Robert R. Willis is a Partner at Amaro Baldwin LLP, where he focuses his practice on the defense of businesses, property owners, landlords, and recreational and fitness facilities in complex civil litigation. His practice includes catastrophic and personal injury, wrongful death, premises liability, residential habitability, toxic tort, and other general liability matters.

Mr. Willis regularly represents commercial and residential property owners and managers in claims involving premises liability, habitability, mold and environmental exposure, breach of contract, warranty, and significant personal injuries. He also represents recreational and fitness facilities in injury litigation involving liability waivers and releases, assumption of risk, premises and operational liability, and allegations of gross negligence.

Mr. Willis is a seasoned civil litigator who has handled complex matters in state and federal courts throughout his career. His appellate work includes several favorable published decisions that helped shape California law concerning liability waivers, releases, assumption of risk, and gross negligence in the fitness and recreational industry.

Prior to joining Amaro Baldwin, Mr. Willis served as a Deputy Attorney General for the State of California, where he represented state agencies in complex business, contract, intellectual property, and other high-stakes litigation. His work included matters involving hundreds of millions of dollars in financial exposure, including litigation resulting in a $50 million recovery for the State, for which he and the litigation team received an Award for Excellence from the Attorney General. Additionally, he led a litigation team that successfully defended the State in a complex commercial dispute involving nearly half a billion dollars, which was resolved with no payment by the State. He also advised state agencies on complex legal and business issues and developed risk-transfer and indemnification strategies designed to mitigate liability and protect public resources.

Mr. Willis represents clients through all phases of civil litigation, from early case evaluation and strategic planning through discovery, dispositive motions, mediation, arbitration, trial, and appeal. His approach emphasizes early assessment of liability and exposure, development of practical litigation and resolution strategies, and close collaboration with clients to manage risk and achieve favorable outcomes.

Mr. Willis earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from Loyola Marymount University in 2004, where he was a four-year member of the varsity crew team. He received his J.D. from Western State University College of Law in 2008, where he received Witkin Awards for Academic Excellence for achieving the highest grade in Intellectual Property and International Business Transactions. He served on the Editorial Board of the Western State University Law Review and was recognized as its Writer of the Year and Editor of the Year.

While in law school, Mr. Willis authored two published articles. His article on international patent law was published in the North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology, selected as one of the leading patent-law articles of 2009, and subsequently reprinted in Thomson West's Patent Law Review. His article addressing strict products liability and hospitals was published in the Western State University Law Review and has subsequently been cited by appellate courts and legal scholarship.

Outside of his practice, Mr. Willis enjoys spending time with his wife and four children.