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Early Sullivan Named a “Best Law Firm” by U.S. News & World Report
Category: Awards, Press | Thursday, November 3rd, 2016 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Named a “Best Law Firm” by U.S. News & World Report
Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae has been named a “Best Law Firm” by the prestigious ranking guide U.S. News & World Report. The firm received a Metropolitan Tier 1 rank in the practice area of “Litigation – Intellectual Property” (Los Angeles) and a National Tier 3 rank in the same practice area.
The U.S.News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in their field, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process.
Eric Early’s Lawsuit Featured in Los Angeles Business Journal
Category: News, Press | Monday, August 8th, 2016 | Comments Off on Eric Early’s Lawsuit Featured in Los Angeles Business Journal
Eric Early’s representation of Natura Sports Health Club in its lawsuit against VHDG Koreatown and Harridge Development Group was the focal point of Henry Meier’s Los Angeles Business Journal piece “Spa Claims Landlord Squeezing It Out of Lease.” The major suit alleges that the developer is illegally attempting to force the popular Koreatown spa and health club out of its lease in order to make room for a luxury condo and hotel project.
Click “Download PDF” to read the full article.
Tribe Member Knew Of Flaws In Trust Land Leases, Court Told – Law360
Category: News, Press, Results | Friday, March 4th, 2016 | Comments Off on Tribe Member Knew Of Flaws In Trust Land Leases, Court Told – Law360
Tribe Member Knew Of Flaws In Trust Land Leases, Court Told
By Jack Newsham
Law360, New York (March 3, 2016, 7:17 PM ET) — A group of Nevada homeowners being sued by a Native American man who says they illegally built their homes on his trust land asked a Nevada federal judge Tuesday to keep their counterclaims alive, saying Leon Mark Kizer took payments and signed off on leases he knew might be illegal.
More than 180 people asked U.S. District Judge Robert C. Jones to let their counterclaims against Kizer move forward, saying he unjustly profited from payments from them and PTP Inc., the developer of their subdivision, while failing to disclose communications with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California that suggested PTP’s 99-year master lease on Kizer’s land is illegal. The homeowners sublet their plots from PTP and have poured millions of dollars into building their homes there.
Kizer is seeking a declaratory judgment that PTP’s lease and all the subleases are invalid because the law only allows 25-year leases for Native American land. He has argued that the subletters’ beef lies with PTP and their title insurers, which are sophisticated companies and have profited much more than he did from the development of the Pine View Estates subdivision. Kizer has said he didn’t have an attorney when he signed off on the master lease or the subleases and said homeowners should have looked into the matter themselves.
But the homeowners, which seek unspecified damages in their counterclaims, blasted those arguments on Thursday, saying what Kizer called black-letter law that makes the master lease invalid is actually “hotly contested.”
“Kizer[] argues that counterclaimants’ reliance on his misrepresentations about the master lease’s validity was not justified because counterclaimants supposedly could have determined from publicly available information that the master lease was not valid,” the opposition said. “This argument is nonsense.”
The homeowners, who are being sued by Kizer along with their association, PTP and the BIA, also said two cases cited by Kizer to argue that federal policy barred their claims — Narragansett Indian Tribe v. RIBO Inc. and Heckman v. United States — actually support their argument. Both of those cases acknowledged a Native American could be held liable for luring people into signing void contracts and damaging them as a result, as the homeowners allege Kizer did in the nearly two decades that elapsed between when he leased his land to PTP and when he filed suit.
Jerome Miranowski, an attorney for Kizer, told Law360 his client didn’t learn about questions to the validity of the leases until 2008 or later, not 2006 as the homeowners allege, and he said the BIA alerted the homeowners to concerns shortly thereafter, in 2010.
A smaller group of subletters asserted counterclaims against Kizer in January.
According to his complaint, Kizer entered into a master lease with PTP for his land in 1997 that was approved by a BIA official. The complaint claimed that the BIA indicated to then-Washoe tribal chairman Brian Wallace in 2006 that both the length of the 99-year lease and the purchase option violated federal law.
Leases on Indian trust land for business purposes can’t exceed 25 years, or 50 with an extension, and non-Indians can only buy trust land at fair market value and with BIA approval, the complaint said.
Lawyers for the homeowners didn’t reply to a request for comment.
Kizer is represented by Aaron J. Harkins and Jerome A. Miranowski of Faegre Baker Daniels and Douglas R. Brown of Lemons Grundy & Eisenberg.
The homeowners are represented by Scott E. Gizer, Eric P. Early and Diane M. Luczon of Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP.
The case is Kizer v. PTP et al., case number 3:15-cv-00120, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae Named One of California’s “Top Boutique” Law Firms
Category: Awards, News, Press | Monday, October 26th, 2015 | Comments Off on Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae Named One of California’s “Top Boutique” Law Firms
Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae has been selected by California’s leading legal publication, The Daily Journal, as one of California’s “Top Boutique” law firms. Click on “Download PDF” to see the complete article.
Bank’s severance deal requires IT workers to be on call for two years – Computerworld
Category: Press | Tuesday, October 20th, 2015 | Comments Off on Bank’s severance deal requires IT workers to be on call for two years – Computerworld
Bryan Sullivan was recently quoted in Patrick Thibodeau’s Computerworld article “Bank’s severance deal requires IT workers to be on call for two years.” In the piece, Bryan discusses cooperation agreements in connection to SunTrust’s unusual severance agreement, which requires laid-off IT employees to remain available to provide help if needed, including in-person assistance, without receiving compensation.
The full article can be found here.
Veterans’ suit against military contractor remains alive – Los Angeles Daily Journal
Category: Press | Wednesday, October 14th, 2015 | Comments Off on Veterans’ suit against military contractor remains alive – Los Angeles Daily Journal
Veterans’ suit against military contractor remains alive
Plaintiffs claim their employer required them to work months with no days off
By Gautham Thomas, Los Angeles Daily Journal
A labor dispute in the small but lucrative world of private military contracting alleging grueling working conditions in Iraq received class certification in Nevada federal court, surviving a motion to dismiss.
The plaintiffs, mostly military veterans who worked as armed guards in Iraq for a private military contractor, say their employer required them to work for months with no days off, in breach of contract. Compensating for breach of contract and the extra labor could cost the contractor as much as $232 million before punitive damages. Risinger v. SOC LLC et al., 12-CV63 (Nev. Dist. Ct., filed Jan. 13, 2012).
U.S. District Judge Miranda M. Du dismissed summary judgment motions from both sides along with granting class certification. In an order that was at times sharply worded, Du called arguments by contractor SOC LLC denying promissory fraud “incredible.”
“[Plaintiff] Risinger and other guards were required to work seven days a week for months on end due to intentional and preventable understaffing as a matter of practice, not because of the unpredictability of battle,” Du wrote in the Sept. 30 order.
SOC supplied armed guards to the Department of Defense for sites in Iraq in a contract that limited duty to 16-hour days and 72-hour work weeks. But SOC “bid to the man” for the contracts, submitting cost estimates that accounted only for the minimum number of guards required to staff the sites and leaving no room for additional personnel to account for days off or vacation time.
SOC argued that although it bid to the man it did not “staff to the man,” bringing in additional personnel during the period in question to account for rotation.
Attorneys at Littler Mendelson PC, which represents SOC and its parent company Day & Zimmerman in the suit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“The representative plaintiff worked four months without a day off,” said plaintiff’s counsel Devin McRae, partner at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McCrae LLP. “That’s a representative example of what was happening to these guys – they’re ex-soldiers, they’re going to perform.”
“We think the defendant took advantage of that, and it’s our position that they knew full well they weren’t going to able to meet the conditions of the contract and give these guys a day off.”
The contract claims stemming from the plaintiff’s work record remain after Du dismissed other aspects from the suit, including a claim under Iraqi labor law.
Data from USAspending.gov shows that SOC received at least $1 billion in contract payments between 2009 and 2015, mostly from the Department of Defense for guard services and the operation of ammunition facilities.
Though SOC’s employment agreements are vague as to the specific work hours per day and per week expected from its guards, the company misrepresented the required duty in recruitment discussions, argued McRae and co-counsel Scott E. Gizer, also a partner at Early Sullivan.
Du agreed, ruling that a reasonable jury could find SOC liable for its alleged misrepresentations and breach of contract.
The private military contracting industry is massive, with almost $170 billion spent on contractors by the Department of Defense in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2002 and 2011, according to a report by a bipartisan congressional commission.
Previous labor suits against private military contractors, including several against one-time industry heavyweight Blackwater, now known as Academi, have not always survived to trial.
One such suit against Blackwater – then called Xe Services LLC – alleging denial of benefits due to misclassification as independent contractors, was forced into arbitration based on the independent contractor agreements. Mercadante v. Xe Services, 11cv1044 (D.D.C., filed Jan. 15, 2015).
Another, by two Blackwater snipers who brought a False Claims Act suit in federal court in Virginia, was dismissed in district court but is scheduled to be heard by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Oct. 29. US ex rel Beauchamp v. Academi, 15-1148 (4th Cir., filed Feb. 11, 2015).
Stephen Ma Quoted in Bloomberg on Bill Gross Wrongful Termination Suit
Category: News, Press, Uncategorized | Tuesday, October 13th, 2015 | Comments Off on Stephen Ma Quoted in Bloomberg on Bill Gross Wrongful Termination Suit
Partner Stephen Ma was quoted in Edvard Pettersson’s Bloomberg article “Bill Gross’s Big Swing at Pimco Seen Hinging on Contract Issue,” which discussed the famed bond investor’s wrongful termination lawsuit against the firm he co-founded, Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO). According to Stephen, it is highly unusual for someone at Gross’s level to lack a written contract, and that his breach-of-contract claim will depend on how the profit-sharing agreement is interpreted under California law.
“This was a very public power struggle and now Pimco will have a chance to tell their side of the story,” Stephen said. “This could become a high-profile slug fest.
Orly Ravid to Speak on “International Film distribution and outreach”
Category: Events, News, Press | Friday, September 18th, 2015 | Comments Off on Orly Ravid to Speak on “International Film distribution and outreach”
Orly Ravid will be a panelist on “International Film distribution and outreach” at the L.A. OLA Spanish Contemporary Cinema Showcase on September 20, 2015. The roundtable discussion will focus on the hurdles faced by independent cinema in the areas of distribution and public outreach, and will help connect independent filmmakers with top U.S. industry influencers. Orly, alongside other industry professionals, will explore new and innovative ways in which independent filmmakers can leverage today’s digital revolution to distribute their work through festivals, theaters and online platforms.
More information on the program can be found here.
Trump Sues Univision For $500M In Miss USA Contract Row – Law360
Category: Press | Thursday, July 2nd, 2015 | Comments Off on Trump Sues Univision For $500M In Miss USA Contract Row – Law360
Bryan Sullivan was quoted in Kurt Orzeck’s Law360 piece “Trump Sues Univision For $500M In Miss USA Contract Row,” which can be found below.
Trump Sues Univision For $500M In Miss USA Contract Row
By Kurt Orzeck
Law360, Los Angeles (June 30, 2015, 9:14 PM ET) — Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on Tuesday sued Univision Networks & Studios Inc. for $500 million in New York state court for dropping coverage of the Miss USA Pageant, which Trump partly owns, over incendiary remarks he made about Mexican immigrants.
The breach-of-contract suit — also filed by Miss Universe LP LLLP, which runs the pageant — claims the Spanish-language television network actually made its decision because Univision is principally owned by Haim Saban, a fundraiser for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Saban is trying to suppress Trump’s First Amendment rights, the complaint alleges.
Univision canceled its five-year, $13.5 million contract with Trump over comments he made when he announced his latest presidential bid on June 16, referring to the United States as a “dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.” Trump claimed on Tuesday that the network is contractually obligated to broadcast the pageant live on TV in Spanish on July 12.
The Trump Organization announced the planned lawsuit on Thursday, the same day that Univision said it was ending its business relationship with Miss Universe LP.
Tuesday’s suit said Trump has “dramatically risen in the polls while expressing critical views of Mrs. Clinton. Little else can explain Univision’s decision to not only abandon its contractual relationship with MUO, but also … pressure [NBCUniversal Inc.] to follow suit and cut longstanding ties with plaintiffs nearly two weeks after the statements were made.”
Trump, who’s become known for incendiary remarks on the campaign trail in this and past presidential bids — including insinuating during the 2012 cycle that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States — went on to say in his latest campaign announcement that Mexican immigrants to the United States are not the best the southern neighbor has to offer.
“They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume are good people. But I speak to border guards and they tell us what we’re getting,” Trump said at the time. “They’re sending us not the right people. It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South and Latin America and it’s coming, probably, probably from the Middle East.”
Univision said that those remarks were unacceptable. Its entertainment division ended its business relationship with the Miss Universe Organization “based on [Trump’s] recent, insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants,” the company said in a statement. “We will not be airing the Miss USA pageant on July 12 or working on any other projects tied to The Trump Organization.”
Although it won’t be airing anything connected with the Trump projects, Univision did say that its news service will continue covering Trump and all other candidates on the campaign trail.
Univision announced in January that it would air the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants under a long-term partnership with Trump and pageant partner NBC.
The Trump Organization said in a Tuesday statement that a high-ranking Univision executive called him earlier this month to apologize and say that the company felt ashamed of its plans to not broadcast the pageant.
“Nothing that I stated was different from what I have been saying for many years,” Trump said in the Tuesday statement. “I want strong borders and I do not support or condone illegal immigration. I have great respect for Mexico and love for the Mexican people and their tremendous spirit!”
The Tuesday suit also alleges defamation and intentional interference with their contractual relationship. It seeks attorneys’ fees, punitive damages and additional relief.
Bryan Sullivan of Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP, who specializes in business matters, told Law360 on Tuesday that “The entire case will turn on what the contract says and, more specifically, whether it has a morals clause that is broad enough to justify its termination due to the offensive comments Donald Trump made about Mexican immigrants.”
Representatives for Univision and Saban didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment late Tuesday.
Plaintiffs are represented by Jeffrey L. Goldman of Belkin Burden Wenig & Goldman LLP. Counsel information for the defendants wasn’t immediately available.
The case is Miss Universe LP LLLP et al. v. Univision Networks & Studios Inc. et al., index number not yet assigned, in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.
–Additional reporting by Bryan Koenig. Editing by Kelly Duncan.
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Viacom Institutes Clean Box Policy – USA Today
Category: Press | Friday, June 5th, 2015 | Comments Off on Viacom Institutes Clean Box Policy – USA Today
Devin McRae was quoted in Elizabeth Weise’s USA Today article “Viacom Institutes Clean Box Policy,” which details Viacom’s new policy to automatically delete employee emails from its electronic mail system after 30 days.
The full article can be found here.