- About
About USC Gould
USC Gould is a top-ranked law school with a 115-year history and reputation for academic excellence. We are located on the beautiful 228-acre USC University Park Campus, just south of downtown Los Angeles.
- Academics
Academics
Learn about our rigorous and interdisciplinary curriculum, our invaluable experiential learning opportunities, and the breadth and depth of our specialized areas of concentration and certificate offerings.
- Admissions
Admissions
USC Gould helps prepare you for a stellar legal career. You can pursue a JD degree, one of our numerous graduate and international offerings, or an online degree or certificate.
- Students
Students
Participate in an unparalleled learning experience with diversity of people and thought. Get involved in the law school community and participate in activities that enhance your studies.
- Careers
Careers
We work closely with students, graduates and employers to support successful career goals and outcomes. Our overall placement rate is consistently strong, with 94 percent of our JD class employed within 10 months after graduation.
- Faculty
Faculty
Our faculty is distinguished for its scholarship, as well as for its commitment to teaching. Our 12:1 student-to-faculty ratio creates an intimate and collegial learning environment.
- Alumni and Giving
Alumni and Giving
The global Trojan network of more than 10,000 law alumni and donors include recognized leaders in numerous fields who are deeply committed to supporting student and law school success.

Ian Fusselman
- FACULTY DIRECTORY
- LECTURERS IN LAW DIRECTORY
- EXPERTS DIRECTORY
- FACULTY IN THE NEWS
- SCHOLARSHIP AND PUBLICATIONS
- DISTINCTIONS AND AWARDS
- + CENTERS AND INITIATIVES
- CENTER FOR LAW AND PHILOSOPHY (CLP)
- CENTER FOR LAW AND SOCIAL SCIENCE (CLASS)
- CENTER FOR LAW, HISTORY AND CULTURE (CLHC)
- CENTER FOR TRANSNATIONAL LAW AND BUSINESS (CTLB)
- IMMIGRANTS AND GLOBAL MIGRATION INITIATIVE (IGMI)
- INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM INSTITUTE (IRI)
- PACIFIC CENTER FOR HEALTH POLICY AND ETHICS
- SAKS INSTITUTE FOR MENTAL HEALTH LAW, POLICY, AND ETHICS
- WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES

Lecturer in Law
699 Exposition Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90089-0074 USA
Last Updated: December 29, 2018
Ian Fusselman spent the first 20 years of his career as a litigator in state and federal court and is now a full-time mediator with ADR Services.
Fusselman began his career as a civil defense attorney, working for six years at the law firms of Belcher, Henzie & Biegenzahn, and Murchison & Cumming. He then joined the San Diego plaintiff’s law firm of Thorsnes Bartolotta McGuire in 2004 and was elevated to partner in 2012. His work over his entire career focused on catastrophic personal injury cases, aviation crashes, insurance bad faith litigation, construction litigation, landslide and flood litigation, employment law, real estate litigation, mass torts and other complex litigation.
As a defense attorney, his clients included Goodyear Tire & Rubber, Robinsons May, Cessna Aircraft Company and Progressive Insurance. Notably, he represented the target defendant in the litigation arising from the folk singer John Denver’s fatal plane crash. As a plaintiff’s attorney, he helped to recover more than $185 million in verdicts and settlements on behalf of his clients.
Fusselman has received several recognitions, including as a “San Diego Top Attorney” by the San Diego Daily Transcript in 2013, “Best of the Bar” by the San Diego Business Journal in 2014 and as a “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters, 2014-2019. In 2016, he was listed in Top Verdict as having one of the top 50 personal injury settlements in California.
He has written extensively on issues relating to California evidence law and has a particular interest in the ongoing debate over changes to the mediation privilege.
Fusselman began serving as a mediator in 2014 and is a member of the San Diego County Superior Court Civil Mediation Panel and the Department of Fair Employment and Housing Volunteer Mediator Panel. He is a graduate of the USC Gould School of Law, earning his JD in 1998.
FACULTY IN THE NEWS
The Washington Post
December 2, 2019
Re: Jonathan Handel
Jonathan Handel was quoted on Pete Davidson's nondisclosure agreement for attending his comedy shows, barring the audience from speaking about his shows. Handel mentioned that successfully suing a random fan for $1 million would be nearly impossible. “The optics of going to court and suing one of your fans is really pretty ugly,” Handel said. “It would be foolish to do that.”
RECENT SCHOLARSHIP
Scott Altman
October, 2019
"Are Boycotts, Shunning, and Shaming Corrupt?” Legal Theory Workshop, University of Virginia Law School, Charlottesville, VA.
Gregory Keating
October, 2019
Gregory Keating’s paper, “Is Tort Law ‘Private’?” was reviewed by Ellen Bublick as a significant work of scholarship relating to Tort Law in JOTWELL: The Journal of Things We Like (Lots), on October 15, 2019.
Dan Simon
October, 2019
“Confessions True and False,” Korean Society for Criminal Law, Yonsei University Law School, Seoul, South Korea.