Bryan Schroeder, a prolific Long Beach defense attorney who litigated many headline-grabbing cases, died recently after a series of strokes. He was 50.
Schroeder — a towering, good-humored man with a graying beard and shaved head — was a nearly ubiquitous presence at Long Beach’s Governor George Deukmejian Courthouse.
He made a name for himself by taking on as clients everyone from low-level misdemeanor defendants to high-profile murder suspects.
He fought on behalf of locals like Dana Tanner, the restaurant owner who defied Long Beach’s COVID-19 rules, and Carlo Navarro, a drunken, underage driver who killed a young family on Halloween. In 2019, he helped free a man who’d spent 37 years behind bars because of a wrongful murder conviction.
Schroeder was an outstanding lawyer whose loss “leaves a huge void in the system,” according to Long Beach Superior Court Judge Daniel J. Lowenthal.
“He was extremely well-liked personally and extremely well-respected professionally by all members of the criminal justice system, by the prosecution, by court staff and by the bench,” Lowenthal said.
Schroeder was aware he had some nagging health issues, Lowenthal said, and he was making an effort to address them. But on Dec. 16, Schroeder suffered a minor stroke and was hospitalized, his eldest son, Jack, said.
Doctors were optimistic that Schroeder would make a full recovery, and from his bed, he made arrangements for other attorneys to handle his cases while he rehabbed. But soon, Jack said, a series of new strokes left Schroeder unable to stand and barely able to communicate.
“He could say, ‘I love you,’ though, and he did a lot of that,” Jack said.
Doctors attempted surgery to break up a blood clot that was restricting blood flow to Schroeder’s brain, but he never awoke from the procedure, according to his family.
Schroeder died on Dec. 29 after being removed from life support following an organ donation procedure, a final act of kindest that was entirely consistent with how he lived, Jack said.
“He was the most generous man I’ve ever known in my life,” his wife, Erin, said. “He was generous with his time, he was generous with his heart. He was generous with his money to a fault.”
Schroeder became a lawyer after earning a full-ride golf scholarship to UC Irvine. Erin said he chose law as a vocation because of his father, who saw it as a high-quality, professional career that people respected.
Soon, Schroeder became a fixture in the local legal system, working for a short time in the City Prosecutor’s office and later taking on leadership roles in the Long Beach Bar Association.
He pivoted to criminal defense after meeting prominent defense attorney Jay Glaser, whose firm he joined as a partner in 2007.
Glaser became a mentor and close friend, and his death in a 2014 car crash weighed heavily on Schroeder, according to his family. Glaser was also 50.
Schroeder threw himself into criminal defense, where he loved the performance of trying to sway a jury, according to those close to him. Outside the courtroom, the urge to perform translated into a seemingly bottomless well of jokes, a love of show tunes and a beautiful singing voice, his family said.
Schroeder “was one of the most effective defense attorneys in Long Beach because he was persistent and worked hard,” said City Prosecutor Doug Haubert, whose office often sparred with Schroeder. “He put his clients first and fought hard for them.”
Cases could become intensely personal for him. He fought so hard — even for people despised by the general public — because, his family said, he firmly believed there was untapped good in them.
Jack said he remembers overhearing some of his father’s many stern conversations with young clients who were right around Jack’s age — explaining the seriousness of the situation and how they needed to turn their lives around.
Their cases, Schroeder would later explain to his son, made him think of Jack and his siblings: “Because a lot of these kids are not bad kids. They make one bad mistake, and they can change it.”
Schroeder lived for the stability and joy he found in family, his wife said. On weekend mornings, while soaking in the hot tub, Schroeder would make call after call to his kids, nieces, nephews and relatives — often inviting them over for dinner and excitedly planning the extensive menu he’d prepare for them.
In the hospital this Christmas, Schroeder wasn’t able to cook his traditional holiday feast for the dozens of guests he would always invite to the family’s Los Alamitos home.
On Thursday, amid the grief, Erin took a moment to remember the care her husband put into the last Thanksgiving meal he would cook: two turkeys, some filets for the son who doesn’t like turkey, creamed corn, spinach, yams, his mother’s special cranberry sauce, and two batches of stuffing — one without onions, made especially for Erin.
“It’s unbelievable what he would do for us,” she said.
Schroeder is survived by his wife, and three children, ages 24, 21 and 20.
A funeral service is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11 at St. Hedwig Catholic Church: 11482 Los Alamitos Blvd., Los Alamitos. A burial service will follow at All Souls Cemetery: 4400 Cherry Ave., Long Beach.