Joseph Reiter litigates high-stakes disputes at trial and on appeal. With an impressive record – six trial and several appellate victories in five years – he has been recognized as a finalist for “Young Lawyer of the Year” by The American Lawyer, a Trials “Rising Star” by Law360, and is Chambers ranked for commercial litigation.
Mr. Reiter has obtained favorable results across a broad range of complex litigation, including healthcare, antitrust, trade secret, class action, False Claims Act, whistleblower retaliation, employment, patent, and tax cases. Regardless of the subject matter, clients rely on Mr. Reiter when creative and forceful advocacy is required in some of their most significant matters. He has been instrumental in securing wins for Amazon.com, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte, the California Institute of Technology, Acorn Technologies, BlackBerry, and the State Bar of California, to name a few.
Mr. Reiter has substantial courtroom experience that includes examining witnesses at trial and arguing motions and appeals. In addition, his written advocacy has secured the dismissal of multiple cases through dispositive motions and a victory before the Supreme Court of the United States.
Experience
Trials and Appellate
eBay v. Amazon.com. Secured a complete victory after a two-week arbitration trial for Amazon.com in a suit brought by eBay, alleging contract, fraud, RICO, tort, and unfair competition claims. (See “Amazon wins legal fight against eBay over alleged seller poaching,” CNN).
Acorn v. Samsung. Won a $25 million trial victory for Acorn Semi, LLC in a patent infringement case against Samsung relating to its semiconductor technology. (See “Samsung Hit With $25M Semiconductor IP Verdict In EDTX,” Law360).
Botta v. PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP et. al. Obtained a complete defense verdict for PricewaterhouseCoopers in a high-profile lawsuit and closely watched federal trial brought by a former employee and SEC whistleblower, Mauro Botta. Secured a complete dismissal of all claims against seven partners on a motion to dismiss. (See “PwC Rightly Fired Former Auditor, Judge Rules, Bloomberg Law).
Roumi v. California Institute of Technology. Complete defense verdict for Caltech after a four-week trial in a wrongful termination suit in which a former researcher claimed the school retaliated against him for allegedly exposing the misuse of government funds. (See “Jury gives CalTech complete win over former researcher’s claims,” Daily Journal; “Hueston Hennigan Beats Back Whistleblower Claim Against CalTech,” The American Lawyer). Mr. Reiter also argued the appeal and preserved the trial win for Caltech.
Los Robles Regional Med. Ctr. v. Health Care System. Served as co-lead trial counsel for the country’s largest integrated health care system in a lawsuit with over $500 million at stake brought by one of the largest for-profit hospital systems in country – HCA Healthcare, Inc – alleging that it had systemically underpaid HCA for emergency services provided to its members. Obtained a favorable settlement after two-weeks of a jury trial and during HCA’s case-in-chief.
Revpar Collective Inc. et al. v. Synchrony Financial et al. Obtained a favorable settlement, after a week of trial, for Synchrony Financial (formerly GE Capital) in a lawsuit involving breach of contract, fraudulent misrepresentation, and alter ego claims.
Dunn v. State Bar of California et. al. Prevailed at trial on behalf of the State Bar of California in a high-profile legal battle brought by its former executive director, Joseph Dunn, winning a complete judgment on Dunn’s claims for whistleblower retaliation, breach of fiduciary duty, and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. (See “California Bar Wins Over Executive Director In Whistleblower Case,” Law360; “Arbitrator Rejects Remainder of Ousted Bar Leader’s Claims,” The Recorder).
Nutraceutical v. Lambert. Drafted the successful petition for a writ of certiorari and merits briefing that obtained a unanimous opinion at the Supreme Court of the United States in favor of Nutraceutical. The Court adopted our arguments that the Rule 23(f) deadline to file an interlocutory appeal of a class-certification decision, and all other mandatory claim-processing rules, are unsusceptible to equitable exceptions. This preserves our victory at the lower court, where Hueston Hennigan obtained decertification of the putative plaintiff class. (See “Missed Appeal Deadline Can’t Be Extended, Justices Rule,” Law360).
In Re: Advance Health Care Directive of Sumner M. Redstone. Obtained complete dismissal after the first day of trial on behalf of Mr. Redstone, chairman emeritus of CBS and Viacom, in a case challenging his mental competency. (See “Judge dismisses mental competency case against Sumner Redstone,” Los Angeles Times; “Ex-Viacom Chair Beats Competency Suit,” Law360).
Complex Civil Litigation
Match Group LLC et al. v. Google LLC et al. Obtained a favorable settlement exceeding $300 million in value for Match Group against Google over its illegal monopolization and other anticompetitive behavior in the distribution of mobile apps and processing of in-app purchases. (See “Epic Games Against Google on Deck After Match Settlement,” Daily Journal; “The Match-Google antitrust settlement netted the dating app maker over $300M,” TechCrunch).
Ecoark Holdings, Inc. et al. v. Deloitte Consulting LLP. Obtained dismissal with prejudice of all claims for Deloitte Consulting in a significant trade secret misappropriation case related to fresh food management with hundreds of millions of dollars in damages at stake.
U.S. ex rel. Lewis v. California Institute of Technology et al. Summary judgement granted for Caltech in a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging that the Institute defrauded the Department of Energy out of millions of dollars in government funds associated with a renewable energy research program.
Grosz v. California Dep’t of Tax & Fee Admin. Secured the dismissal through dispositive motion of all claims in a case seeking to hold Amazon liable for billions of taxes for sales made by third-party sellers on Amazon.com. Obtained a unanimous decision from the California Court of Appeals upholding the lower court decision. (See “Amazon Tax Collection Suit Blocked By Calif. Appeals Court,” Law360).
Rocco v. SAP, Deloitte Consulting LLP. Secured summary judgment for Deloitte Consulting against claims alleging fraud, illegal kickbacks, and bid rigging in violation of the False Claims Act and Government Code § 1090.
MobileIron, Inc. v. BlackBerry Corp. et al. Secured a victory for BlackBerry Corp. and BlackBerry Ltd. in civil extortion and unfair competition claims leveled against it by MobileIron, forcing it to pay Blackberry’s legal fees and drop its lawsuit.
Vimo, Inc. v. Office of Systems Integration et. al. Representing two California agencies against claims of trade secret misappropriation and breach of contract arising out of a project to develop and implement California’s online health insurance exchange.
Pomona Valley Medical Center v. Health Care System. Defending the country’s largest integrated health care system against claims that it systematically under reimbursed for emergency services provided to its members. Obtained early victories, including dismissal with prejudice of four out of six causes of action.
Alvarado Emergency Medical Associates et al. v. Health Care System. Representing the country’s largest integrated health care system against claims brought by more than 20 groups of emergency physicians alleging it violated the Knox-Keene Act.
United KP Freedom Alliance v. Health Care System. Defeated emergency requests for injunctive relief and obtained dismissal for the country’s largest integrated health care system against challenges to its COVID-19 vaccination policy.
In Re: Ring LLC Privacy Litigation. Successfully settled a class action lawsuit filed against Ring LLC (an Amazon.com subsidiary) arising out of alleged hacking of Ring devices.
Kinzer v. Allegiant Air, LLC et. al. Represented Allegiant Airlines in a wrongful termination and defamation case brought by former pilot Jason Kinzer.
Siu v. Choice Hotels International, Inc. et. al. Represented a leading timeshare vacations company in a class action alleging privacy violations.
Oehler / Layton / Noonen v. State Bar of California et. al. Represented the State Bar and individual defendants in multiple lawsuits brought by former executive employees alleging wrongful termination, defamation, and tortious interference. Secured early victories at the pleading stage in several of these actions. (See “Calif. Bar Escapes Wrongful Firing Suit Of Dunn Ally,” Law360, “Judge Dismisses Former Bar Employee’s Suit,” Daily Journal.)
Sorensen v. New Koosharem Corp. Represented a large staffing company in a fraud and commercial real estate dispute against the company’s former chief executive officer that resulted in a favorable settlement for the client on the eve of trial.
Recognitions
- Litigation: General Commercial (California), Chambers
- Rising Star, Law360 (2022)
- Lawyers on the Fast Track, The Recorder (2022)
- Young Lawyer of the Year, The American Lawyer (finalist) (2022)
- 40 & Under List, Benchmark Litigation (2022-present)
- Key Lawyer for General Commercial Disputes, Legal 500
- Named to the Southern California Rising Stars list (2020-present)
- Legal Visionary, L.A. Times