Beverly Hills Attorney Elliot Zarabi on Advocacy and Public Service

When Elliot Zarabi talks about Beverly Hills, he talks about the people he recognizes: neighbors on the sidewalk, police officers driving through town, parents gathered for youth basketball. The criminal defense attorney has lived in the city for more than a decade, but his involvement has gradually taken him beyond the routines of work and family into local government.

"For a city that is known around the world, there is an incredible sense of community here."

Zarabi moved to Beverly Hills in December 2015 and relocated his law practice from Los Angeles in July 2025. His term on the Public Works Commission began this July, following an introduction to city service through the Beverly Hills Citizens Police Academy.

He says the program changed his understanding of how accessible local government could be. Growing up in the San Fernando Valley, he had felt removed from the workings of Los Angeles. In Beverly Hills, he found opportunities to participate.

"If this is the city where I'm raising my children, where I live and where I work, then I also want to contribute to it."

His route into criminal defense was less direct. Zarabi initially considered dentistry, then attended the University of West Los Angeles School of Law after completing his undergraduate education at UCLA. He expected to pursue insurance bad-faith litigation until a final-semester internship at a criminal defense firm redirected his interests.

What stayed with him was the gap between an accusation and the account of the person accused.

"When somebody is accused of a crime, the accusation can become the entire narrative before that person ever has an opportunity to be heard. I realized how important it is to have someone willing to stand next to that person and make sure their side of the story is told."

Starting his own firm brought a different education. Zarabi recalls late nights answering legal questions online, talking with prospective clients and learning how to operate a business while developing as an attorney. The practice eventually grew to include multiple lawyers, with referrals bringing cases beyond Los Angeles County.

One pro bono case remains particularly significant to him. Zarabi says his firm helped a man serving a life sentence obtain a gubernatorial commutation and, later, release from parole supervision. Afterward, he says, the former client began helping homeless people obtain housing.

"When you help change the trajectory of one person's life, that person can go on to change somebody else's life. That's one of the reasons this work matters to me."

That experience reinforced his view that representation carries consequences beyond the disposition of a case. Clients arrive concerned about their families, careers and the lives they could lose, he says.

His own family has shaped how he responds to that uncertainty. Zarabi says his father left Iran seeking freedom from religious persecution, and he credits his parents with creating opportunities for their children. He describes his wife as a continuing source of support through the demands of building a practice.

When one of his sons became seriously ill, Zarabi says he turned more deeply to his faith. The experience changed how he relates to clients confronting fear, although he says he does not impose his religious beliefs on them.

Coaching in the Beverly Hills Basketball League provides another kind of connection, bringing him into regular contact with children and families outside his professional life.

"I love coaching basketball because it brings everybody together. You see the kids, the parents, families you know from school and people you see around town. That's what I mean when I talk about Beverly Hills having a real community."