Standing by your side
About Us
Welcome to The Houck Firm, where we’re dedicated to standing by your side through life’s legal challenges. Founded by Ji-In Houck and Ryan Houck, our firm is built on a foundation of compassion, integrity, justice, and personalized care.
Our Story
What began as a shared passion for justice and advocacy has blossomed into a thriving partnership and family. Ji-In and Ryan’s journey from law school classmates to life partners mirrors our firm’s commitment to building lasting relationships with our clients, rooted in trust, empathy, and understanding.
Our Mission
At The Houck Firm, we believe that everyone deserves access to compassionate and effective legal representation, and that wrongdoers should be held accountable. Whether you’re facing workplace discrimination, navigating a trust and estates dispute, or seeking justice for legal malpractice, we’re here to listen, support, and fight for your rights.
Our Approach
As a family-oriented firm, we know that legal challenges can impact every aspect of your life. That’s why we take a holistic approach to each case, considering not just the legal issues at hand, but also the emotional and practical implications for you and your loved ones. We are here to provide guidance, support, and solutions tailored to your unique needs and circumstances.
What we focus on
Our Practice Areas
Legal Malpractice
When trust is broken, we're here to hold negligent attorneys accountable and fight for the justice and compensation you deserve.
Trusts and Estate Litigation
Dealing with matters of trusts and estates can be complex and emotionally charged. Our firm is equipped to handle disputes involving wills, trusts, probate, and estate administration, ensuring that your loved one's wishes are honored, and your interests are.
Employment Litigation
Whether you're facing discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful termination, or wage disputes, we are here to protect your rights and advocate on your behalf. We will make sure your voice is heard in the workplace.
How we operate
Our Values
Compassion
We approach each client with empathy and a genuine desire to make a positive difference in their lives. We understand that navigating the legal system can be daunting, especially during times of crisis. That’s why we approach each case with a commitment to understanding our clients’ unique needs and concerns.
Integrity
Honesty, transparency, and integrity are at the heart of everything we do. You can trust us to always act in your best interests, with your needs and goals guiding our every decision.
Community
As members of the community ourselves, we’re committed to giving back and making a difference, both inside and outside the courtroom.
Excellence
We are dedicated to achieving excellence in every aspect of our practice, from legal advocacy to client service. We continuously strive to expand our knowledge, refine our skills, and deliver outstanding results for our clients.
Ji-In Lee Houck
The Houck Firm Co-Founder & Partner
Pronunciation Notes:
Gender pronouns:
Biography
Meet Ji-In
Successfully represented an employee in an employment arbitration who was subjected to race harassment by his manager securing a $700,000 settlement.
Successfully represented an employee in an employment arbitration who was denied reasonable accommodations for his disability caused by a workplace injury securing a $300,000 settlement.
Successfully represented a client in trust litigation whose siblings took their elderly mother to change her estate plan just months before she died to unjustly benefit them to the detriment of all other beneficiaries securing a $400,000 settlement.
Ji-In's Practice Areas
Employment Litigation
Ji-In has litigated employment claims both against and on behalf of Fortune 500 companies. In her former life as a defense attorney, she was part of a team that represented Walmart in a groundbreaking wage and hour class action, and has defended claims of discrimination on behalf of other large companies such as Am Law 100 law firms, healthcare conglomerates, and clothing retailers. On the employee-side, Ji-In has represented hundreds of individuals – from those earning minimum wage to high-income earning executives – in their disputes against public and private employers, recovering millions of dollars for her clients. Ji-In’s experience representing both employees and employers has given her a unique perspective and insight into all aspects of wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, and retaliation cases. Currently, Ji-In is proud to use her employment litigation experience to fight exclusively for workers’ rights, representing employees in their disputes against employers. She is passionate about achieving true diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the workplace and in our lives, and takes pride in holding companies accountable for violating the rights of their employees.
Financial Elder Abuse
Ji-In is passionate about fighting for the rights of our most vulnerable, which includes our elders. Too many times we see elders taken advantage of at the end of their lives with people preying on them for money by changing their will or trust. Ji-In's successes include obtaining a settlement for a client that was 100 times more than the inheritance in the contested trust document.
Professional Liability
Ji-In has represented lawyers and clients in a variety of legal malpractice claims including those involving legal advice and representation on employment litigation, tax, licensing deals, trusts and estates, and partnership dissolution. Ji-In's successes include obtaining seven-figure restitution from attorneys who breached their duty of care to their clients.
More About Ji-In
Education
Yonsei University – Study Abroad
University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, B.S.
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D.
Noteworthy
Southern California Super Lawyer 2023-2025
Southern California Rising Star 2017-2021
CAALA Presidential Award 2023
CAALA DEI Committee Vice-Chair 2020-2023
CAOC Women’s Caucus Legislative Chair 2024
CAOC Women’s Caucus Education Chair 2023
CAOC Women’s Caucus Secretary 2022
WLALA Foundation Board Member, Co-Chair Power Lunch Committee 2022-2024
Graduate of CELA Trial College
LACBA TAP Attorney (Volunteer Prosecutor with the LA City Attorney’s Office)
Professional Affiliations
Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles
Consumer Attorneys of California, Women’s Caucus Political Chair
Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles, Board of Directors
California Employment Lawyers Association
American Association for Justice
Asian Pacific American Bar Association – Los Angeles
National Asian Pacific American Bar Association
Asian Pacific American Women Lawyers Association, Lifetime Member
Black Women Lawyers
Fund Her, Advisory Board Member
Korean Community Lawyers Association, Secretary
Publications
January 2025, CAOC Forum, Effective Strategies for Representing Employment Plaintiffs at Mediation
September 2023, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: Kelly Hanker
May 2023, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: Jennifer Scott
September 2022, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: Jason Argos
May 2022, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: Curtis Legal Group
March 2022, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: Loren Schwartz
January 2022, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: Mari Bandoma Callado
November 2021, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: Denisse Gastélum
September 2021, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: David Angeloff
July 2021, CAOC Forum, Volunteer Spotlight: Laura Sedrish
March 2021, CAALA Advocate, Is Your Referral-Fee Agreement Ethical and Enforceable?
Speaking Engagements
May 2025, ADR Services, Inc., Ready, Set, Resolve! Preparation for Mediation – How Effective Preparation Can Help Settle Your Case, Panelist
April 2025, Women in Trial Travel Summit (WITTS), Financial Elder Abuse in Trusts & Wills Disputes, Speaker
March 2025, CA Elementary School, I Am A Lawyer!, Speaker
Sept 2024, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Women in Law Summit, Radical Self-Care, Speaker
Jan 2024, California Lawyers Association (CLA) Labor & Employment New Employment Practitioner’s Conference, Leave of Absence and Accommodations Compliance, Speaker
Sept 2023, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Las Vegas Annual Convention, Elimination of Implicit Bias in Case Selection, Speaker
August 2023, California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA), Microaggressions, Panelist
June 2023, Korean Community Lawyers Association (KCLA), Implicit Bias in Jury Trials, Moderator
May 2023, Granada Hills Charter High School, Women in Business, Girl Up, Girls in STEM, Robo Girls, Girls Who Code, Women’s Empowerment Conference, Panelist
May 2023, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), Live Roundtable: Pre-Filing Requirements in Employment, Personal Injury, and Sexual Abuse Cases, Panelist
March 2023, Asian Pacific American Bar Association (APABA) & San Gabriel Bar Valley Bar Association (SGVBA), Flying Solo, Panelist
March 2023, Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) Sonoma Travel Seminar, Effective Tips for Employment Mediations, Speaker
Jan 2023, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), What You Need to Know About Trust Accounting to be Prepared for a State Bar Audit, Moderator
Jan 2023, California Lawyers Association (CLA) Labor & Employment New Employment Practitioner’s Conference, Leave of Absence and Compliance, Moderator
Oct 2022, Gemini Legal, Employment Law Crossover Cases, Panelist
Oct 2022, California Employment Lawyers Association (CELA) San Diego Annual Convention, How to Avoid Losing your Appeal Before it Starts, Moderator
Sept 2022, Beverly Hills Bar Association (BHBA), Emotional Distress Damages at Trial – Demystified, Panelist
Sept 2022, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Las Vegas Annual Convention, Representing LGBTQ+ Clients, Speaker
Sept 2022, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) Las Vegas Annual Convention, Specialty Credits and Basic Trial Skills, Moderator
August 2022, Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) New Lawyers Division, Insight About Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, Panelist
June 2022, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA) New Lawyers, Writing Effective Demand Letters in Employment Cases, Speaker
March 2022, Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC) Sonoma, Expanded Leave Laws for Employees and Their Families, Speaker
October 2021, California Lawyers Association (CLA), From Start to Finish with Clients: From Intake Through Termination of Attorney Client Relationship, Moderator
January 2021, Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (CAALA), What You Should Know About Prop 22, Speaker
October 2018, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL) 45th Annual Seminar, Mediation Best Practices, Panelist
Testimonials
Ryan Houck
The Houck Firm Co-Founder & Partner
Gender pronouns:
(he/him/his)
Biography
Meet Ryan
Having obtained favorable results for individual trustees, individual beneficiaries, corporate trustees and entities, nonprofit organizations and others, both through mediation and trial judgments, Ryan’s recent representative successes include the following:
Successfully represented a client in trust litigation whose siblings took their elderly mother to change her estate plan just months before she died to unjustly benefit them to the detriment of all other beneficiaries securing a $400,000 settlement.
Defeated a conservatorship petition brought by his client’s siblings against their mother and her $100+ million estate in a complex, multi-week trial to judgment, resulting in his client’s mother’s strong religious convictions regarding her end-of-life care being honored.
Successfully defended an executor at trial against a third-party claim to estate assets in a case of first impression involving conflicting revisions of the California Probate Code and the Uniform Statutory Form Power of Attorney.
Successfully represented a beneficiary at trial in a trust accounting dispute, including obtaining a rare judgment of bad faith resulting in recovery of attorneys’ fees and costs for his client.
Successfully represented a Fortune 500 bank in its capacity as trustee in a complex array of accounting and related disputes, resulting in no liability for his client and a recovery of trustee’s fees and attorneys’ fees.
Successfully defended a non-profit university’s multimillion-dollar gift in a trust contest, including utilizing a novel application of statutory bar against trust contests, and obtaining the swift suspension and removal of an adverse and self-interested trustee. Ryan ultimately secured more than $2.4 million, including the payment of his client's attorney's fees and costs.
Represented multiple siblings as co-trustees against their sibling co-trustee’s attempts to improperly prevent the sale of a closely-held family business for her personal benefit at the expense of the trust, resulting in the successful sale of that business and resignation of the rogue co-trustee.
Represented a modest-income individual beneficiary in trust contest, resulting in a highly-favorable pre-litigation settlement with minimal cost to the client.
Ryan has been recognized as a Southern California “Super Lawyer” every year since 2023, and a “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers magazine from 2016 through 2022, which is an achievement limited to no more than 2.5% of the lawyers in California.. He has been a speaker to the California State Bar Trust and Estate Section on a variety of trust and estate litigation issues, including appellate intricacies unique to probate litigation. Ryan is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Trust and Estate Executive Committee. Ryan is also a registered patent attorney.
More About Ryan
Education
Georgetown University, B.S.
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D.
Professional Affiliations
Los Angeles County Bar Association Trusts
Estates Section Executive Committee Member
Speaking Engagements
March 2017, The State Bar of California Trusts & Estates Section and California Young Lawyers Association (CYLA), An Introduction to Practicing Trusts and Estates Law: Will Contests, Trusts Petitions, and 850 Petitions, Speaker
April 2016, The State Bar of California’s Trusts & Estates Spring Education Conference, Appellate Issues in Trusts and Estates Matters, Speaker
