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People haven’t changed in five hundred years. They are still driven by money, sex, or power. Some are purely and inexplicably evil, some are purely and inexplicably good. The rest float along like leaves on the stream, bumping into good and evil all the way to the sea.

I remain shocked by people who refuse to believe in monsters. Do they not realize there are people out there who would cut their throats just to see if the knife was sharp?

Dr. Vincent Di Maio, M.D.- American pathologist   

Brace yourself for some bad news.  Long Beach police have named applicant attorney, John Alexander Mendoza, 58, of Redondo Beach, as the man who shot two colleagues, one fatally, Friday afternoon, December 29, 2017, at a holiday party at the law firm where he worked: Perona, Langer, Beck, Serbin, Mendoza and Harrison (PLBSMH).

Most of us are naïve about a human’s potential to kill. They expect murderers to be easily detectible fiends, but they aren’t.  I met John Mendoza, face to face, in 2011 while mediating a federal Longshore and Harbor Workers’ Compensation Act claim in my office at the U.S. Dept. of Labor. He was well dressed in a suit and tie, sported nice dress shoes, an expensive watch, and manicured hands.  As far as attorneys go he looked “ordinary”. He and I didn’t clash professionally. However, he did clash with defense counsel. In my role as a mediator I observed Mr. Mendoza to be uncharacteristically arrogant, angry, threatening/demanding, and acrimonious . I also observed him to walk like a character out of a Mafia movie who felt he was beyond reproach and entitled to a great deal of respect for having worked thousands of industrial injury cases over the past 20 years and for having been a frequent guest on local television and radio stations.

Publisher and editor of adjustercom, Lonce Lamonte, describes him as a thug.  After publishing an article dated May 26, 2011 about the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office possibly raiding Perona, Langer, Beck, Serbin, Mendoza, and Harrison as one of their target law firms in their investigation of fraud doctor, Munir Uwaydah, M.D., John Mendoza called Lonce by phone. He demanded she remove his law firm’s name from her article.  When she refused, he told her, “Guess you’ll have to learn the hard way.”

A buff John Mendoza is pictured in August 2017 with his dog on social media

On December 29, 2017 John Mendoza’s entitlement ran out when he was let go early in the day from the law firm that bears his name by senior managing partner, Major A. Langer.  Later that afternoon, at approximately 2:25 PM, Mr. Mendoza returned with a firearm in hand and shot Major A. Langer, 75, of Rolling Hills, to death while several employees were in the office observing their holiday party.  Ronald Beck, 64, who ran the day-to-day operations at the law firm was shot in the torso and lower body. He was hospitalized in stable condition at Long Beach Memorial Medical Center, was doing well on Saturday after surgery, and is expected to survive. After the attack, Mendoza killed himself.  No other injuries were reported, police said. No officers were involved in the shooting and police later confirmed that it wasn't an active shooter situation, despite initial reports, but instead a 'workplace violence incident’.  A handgun was found in the office.

John A. Mendoza was admitted to the State Bar in 1989 and has no public record of discipline. Prior to the shooting he was a member in good standing with 28 years of experience as a lawyer since graduating from University of La Verne College of Law and prior to that from UCLA with his undergraduate studies.

He sat on and chaired several board of directors of national and international, non-profit organizations; lectured within the California State University system and as mentioned earlier, made numerous  television and radio appearances as a legal commentator.   

Major Langer, source PLBSMH website

He argued the landmark case Elayne Valdez v. WCAB 57 Cal. 4th 1231. The Supreme Court overturned the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board which had barred injured workers from obtaining evidence from their own doctors.  The Supreme Court held that injured employees have a right to present evidence from their own physicians in order to prove the nature and extent of their injuries.  Before the Supreme Court announced its decision, the Rand Corporation stated that forcing injured workers to use only the opinions of the employers' doctors, was the "linchpin" of SB 899. In fact, the person he killed, Major A. Langer, had praised him for his work on this case. Langer once wrote, “John and I have worked together on many workers’ compensation claims and he never ceases to amaze me. John was successful in overturning the trial court in a case where the reviewing court held that employees have the freedom to select their doctor.”

John leaves behind an adult son, Matt Mendoza.

Langer was well-known in legal circles, having practiced law for 51 years and tried 75 civil and criminal cases to verdict, the firm’s website said. He handled Weber vs. the city of Rolling Hills, a 14-month trial that is believed to be the longest trial in the history of California, represented actress Pamela Anderson in a breach of contract lawsuit, and won numerous six- to seven-figure verdicts.

Langer earned his law degree at St. John’s University Law School and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1966, and the California Bar in 1967.  The cases he handled include personal injury, workers’ compensation, construction litigation, and insurance.

Beck has only practiced law with PLBSMH and was named partner at the firm in 1983. He specializes in personal injury, real estate, and business litigation cases, trying numerous successful cases including jury cases, court cases, and binding arbitrations. Mr. Beck received the American Jurisprudence Award for Civil Procedure in 1976, and was a member of the Phi Alpha Delta fraternity. He is a member of the Board of Governors of Consumer Attorneys of California.

John A. Mendoza, from Yelp

Todd Harrison, another partner at PLBSMH, issued a statement Saturday about the shootings: “We are shocked and saddened by the tragedy … leaving one of our partners dead and another injured in a senseless act of workplace violence,” he said. “On behalf of our entire firm, we wish to extend our deepest condolences to the family of Major Langer…. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, as well as with the family of Ronald Beck.”

PLBSMH is located at 300 E. San Antonio Drive in Long Beach, California. The office is about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles in this gritty city by the sea of about 460,000 people where shipping cranes flex across the skyline. In fact, more than 4,400 ships bring nearly $400 billion worth of goods through the port of Long Beach every year, a crucial link in the global supply chain of factories, warehouses, docks, highways and rail lines. Working the port are approximately 13,000 registered union longshoremen, clerks, and foremen, whose individual annual earnings exceed $100,000. There are an additional 8,000 so-called casual workers — part-timers who don't receive benefits and often work for years to become registered union longshoremen--according to data released by the Pacific Maritime Assn. PLBSMH has made it their business, over the years, to represent some of these longshoremen, when injured, in their federal workers’ compensation claims before the U.S. Dept. of Labor as well as in the traditional state jurisdiction of California workers’ compensation. 

Ronald Beck.  Source: Trial Lawyers Charities LA website

PLBSMH are also in association with the law firm of Larry H. Parker. Beck and Parker have appeared in well-known Southern California television commercials for Parker's firm that conclude with Parker promising: "We'll fight for you!" Beck was the managing partner of both firms while Langer was senior managing partner of both firms.

Longtime friend Jim Hall told the Press-Telegram that Langer ,“Just had a heart of gold and really cared for everybody who works at the firm and considers them members of his family. He certainly didn’t deserve this.”

Michael Waks, an attorney with offices in the same building as Langer, said Langer built the firm from scratch into a business with about 150 employees and had worked on criminal, personal injury, business, and class action cases in his career. Langer was married with children and grandchildren, Waks said.  “This is a devastating loss for the legal community, his family, everybody.”

Law Partners, from left to right: Ronald Beck, Major Langer, Ellen Serbin, John Mendoza, Todd Harrison. Source: PLBSMH website

Waks said Mendoza had been with the firm for about 10 years, but he didn’t have details of why Mendoza was being let go. Police are still investigating the motive for the shooting.

As he left the office Friday before the attack, Waks said, he stopped to talk with Langer.

“I said to him, ‘Happy New Year, Major.’ He turned to me and he said, ‘And a healthy one,’ and that was the last thing he said to me.”

Police ask anyone with information on the incident to call Long Beach police homicide detectives Donald Goodman and Mark Mattia at 562-570-7244. Those who wish to remain anonymous can call 800-222-8477, download the “P3 Tips” app on a mobile phone or visit www.lacrimestoppers.org.

Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.

Ernest Hemingway

LA Times updated article of Saturday night, December 30th 2017, alas identifying attorney Major Langer as the fatal victim and attorney John Mendoza as the shooter who committed suicide by turning his weapon upon himself.  

Jorge Alexandría is a former U.S. Government official (Labor Dept.) and an Army veteran who received his B.A. in Political Science from Cal State Los Angeles. He also graduated from Cal Poly Pomona with a Master’s Degree in Public Administration.  He has more than 20 years of experience in claims handling, supervision, and risk management. He can be reached at Riskletter@mail.com. Any views and knowledge expressed in this article belong to Jorge Alexandria alone and do not represent any other organization or person.

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