Author: Kristy Werness

Immigrant Detention Hotline Featured in ‘OITNB’ Is Ordered Restored

“The Court’s thorough and thoughtful preliminary injunction order affirms FFI’s First Amendment and Constitutional rights to be free from retaliation,” explained lead counsel Moez M. Kaba. “We are proud to work with FFI to protect fundamental First Amendment rights and reinstate their critical Hotline that has helped thousands of persons in immigrant detention report on the conditions of their confinement.”

In 2019, FFI partnered with the popular Netflix show Orange is the New Black (“OITNB”) to help portray the plight of persons detained in ICE facilities and increase public knowledge of the work that organizations like FFI do. Season 7 of OITNB prominently featured the Hotline, and press surrounding the July 2019 season premiere focused on the immigrant-centric storylines and FFI’s work. After first restricting the national Hotline to only certain facilities in Florida, ICE completely shut down the Hotline within two weeks of the premiere of OITNB Season 7.

Hueston Hennigan filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of FFI in December 2019 to reinstate FFI’s Hotline that ICE had shut down in retaliation for FFI’s exercise of First Amendment rights, advocating on behalf of persons in immigration detention.

In granting the preliminary injunction, Judge Birotte found that “FFI has shown that its speech was a substantial and motivating factor behind DHS’s shutdown of the Hotline,” and ordered that DHS stop “further interference with the operation of the free and confidential” Hotline and restore FFI’s Hotline at “all detention facilities operated , controlled, and/or overseen” by ICE.

As noted in the Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Kaba “praised the court for affirming the group’s ‘First Amendment and Constitutional rights to be free from retaliation.’”

FFI’s National Immigration Detention Hotline is the nation’s largest immigration detention hotline and staffed by a team of highly trained multilingual advocates across the country. Prior to the shutdown, FFI received over 10,000 calls per month from people in immigrant prisons and jails nationwide. FFI received calls from immigrants from 148 countries that spoke 80 different languages. Most calls came from people originally from Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Haiti, Ghana, Nigeria, Jamaica, India, and the Dominican Republic.

Freedom for Immigrants is represented pro bono by Moez M. Kaba, Rajan Trehan, and Ashley Artmann of Hueston Hennigan LLP.

Media coverage includes The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles Times, ABCNews, San Francisco Chronicle, Law360 and others.

Peloton, Flywheel Settle Legal Disputes Over Fitness Bike Tech

“I’m thrilled we were able to achieve this major win, which came after a virtually uninterrupted string of courtroom wins including defeating Flywheel’s Alice challenge and attempts to stay the case, and prevailing on every major discovery motion,” said Peloton’s lead counsel.

Peloton filed the original litigation in September 2018 alleging that Flywheel had willfully and intentionally created a copycat of the Peloton Bike called the “FLY Anywhere.”

The Hueston Hennigan team included Doug Dixon, Christy Von der Ahe Rayburn, Karen Younkins, Neil Anderson, Maxwell Coll, Joseph Crusham, Xiaohan Cai and Evan Shapiro

Read the Peloton press release here.

Media Coverage includes The Wall Street Journal, Law360, The Verge, The Fool and Fox Business.

Leading Professional Liability Trial Lawyer Harry Mittleman Joins Hueston Hennigan

“Harry is truly a lawyer’s lawyer,” said John Hueston. “Harry’s representation of some of the world’s leading international law firms and lawyers against lawsuits alleging legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and conflicts of interest strongly complements our growing professional liability practice.”

Mr. Mittleman was previously a partner at Irell & Manella and its General Counsel, where he focused on professional liability defense for major law firms, intellectual property litigation, and entertainment, commercial and securities litigation across a broad spectrum of industries.

In one frequently cited case that has attracted significant interest and achieved widespread influence, Mr. Mittleman secured a judgment dismissing claims for alleged professional negligence on behalf of a leading international law firm. That dismissal was then affirmed in a published decision that held, as a matter of first impression under California law, that a legal malpractice lawsuit must be dismissed where the law firm could not effectively defend the suit without revealing privileged client confidences. He also represented United Talent Agency in a high-profile, complex litigation in state and federal court against the Writers Guild of America concerning television packing fees, involving claims brought under federal and state antitrust laws, federal labor laws, federal anti-racketeering laws, and state laws.

“Harry is both a valued counselor and accomplished trial lawyer, trusted by clients and counsel alike to deliver exceptional results in the most challenging cases,” said managing partner Brian Hennigan.

For over a decade, Mr. Mittleman has been a professor at UCLA School of Law where he teaches an advanced course in business torts, focusing on commercial wrongs that cause economic harm.

“I am excited to join such a dynamic and elite national powerhouse.” Mittleman said. “In the five years since it was founded, Hueston Hennigan has become the firm to beat. I look forward to joining and expanding the firm’s already respected trial lawyers and professional liability practice.”

Kaba and Chou Named Among Top Minority Attorneys

Mr. Kaba was noted “as a diverse, young attorney, who is quickly becoming a trusted advisor, serving as co-lead or second chair on the firm’s most significant matters.” In the last year alone, he obtained a complete defense victory for Caltech after a four-week jury trial in Los Angeles; prevailed in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on his argument that a social network is immune from liability for third party statements under section 230 of the Communications Decency Act; defeated a $100 million suit against Bausch Health Companies; obtained dismissal of two Title IX federal lawsuits filed against Caltech; obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of Amgen against the State of California in a case setting new precedent for the pharmaceutical industry; and defeated the SEC’s motion for contempt against Elon Musk related to his tweets.

Ms. Chou was recognized for her successful career as a Deputy Chief in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, where she represented the United States in hundreds of criminal cases, including computer and internet fraud, intellectual property, money laundering, bank fraud, tax fraud, and racketeering offenses. She successfully tried over 10 cases as lead counsel and won every one of her appeals before the Ninth Circuit.

The Los Angeles Business Journal recognized lawyers considered to be particularly impactful on the legal scene while serving as trusted advisors in the LA region, along with maintaining the highest professional and ethical standards, and for contributions to the Los Angeles business and legal community at large.

Read the Top Minority Attorneys profile here.

Hueston Hennigan Shortlisted for 2020 Benchmark Litigation West Coast Awards

Los Angeles Firm of the Year
Los Angeles Attorney of the Year – John Hueston
California – Entertainment Litigation Firm of the Year
California – Entertainment Lawyer of the Year – Rob Klieger
California – White Collar Crime Litigation Attorney of the Year – Brian Hennigan and John Hueston
California – Trial Firm of the Year
California – Trial Lawyer of the Year – John Hueston

The nominees were chosen based upon research conducted between March and November 2019. The awards ceremony will be held on March 5th at The St. Regis in San Francisco.

For the fourth consecutive year, Hueston Hennigan earned a spot on the list of “Top Boutiques” in the United States, one of only 12 firms selected nationwide. In addition, we were selected as one of the “Top 20 Trial Firms” in the United States, for the second year in a row.

Hueston Hennigan also earned national – and California – tier 1 rankings in the General Commercial, White Collar, Securities and Entertainment practice areas.

A number of our partners were also individually recognized, as noted below:

Marshall A. Camp, Local Litigation Star
Douglas J. Dixon, Future Star
Brian Hennigan, Local Litigation Star, National Practice Area Star
John C. Hueston, Local Litigation Star, National Practice Area Star
Moez M. Kaba, 40 & Under Hot List, Local Litigation Star
Robert N. Klieger, Local Litigation Star
Allison Libeu, 40 & Under Hot List

Reiter and Behl Promoted to Counsel

“Joe and Varun are exceptional lawyers who deliver outstanding service to our clients,” said managing partner, Brian Hennigan. “They are among the very best associates, who have a string of victories for our clients both before and after trial.”

Mr. Reiter is a trial and appellate lawyer with broad experience and success litigating high-stakes disputes. He has had a key role in a number of significant trials, including obtaining a complete defense verdict for the California Institute of Technology in a tortious interference and whistleblower retaliation case and a victory for the State Bar of California in a breach of contract and wrongful termination suit. Mr. Reiter was also part of the team that prevailed 9-0 before the United States Supreme Court in a class action appeal, and he recently secured the dismissal of all claims against Deloitte in a False Claims Act dispute.

Mr. Reiter clerked for the Honorable Andrew J. Kleinfeld of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He earned his J.D. from University of Michigan Law School.

Mr. Behl has extensive experience handling complex disputes. He has succeeded in jury and bench trials including on behalf of the California Institute of Technology after a month-long jury trial, and on behalf of the State Bar of California in a high-profile arbitration. He recently obtained a preliminary injunction on behalf of our client in a case impacting the pharmaceutical industry.

Mr. Behl clerked for the Honorable Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He earned his J.D. from University of Michigan Law.

Deloitte Consulting Dismissed From False Claims Act Dispute

“We strongly believed that the Plaintiff’s allegations were wrong on the facts and law,” said John Hueston. “We are pleased that the court accepted our arguments and thrilled to obtain this early dismissal for Deloitte Consulting.”

The case arose out of a project the City of San Diego began in 2014 to overhaul its enterprise asset management system. The City hired Deloitte Consulting to provide professional consulting services, including the implementation and integration of software designed by SAP America, Inc.

Plaintiff Thomas Rocco, a former SAP employee, brought this qui tam lawsuit in 2017, alleging that Deloitte Consulting and SAP had violated numerous conflicts of interest laws and conspired to defraud the City out of public funds. Rocco claimed, among other things, that Deloitte Consulting had billed the City for work it did not perform, exchanged illegal kickbacks with SAP, intentionally concealed conflicts of interest, and rigged the City’s bidding system. Rocco sought to invalidate the entire contract between Deloitte Consulting and the City and treble damages and fines in excess of $75 million.

Hueston Hennigan aggressively and strategically moved to obtain early dismissal of Rocco’s 118-page complaint. After several rounds of demurrers, an Orange County Superior Court judge granted Hueston Hennigan’s third demurrer with prejudice on all remaining claims against Deloitte Consulting.

Deloitte Consulting is represented by John Hueston and Joseph Reiter of Hueston Hennigan LLP.

Freedom for Immigrants Seeks to Declare ICE’s Actions Unconstitutional and Reinstate Its National Immigration Detention Hotline

“ICE’s shutdown of the Hotline violates FFI’s First Amendment rights to speak freely and the rights of detained immigrants to speak with FFI,” explained lead counsel Moez M. Kaba, a partner at Hueston Hennigan. “We filed this lawsuit on behalf of FFI in order to protect these core First Amendment rights, and to reinstate an important lifeline for persons held in immigrant detention.”

Freedom for Immigrants is represented pro bono by Moez M. Kaba, Rajan Trehan, and Ashley Artmann of Hueston Hennigan LLP.

Media coverage includes the Houston Chronicle, Washington Post, The New York Times, US News,  The Hollywood Reporter, The Recorder, and others.

Click here to read the full press release.