Author: Kristy Werness

The three-judge appellate panel rejected Eric Greenberg’s bid for judgment as a matter of law, saying the jury had seen enough evidence to find him liable for fraud and deceptive business practices in connection with the sale. The Second Circuit was also unswayed by Greenberg’s contention that the alleged fraud wasn’t directed at the public and he therefore shouldn’t have been liable for punitive damages.

“Given the evidence that the defendant intended to sell counterfeit wine, at auctions aimed at the public, no manifest injustice exists in the imposition of a punitive damages award,” the panel ruled.

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From Law360

The lawsuit, filed in July 2010, was brought by a self-styled Mexican “rancher,” who alleged that Sempra had conspired with Mexican authorities to seize hundreds of acres of property plaintiff claimed to possess, and to cause him to be criminally prosecuted, in order to secure licenses for the LNG terminal.

In a complete victory for Sempra, U.S. District Judge Cathy Ann Bencivengo granted summary judgment on plaintiff Ramon Sanchez Ritchie’s sole remaining claim, for malicious prosecution. In a 17-page order, the Court wrote that after “five years of spirited litigation,” plaintiff had failed to present any admissible evidence supporting his malicious prosecution allegations, including that Sempra conspired with Mexican authorities to seize plaintiff’s property, or lied to or knowingly withheld relevant information from Mexican investigators and courts.

To the contrary, the Court found “no dispute” that Sempra’s Mexican affiliate, Energia Costa Azul (ECA), paid millions of dollars to acquire the property from its titled owners, and only initiated criminal proceedings against plaintiff after he entered the property without permission and threatened ECA employees at gunpoint.

Despite claiming to be a rancher of modest means, plaintiff was represented in the case by nine attorneys from three law firms, including Washington, D. C.-based Williams & Connolly. Discovery revealed that the lawsuit was financed by a wealthy Mexican businessman, Jose Susumo Azano Matsura, who is now under federal indictment in San Diego for illegally funneling money to U.S. politicians.
“The court’s order reflects an incredibly careful analysis of an extensive record, and it vindicates our position throughout this litigation that plaintiff’s allegations are baseless,” said Marshall Camp, a Hueston Hennigan partner who represented Sempra.

“This was an incredibly complex case, with fact and expert testimony in two languages and two countries, numerous complex motions, and a financial backer with a vendetta,” said John Hueston. “We are extremely grateful for the judge’s diligence, and the rigorous analysis that allowed the court to see through plaintiff’s rhetoric and grant our client a complete victory.”

Sempra Energy was represented by John Hueston, Marshall Camp, Lee Linderman and Leanne Vanecek.

The initial release of approximately three million gallons of water contaminated by acid mine waste, including arsenic, lead, and cadmium, created a plume that traveled 215 miles through the San Juan River, one of the Navajo Nation’s primary water sources.

“Mr. Hueston and his team of skilled litigators will work tirelessly to secure justice and equity for the Navajo Nation and the Navajo people as we address the aftermath of the disastrous Gold King Mine spill. The impact has been devastating to our culture and economy, as well as to the peace of mind of our people. With unknown amounts of this fine sediment in our water we now face the risk of reliving this nightmare with every major increased water flow event affecting the river,” said Attorney General Branch.

The litigation team at Hueston Hennigan LLP will be led by John Hueston, who is most well-known for his role as lead prosecutor in the Enron trial against Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling. Most recently he represented the Navajo Nation and a number of other governments in securing the $5.15 billion Tronox settlement, the largest environmental recovery settlement in United States history.

“My firm is fully committed to this case, and we will make this matter a number one priority. Working alongside the Attorney General of the Navajo Nation, our team will be relentless in our efforts to secure justice and fair treatment for the Navajo people,” said Mr. Hueston.

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye announced shortly after the Gold King Mine spill that the Nation would sue the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other potentially responsible parties. The Navajo Nation Department of Justice conducted a nationwide search of top litigation and environmental law firms and ultimately selected Hueston Hennigan LLP out of a group of five highly qualified finalists.

Navajo farmers and ranchers and the Navajo community in Northern Navajo have been significantly impacted by the mine spill that has shut down the San Juan River for the past three weeks. Farmers have had to abandon large portions of their fields in the hopes of salvaging limited plots, and livestock has become dehydrated due to lack of water. Many of these Navajo farms are organic farms and grow heirloom fruits and vegetables. Many Navajo families along the River also grow corn pollen and special types of corn for ceremonial purposes, but many of those crops have already dried up.

Meanwhile the over 300 abandoned hard rock mines from the Upper Animas Mining District continue to pose a threat to the Nation’s water source, and contaminated water from the Gold King Mine continues to spew forth at a rate of 610 gallons per minute—thus taking the aggregate spill amount to over 22 million gallons.

From the Navajo Nation:

Contacts:
Mihio Manus, Navajo Nation Public Information Officer, 928.255.2659, mihiomanus@gmail.com

In a settlement agreement announced by Hueston Hennigan LLP, which represented WMH, the Environmental and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of justice and the Hawaii U.S. attorney’s office, agreed to dismiss a 14-count felony indictment charging conspiracy, false statements and intentional discharges of pollutants in violation of the Clean Water Act. In exchange, the company has accepted two misdemeanor negligence counts. Separately, the government agreed to dismiss all felony charges against two of the company’s managers in exchange for their acceptance of misdemeanors, and to make a binding recommendation to the court that no jail or other confinement be imposed.

The individual defendants each faced more than 15 years in prison, and the company faced $20 million in fines. The about-face on the part of the government, which vigorously pursued felony charges, came after four years of aggressive litigation on the part of Hueston Hennigan attorneys, who first defeated efforts to indict Waste Management’s parent company, and ultimately filed a compelling prosecutorial misconduct motion that had been taken under submission by the Court after oral argument.

John Hueston, lead counsel for Waste Management said the settlement represents a resounding victory for Waste Management and its employees. “This was a misguided attempt by the government to find criminal intent in an environmental accident that was clearly the result of an act of nature.”

In 2011, Oahu was battered by a historic series of rainstorms and, in one instance, received 11 inches of rain in a 24-hour period in an area with typical annual rainfall of 19 inches. The resulting flooding, Mr. Hueston said, “was unfortunate, but it certainly was not the fault of Waste Management.”

Added co-counsel Marshall Camp: “This was a classic case of prosecutorial overreach.” Camp, a former federal prosecutor, said that prosecutors “were blinded by their desire to pin blame. This led to an extremely weak case that we effectively challenged at every turn.”

First came a series of preliminary victories by the legal team, which in a addition to Mr. Hueston and Mr. Camp included Doug Dixon; Andrew Walsh, Kasey Mitchell, Andrew Junker and Kyle Batter. Together they worked to successfully bar 13 of the 14 substantive experts prosecutors had designated for trial. Then Hueston Hennigan filed a motion to dismiss the case for prosecutorial misconduct. Drawing on thousands of pages of grand jury transcripts that depicted an extensive pattern of prosecutorial misconduct before three grand juries, including efforts to intimidate witnesses, manipulate testimony and influence the grand jury. The motion was still pending when the Government agreed to dismiss all felony charges.

This marks the third case in three years in which Hueston Hennigan attorneys have obtained dismissal of all felony charges following the filing of a prosecutorial misconduct motion.

See “Case Against Al Hill Dismissed; Dallas County D.A. Held In Contempt” and “Nevada Robosigning Case Unravels”.

The arrival of Mr. Klieger, a prominent litigator who has represented clients such as Paramount Pictures, NBCUniversal, Showtime Networks, Nickelodeon, MTV, Electronic Arts, and Skechers, puts an exclamation point on six months of growth for the firm in terms of its rosters of clients and attorneys.

“We have had an outstanding year so far, and welcoming Rob to the team continues the momentum,” said Managing Partner Brian Hennigan. “The addition of Rob to the partnership bolsters our existing lineup of talent required to meet the needs of our clients.”

Mr. Klieger’s arrival at Hueston Hennigan was greeted with enthusiasm by clients as well as the members of the legal community.

“Rob has been an integral part of the Skechers legal family for nearly a decade,” said Philip G. Paccione, General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Business Affairs of Skechers U.S.A., Inc. “He has handled a wide range of sophisticated intellectual property matters for us and has always given Skechers excellent representation and practical advice in a cost-effective manner. We congratulate him in his new position at Hueston Hennigan and look forward to continuing our relationship with him there.”

“Rob is one of our primary go-to litigators for cases big and small,” said Jacob Schatz, Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Electronic Arts Inc. “His ability to balance legal and business considerations, practically and efficiently, is truly exceptional.”
Peter Zeughauser, one of the legal industry’s premier consultants, called the move a smart strategic step for the firm.

“Rob Klieger provides Hueston Hennigan with a unique opportunity to expand its already growing penetration of high stakes boardroom-level entertainment industry litigation, which is a sweet spot in Southern California,” said Mr. Zeughauser. “It also fits well with the firm’s strengths in the tech sector, which is rapidly converging with the entertainment sector. This positions the firm extremely well at the geographic epicenter of the convergence.”

Mr. Klieger said he was drawn to Hueston Hennigan because of its outstanding attorneys. “Despite the short time it has been around, Hueston Hennigan has already assembled among the very best talent in the legal community,” Mr. Klieger said. “I was drawn to the skill of the attorneys, the roster of A-list clients and the energy of the firm. I can’t think of any place I would rather practice law.”

Hueston Hennigan opened offices in Los Angeles and Newport Beach in January 2015 with 25 attorneys. The arrival of Mr. Klieger and incoming associates brings the new total to 40.

“Rob Klieger is an extraordinary talent with deep civil litigation experience, particularly in high-stakes entertainment and intellectual property matters,” said Partner John Hueston. “He is the rare established star on a growth trajectory that perfectly fits into our model of creative business trial lawyers who are singularly focused on achieving the best outcomes for our clients.”

In addition to representing movie studios, television networks, production companies and video game publishers in federal and state court actions, Mr. Klieger also has a national business torts practice. Selected as the exclusive winner of the 2014 Client Choice Awards in the Media & Entertainment category for California, as well as the overall winner of the Media & Entertainment category for the United States, he is highly regarded by the judiciary, and his publications have been cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous federal courts of appeal.

The California state court entered broad injunctions against the defendants, and the defendants agreed to immediately return any and all confidential documents in their possession. The former employees also publicly apologized to CoreLogic for their actions and acknowledged that they had breached their confidentiality obligations. In addition, the parties entered into confidential settlement agreements.

According to the CoreLogic complaint, filed in January 2014 by Hueston Hennigan LLP attorneys John Hueston, Moez Kaba and Eric Hayden, the five defendants, Brian Dixon, Nicole Herold, Khiem Hoang, Anthony Romano, and Paul Shiroma, all left CoreLogic within three months of each other in late 2013 and early 2014, and began working for competitor First American Financial Corporation. Immediately upon learning of the theft, Hueston Hennigan attorneys successfully obtained a temporary restraining order preventing any further access or use of the confidential documents.

Then, through computer forensics and aggressive discovery, the firm was able to refute defendants’ repeated denials of any wrongdoing. CoreLogic was able to develop a record that established these employees had misappropriated confidential and highly proprietary CoreLogic files. CoreLogic’s investigation also revealed that several of the employees later attempted to cover up evidence of their misdeeds. With this information, Hueston Hennigan successfully obtained a broad injunction and return of all of CoreLogic’s confidential documents in these employees’ possession without the necessity of going to trial.

Lead attorney John Hueston said, “This is a significant victory for CoreLogic and sets an example for other companies whose business depends on the creation and safeguarding of proprietary information.

“Trade secret theft is an increasingly important concern in the new economy, he continued, “and CoreLogic’s win demonstrates how a company can work effectively and efficiently with counsel to protect its intellectual property.”

Hueston Hennigan attorneys John Hueston, Moez Kaba, Eric Hayden, and Ellen Kenney represented CoreLogic.