Prominent Newport Beach attorney dies suddenly

Deepa Bharath

David Shores, an attorney most known for defending several

Newport-Mesa students expelled from school under the district’s

zero-tolerance policy, died Sunday of sudden heart failure. He was

58.

Shores collapsed on the driveway of his Corona del Mar home on

Sunday night, his sister Joan Ortolano said. He was taken to Hoag

Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, where he died, she said.

“He was my younger brother,” Ortolano said. “I’m nine years older

than him. So I practically raised him. This is almost like losing one

of my children.”

Shores is known for successfully arguing the 1998 case of Ryan

Huntsman, a Corona del Mar High School senior who police said had a

marijuana pipe in his car. Huntsman was ordered suspended and

transferred to Newport Harbor High School halfway through his senior

year.

On Wednesday, Ortolano, an attorney herself, was in her brother’s

office trying to make sure his clients were not affected by his

sudden demise. She said she is impressed by the “collegiality of the

Orange County Bar.”

“I’ve had at least 10 attorneys walk into this office today asking

if they can help,” she said.

Shores did not work with a partner and the future of his

flourishing business is now uncertain, Ortolano said.

Shores is survived by his wife, Diane Kawata Shores, son Ryan

Shores, a senior in Corona del Mar High, and another sister, Taffy

Walmsley.

Shores was “full of integrity and loyal to his friends and

family,” Diane Shores said.

“He was extremely well-respected as an attorney,” she said. “He

was driven and took on causes, sometimes not getting paid for cases

he believed in. He was a knight in shining armor for a lot of

people.”

Diane Shores worked long hours with her husband in his Fashion

Island office, she said.

“I spent a lot of time with him,” she said, choking up. “I’m going

to miss him so much.”

Ryan Shores was expected to sing a graduation song he had composed

at a memorial service in the school on Monday night for Matthew

Ramirez, who died in a motocross accident in Glamis on Halloween.

But instead, a week after his friend’s passing, Ryan was faced

with the death of his own father. His mother, Patricia Pillar, died

of breast cancer when he was 7.

“It’s Ryan’s birthday on Sunday,” Ortolano said. “And he’s the

lead in the high school’s play next week.”

David Shores was eager to watch his son perform every night during

the four days, Diane Shores said.

She said Ryan has decided to do the play and dedicate his

performance in memory of his dad.

Ryan was a big part of his father’s life, Ortolano said.

“David was very proud of his son,” she said. “He always told him,

‘You have to play the hand life deals you.’ And he’s been dealt a

pretty rough hand.”

Ryan has been through more in his short life than most people

have, said John Emme, Corona del Mar High baseball coach. David

Shores was Emme’s attorney in a case brought against the coach by

parent Marc Martinez, who alleged that Emme slandered his son and

ruined his chances of being recruited by college teams.

The case got national attention and was featured in shows such as

“Good Morning America” and HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.”

Emme’s counter lawsuit against Martinez is yet to be heard in court,

but the coach says that’s “the last thing in my mind right now.”

“I’m concerned for the family -- for Ryan and Diane,” he said.

Emme said David Shores was “a good man and a brilliant lawyer.”

He was a brave attorney with a positive attitude, said friend

David Sprowl, a Newport Beach attorney.

“He was passionate on behalf of his clients,” he said. “He took on

anything that was thrown at him, and he was courageous in court.”

David Shores genuinely cared about his clients, said Barry Allen,

a Santa Ana attorney and Corona del Mar resident. Allen had known

David Shores for more than 30 years.

“We played football in a team together and became good friends,”

he said. “I talked to him a week before he died about a case. The

last time I saw him was at the Arches restaurant two weeks before he

died. He was there with his wife to celebrate her birthday.”

The Newport Beach City Council was to adjourn Wednesday night’s

meeting in memory of David Shores and Bobby Hatfield of the Righteous

Brothers, who died on Nov. 5.

“David was an outstanding attorney,” said Mayor Steve Bromberg,

whose law office is in the same building as Shores’.

“He was very local,” he said. “He was not afraid to take on a

difficult fight. His heart was always in the right place, and he was

a class act.”

* DEEPA BHARATH covers public safety and courts. She may be

reached at (949) 574-4226 or by e-mail at deepa.bharath@latimes.com.