Author: Kristy Werness

Mr. Baldwin contacted Ms. Boone when he was seeking to purchase an original painting by noted contemporary artist Ross Bleckner, but instead of the promised painting, the suit alleges, Boone delivered a counterfeit that she had fraudulently stamped with the gallery number from the original, for the purpose of deceiving him. Furthermore, when Mr. Baldwin asked about the painting’s odor, Ms. Boone lulled his suspicions by falsely telling him she had it “cleaned,” prior to delivery “as a courtesy,” since the previous owner was a “heavy smoker.”

Ms. Boone had sought to dismiss the fraud claims on the grounds that Mr. Baldwin filed suit against the gallery after the statute of limitations had expired. Justice Robert Reed, however, found the alleged acts to intentionally deceive Mr. Baldwin had effectively stopped the clock. The survival of the fraud claim means he can also seek punitive damages against the art gallery owner, the judge said.

“We look forward to proceeding to trial, where a jury will have the chance to judge Ms. Boone’s egregious fraud,” said lead counsel.

Representing Mr. Baldwin are: John Hueston, Moez Kaba and Daniel Vinson

Read more in Law360

The board of directors of the San Diego Association of Governments has hired Hueston Hennigan to conduct an independent examination of a faulty revenue forecast for last fall’s Measure A.

The board earlier this year called for an outside investigation of who knew what, and when, regarding the projection of how much money a half-cent sales tax hike would raise.

The measure was backed by a majority of residents in November, but failed to capture the two-thirds necessary for passage.

Documents obtained by the online publication Voice of San Diego indicated that staff members discovered a modeling error that overstated the likely proceeds but didn’t change the projection or alert board members.

A trio of SANDAG directors – Poway Mayor Steve Vaus, San Diego City Council President Myrtle Cole and Del Mar Mayor Terry Sinnott – recommended the hiring of the law firm Hueston Hennigan LLP to conduct the investigation at a cost of $125,000. Their proposal was approved by the board, which is made up of elected officials from around the region.

“We wanted a pit bull to make sure that every stone is looked under, that we leave nothing to question so that the public can know we investigated things thoroughly and completely,” Vaus said. “My view – everything is on the table.”

From the Times of San Diego

Dunn, who was represented by Mark Geragos of Geragos & Geragos, had sought over $4 million in damages.

In his decision, JAMS Arbitrator Edward A. Infante found that Dunn deserved neither.

During a five-day arbitration in February, Hueston Hennigan, which represented the Bar, argued that far from retaliation against him, the agency fired Dunn based on misconduct and false representations he made to the Bar board. The Bar decided to terminate him after it had hired an independent law firm to conduct an investigation into allegations of wrongdoing made against Dunn by former Bar Chief Trial Counsel Jayne Kim.

Judge Infante ruled: “Claimant’s actions caused the Board to question Claimant’s motivations and damaged Claimant’s relationships with both internal staff and key stakeholders. The State Bar introduced evidence indicating that the Trustees considered each of Claimant’s breaches to be significant and substantial.”

Moreover, although Dunn referred to himself as a “whistleblower,” the arbitrator found that he never established a legal basis for doing so:

“Claimant failed to demonstrate that he engaged in protected “Whistleblower” activity….Claimant also failed to demonstrate that his comments…had any causal connection to the Board’s decision to terminate his employment. Furthermore, the State Bar’s evidence demonstrates that the Board had a legitimate, non-retaliatory explanation for its decision to terminate Claimant’s employment.”

In addition to the Dunn matter, Hueston Hennigan represents the Bar in a series of other lawsuits brought by former Bar employees.

Representing the Bar were: John Hueston, Moez Kaba, Marshall Camp, Joseph Reiter, Varun Behl, Mike Behrens, Stan Chen, and Lana Birbrair.

Media Coverage

The Daily Journal

The Recorder

Law360

“We appreciate the court’s thoughtful analysis of these issues and are gratified that the judge accepted our arguments,” said Hueston Hennigan partner, Moez Kaba. The Bar has consistently maintained that it acted properly when it eliminated Layton’s position.

Judge Doyle dismissed, without leave to amend, Layton’s claim alleging the defendants had violated his right to privacy and freedom of association. The judge also granted the Bar’s request to dismiss without leave to amend his breach of good faith and fair dealing claim.

Hueston Hennigan represents the State Bar in several high-profile lawsuits brought against the agency by former employees, including the Bar’s former Executive Director. The team handling these cases includes John Hueston, Moez Kaba, Joe Reiter, Varun Behl, Stan Chen, and Lana Birbrair.

Redstone’s October suit against his former companions is just one piece of the protracted legal saga surrounding the Redstone estate, in which Herzer filed suit alleging Sumner Redstone is mentally incompetent and being controlled by his daughter to keep the long-time lover and caretaker from claiming her fair share of the mogul’s assets.

A California judge in May 2016 put an end to Herzer’s petition, saying Sumner Redstone’s testimony in a 15-minute video-recorded deposition “ultimately defeated her case.”

Redstone filed the elder abuse suit in October against Herzer and Holland, alleging they executed a years-long plot to drain him of everything he had, manipulating and sometimes drugging him to get him to sign over control of his funds.

IMDb, which stands for Internet Movie Database, filed suit in November, arguing that it was singled out by Assembly Bill 1687, which violates the company’s free speech rights. The law, which went into effect Jan. 1, calls for commercial entertainment employment providers that offer a paid service for actors to post their profiles for networking and casting purposes to remove, upon the subscriber’s request, the actor’s date of birth within a window of five days. But its subscribers have already been able to do that in the separate paid section of the site, and anything in the public section is factual information that can be found anywhere, IMDb said in its complaint.

IMDb is represented by John Hueston, Moez Kaba and Adam Olin.