public and visitor amenities while enhancing access to recreational assets and the aesthetic elements of the Marina.

Mr. Baker has twice successfully opposed development proposals for shopping centers at the site of the current Marina del Rey public boat launch ramp, illustrating his effective community advocacy. He successfully challenged the engineering reports for those projects, including identifying defective wind studies, and was instrumental in stopping plans to relocate the public boat launch ramp, helping protect a valuable public recreational resource from virtual destruction by private developers.

In his role as President of the Pioneer Skippers Boat Owners' Association, Mr. Baker was instrumental in stopping the proliferation of non-seaworthy houseboats and derelict vessels in Marina del Rey, preserving the slips in the Marina for use by the boating public. His activism on behalf of the boating public resulted in his appointment to a committee formed to create regulatory guidelines that were ultimately adopted by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to address this issue fairly.

Mr. Baker worked zealously for decades to obtain guest docks within Marina del Rey to serve the boating public’s need for access to visitor serving waterside amenities, including restaurants. In 2019, he was finally successful in obtaining the agreement of the Marina del Rey Department of Beaches and Harbors to provide designated public guest docks.

Additionally, David Baker served on the Board of Directors of the Naples Island Association and has received numerous awards for his civic contributions, including:

• Special Congressional Recognition for Community Service,

• Certificate of Tribute from the City of Los Angeles for Community Service

• Los Angeles County Community Spirit Award

Media:

• Regular guest on the late Jim Simon's Los Angeles area radio talk show answering listener questions regarding Tort Law and Auto Insurance Coverage Issues