Experienced advocacy in complex litigation.

Attorneys Philip Kaufler and Arash Homampour secured a $12 million jury verdict for Ramone Melendez, who suffered catastrophic spinal and brain injuries after a speeding Los Angeles County bus struck his pickup truck. Although Melendez was found 50% at fault, the verdict resulted in a $6 million net award.

Attorney Philip Kaufler successfully defended an elder-abuse judgment against Sheldon Lowrie. The Court of Appeal affirmed that the granddaughter had standing to sue and upheld the disinheritance, damages, punitive award, and attorney-fee ruling.

Attorney Philip Kaufler secured a $2.47 million arbitration award for television producer Deborah Pratt after arguing that her forensic accountants failed to properly identify and value community-property income from Quantum Leap and Airwolf during her divorce.

Philip Kaufler helped represent former school superintendent Jeffrey Hubbard on appeal, securing reversal of two felony convictions for misappropriating public funds and vacatur of the resulting penalties.

A Los Angeles judge ruled that a California law allowing entire divorce files to be sealed whenever they contain financial information violated the First Amendment. Philip Kaufler represented Janet Burkle in the underlying divorce matter.

A dispute arising from a jointly owned horse-boarding ranch ended largely in Murray’s favor. The jury rejected Flannery’s claims, ordered the ranch sold through partition, and awarded Murray $163,479 on her accounting cross-claim.

The case addressed whether California Penal Code § 424 applies to all public officers or only those with actual authority over the receipt, safekeeping, transfer, or disbursement of public money. The decision focused on material control over public funds.

The Court of Appeal reversed a $7.8 million attorney-fee award after concluding that a five-times multiplier was improper where counsel had not undertaken a true contingent risk of nonpayment.

The court held that an attorney’s oral business venture with a client violated California professional-conduct rules requiring written disclosure, independent-counsel advice, and written consent, rendering the transaction voidable.

The Court of Appeal held that a granddaughter with a contingent interest in an elder’s estate had standing to pursue an elder-abuse claim, consistent with the statute’s purpose of deterring abuse.

Attorneys Hillel Chodos and Philip Kaufler represented Shelly Morita in a sexual-harassment and hostile-work-environment case. The jury awarded $3.322 million, including $2.5 million in punitive damages and $822,000 in compensatory damages.

The article discusses a fee dispute after attorney Hillel Chodos obtained a settlement valued at approximately $26 million in divorce-related and Marvin litigation. Philip Kaufler, representing Chodos in the fee dispute, defended the fee based on the difficulty, risk, and result obtained.