Sacramento’s celebrity injury lawyer Anh Phoong now taking sexual assault cases
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Attorney Anh Phoong expands practice to represent sexual assault survivors.
- Phoong Law joins existing lawsuits against developer Ethan Conrad by 3 women.
- Phoong replaces previous counsel after public disclosure of her own sexual assault.
Anh Phoong, a Sacramento-based personal injury lawyer with billboard celebrity status and offices throughout the state, announced this week that her firm is now taking on sexual assault cases, including lawsuits filed by three women against a prominent Northern California real estate developer.
The Phoong Law Corp. since 2013 has focused on representing clients struggling with piling medical bills, lost wages, battles with insurance companies and other complications after suffering a personal injury. Phoong’s firm will continue to represent those clients, but now she said she also wants to fight for sexual assault victims.
In her announcement on social media Tuesday, Phoong revealed she was a victim of sexual assault. She said it was the first time in more than 20 years that she said out loud “I was sexually assaulted.”
“I felt like I needed to do this,” Phoong told The Sacramento Bee, referring to her firm’s new focus. “I’m going to help these victims now.”
KCRA on Monday first reported Phoong’s decision to take on sexual assault cases.
Since November, five women have filed civil lawsuits that allege Ethan Conrad sexually assaulted them. All five lawsuits are pending.
Conrad calls it ‘extortion’
His Sacramento-based company, Ethan Conrad Properties, has properties across the region, including the Renaissance Tower, one of Sacramento’s tallest buildings, which he won with a $21 million auction bid last year. The company’s blue-and-yellow real estate signs mark property it owns.
Authorities have not filed any criminal charges against Conrad based on the allegations made by five women accusing him of sexual assault. Conrad has told The Bee “that definitively there’s no validity at all to any of the allegations, which are all simply extortion attempts which will fail.”
Phoong’s firm has joined attorney John Garner in representing three of the five women suing Conrad. Two of the lawsuits were filed in Sacramento Superior Court and the other was filed in U.S. District Court Eastern District of California.
In the first lawsuit filed Nov. 20 against Conrad, a woman identified in court documents as “Jane Roe” alleges she was a “victim of nonconsensual sodomy, rape and other sexual and harmful contact” at the hands of Conrad. She said she and Conrad developed an online relationship through Facebook using its Messenger platform, along with text messaging.
A business partner, identified in court documents as “Jane Smith,” alleges Conrad raped her during a July 2011 meeting intended to discuss a potential sale of residential properties She said she had no intentions of having a consensual romantic or physical encounter with Conrad, and she believes her champagne was spiked with a drug, according to her lawsuit.
In the most recently filed lawsuit against Conrad, a woman identified as “Penelope Poe” in court documents accuses Conrad of sexual battery, assault, domestic violence and inflicting emotional distress. She alleges Conrad assaulted her while she was in a years-long romantic relationship with him that began in 2019, according to the lawsuit filed in federal court.
Camille Vasquez, Conrad’s attorney, has argued in court documents that Sacramento-area attorney Chase Meister launched a “campaign of extortion, harassment and defamation against a target with deep pockets” by filing meritless lawsuits.
“This is a case about a malicious campaign to destroy a man’s good name and extort money through litigation abuse and defamation,” Vasquez said in a lawsuit against Meister filed April 29 in Sacramento Superior Court. “At its center is defendant Chase Meister — an attorney who embodies the worst impulses and excesses of the legal profession.”
Vasquez and other members of Conrad’s legal team include some of the attorneys who represented movie star Johnny Depp, who sued his ex-wife Amber Heard for defamation.
Phoong replaces attorney
Phoong is replacing Meister in two of the lawsuits against Conrad. Last month, Meister formally withdrew from those lawsuits. Meister told The Bee that the lawsuit Conrad filed against him is meritless with false allegations.
“These lawsuits are about seeking justice for the victim clients and apparently my eccentric style and my representation of the first two clients is creating a distraction,” Meister said. “The clients must always come before me, it’s my ethical duty.”
Before deciding to join the lawsuits against Conrad, Phoong met with the three women. Phoong said they’re “strong enough to seek justice,” so she wants to be their voice in court.
While sexual assault cases involve different types of harm and damages than personal injury cases, Phoong said her law firm is capable of representing these clients. She said she’s not doing it for the money -- her law firm could continue to focus only on personal injury cases and remain just as successful.
Phoong said deciding to represent sexual assault survivors is the result of a personal journey of self-reflection. Phoong had never told anyone that she was sexually assaulted, not even her husband or her sister. Like many others, she said she kept it “buried” for too long, and she felt she needed to say it publicly.
After making her announcement this week, Phoong received calls from many other women she knows. She said these are women she’s close with, some friends and others acquaintances. All of them revealed to Phoong that they also were sexually assaulted.
Phoong said this isn’t just about seeking justice in court. She decided to speak publicly about what happened to her, so other sexual assault survivors can reach out for help through counseling and emotional support.
“To know you’re not alone,” Phoong said. “To not have to suffer in silence.”
This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 3:56 PM.
