Can You Be Bumped? Is the Cleaner Coming Clean? Ask Lisa Specht

Amid television’s ever-increasing flock of ersatz attorneys, a real one, Lisa Specht, can be seen weekdays co-hosting NBC’s “TrialWatch,” a series she says has already proven helpful in today’s litigious society.

“There are so many more laws today,” says Specht, a partner with the Los Angeles firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips and a judge pro tem with the West Los Angeles Small Claims Court. “There are laws that affect our everyday behavior. Can an airline bump you? Can the cleaners limit their liability to $50 if they put a sign up which says that? People are interested in the law and protecting their rights.”

Specht grew up in La Canada Flintridge, graduating from Glendale’s Hoover High School. She received her legal education from the University of San Fernando College of Law, becoming the first female editor of the law review and graduating at the top of her class.

Specht’s television career began in 1979, with KABC Channel 7. Dr. Art Ulene, a friend of Specht, was delivering medical segments on the station’s newscasts. Specht believed there was also a need for similar legal segments, was hired and spent the next 10 years with KABC.

As part of her administrative law practice, Specht met with City Council members and helped orchestrate last month’s defeat of a proposed 10% ticket tax on movies, plays and sporting events. In 1985, she lost to James Hahn in her bid to become city attorney and does not plan to again seek elected office.

“At that time, I really did want to be in public service,” Specht says. “To me, the city attorney’s job was the top lawyer job in the state, other than attorney general. That was a great job for a lawyer where you could be in public life as well, but the time to do that has just passed in my life and I’m on to other things.”