Defending Police and Jail Liability Claims Under §1983: Qualified Immunity, Medical Care, and Municipal Exposure

Steve P. Inman, Supervising Deputy County Counsel | County of San Diego

Steve P. Inman is a Supervising Deputy County Counsel for the County of San Diego, where he represents the County and San Diego Sheriff’s Office personnel in civil rights litigation arising from jail and patrol incidents. His practice directly includes wrongful-death, inadequate-medical-care, unlawful-search-and-seizure, and excessive-force claims.

• Education & Credentials

Steve is admitted to practice in California, before the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Southern, and Eastern Districts of California, and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He has also been admitted pro hac vice in multiple other judicial districts throughout the country.

• Recognition & Leadership

Steve was recognized as a California Super Lawyers Rising Star from 2012 through 2014. Before joining the County of San Diego, he represented insurance policyholders in coverage and bad-faith lawsuits and other complex litigation and authored multiple publications addressing insurance recovery.

• Professional Involvement

Steve previously held in-house legal positions as Director of Legal Affairs at Welk Reports and Director of Legal Affairs & Litigation at TV Guide. His professional experience therefore spans government practice, private litigation, and in-house legal work, including complex litigation and legal-risk management.

• Experience

During more than six years with the County of San Diego, Steve has represented the County and Sheriff’s Office personnel in civil rights litigation arising from jail and patrol incidents. He has won state and federal trials and obtained multiple summary-judgment victories in matters involving wrongful death, inadequate medical care, unlawful searches and seizures, and excessive force. His current defense practice provides direct experience with evaluating civil rights liability arising from deaths and serious injuries involving government personnel.

Sylvia Aceves, Supervising Deputy County Counsel | County of San Diego

Sylvia Aceves is a trial attorney in San Diego, California, serving as Supervising Deputy County Counsel. She graduated from the University of California, Irvine, in 2005 and Chapman University School of Law in 2009. During law school, she served as Articles Editor and Assistant Symposium Editor for the Chapman Journal of Criminal Justice and as a judicial extern to the Honorable Erithe Smith at the United States Bankruptcy Court. Following law school, she joined Liberty Mutual as an attorney in the Primary Legal Group, where she handled court appearances and depositions and pursued case resolutions through mediations and informal settlement negotiations. Her trial experience includes serving as second chair in five catastrophic injury trials and as lead trial counsel in eleven jury trials that proceeded to verdict.

• Education & Credentials

Sylvia Aceves graduated from the University of California, Irvine, in 2005 and Chapman University School of Law in 2009. During law school, she served as Articles Editor and Assistant Symposium Editor for the Chapman Journal of Criminal Justice and completed a judicial externship with the Honorable Erithe Smith at the United States Bankruptcy Court.

• Recognition & Leadership

Sylvia Aceves served as Articles Editor and Assistant Symposium Editor for the Chapman Journal of Criminal Justice while attending Chapman University School of Law. She currently serves as Supervising Deputy County Counsel.

• Professional Involvement

Sylvia Aceves began her legal career at Liberty Mutual as an attorney in the Primary Legal Group following her graduation from law school. In that role, she attended court appearances and depositions and pursued case resolutions through mediations and informal settlement negotiations.

• Experience

Sylvia Aceves is a trial attorney in San Diego, California, serving as Supervising Deputy County Counsel. Her trial experience includes serving as second chair trial attorney in five catastrophic injury trials and as lead trial counsel in eleven jury trials tried to verdict. Her earlier experience at Liberty Mutual involved court appearances, depositions, mediations, and informal settlement negotiations.

SESSION 1 – Defending Individual Officers: Qualified Immunity, Excessive Force, and Constitutional Claims | Steven Inman, Sylvia Aceves | 2:30pm – 3:30pm

This session provides defense counsel with a practical framework for defending individual officers in §1983 litigation arising from police encounters and alleged constitutional violations. The discussion will address qualified immunity, excessive force, unlawful searches and seizures, and First Amendment claims, with emphasis on developing the factual and legal record needed to defeat claims at the pleading, summary judgment, and trial stages.

BREAK | 3:30pm – 3:40pm

SESSION 2 – Defending Jail and Municipal Liability: Medical Care, Monell, and Causation | Steven Inman, Sylvia Aceves | 3:40pm – 4:40pm

This session focuses on defending counties, municipalities, sheriffs, and jail personnel against §1983 claims arising from detention and jail operations. Particular attention will be given to inadequate medical-care claims, deliberate indifference, Monell liability, and causation, with practical strategies for narrowing claims before trial and developing defenses supported by policies, records, expert evidence, and institutional practices.