Prior Work Experience

Representative Experience

• Successful representation of the victims of the La Conchita landslide which killed 10 people, injured 9 others and destroyed and damaged 16 homes. Recovered more than $7.5 million in damages from defendants that failed properly to maintain the hillside that failed in January 2005.
  
• Successful representation of a securities brokerage client in obtaining dismissal of securities arbitration action and an award of attorney fees and sanctions against claimant for failure to comply with NASD dispute resolution discovery and pre-hearing rules
  
• Successful representation of a securities brokerage firm and its financial advisor in obtaining dismissal of $1.1 million suitability claims, finding that the customers had other financial resources and sophistication to understand the risks of their investment portfolio and that the vast majority of losses were in stocks that were purchased elsewhere and transferred into their account
  
• Successful representation of a securities brokerage firm and its financial advisor in obtaining dismissal of all customer suitability action and an award of expert fees and other costs against claimant, establishing that the claimants were aggressive investors who came to the brokerage firm seeking high returns in Internet stocks and other speculative investments just before the market break in early 2000
  
• Successful representation of a securities brokerage firm against claimants in alleged misappropriation case and awarded in attorney fees, defending on the basis that the former financial advisor's conduct was outside the scope of his employment duties and some of the alleged misconduct occurred after the financial advisor’s employment had been terminated. In his role as general counsel, convinced claimants' counsel to submit the action to private arbitration before a retired Los Angeles Superior Court judge
  
• Successful representation of a real estate partnership in the recovery of more than $1.2 million construction loan proceeds that were stolen by unscrupulous contractors in connection with three apartment and shopping center construction projects
  

Publications/Speeches

• Author, In Search of Exceptions to the FTC’s Amended Telemarketing Sales Rule - Don’t Put Your Neck in a Loophole! (August 2010)
• Author, State Law Update: Kentucky Amends Existing Debt Adjuster Law To Cover Debt Settlement Providers (August 2010)
• Author, New Illinois Debt Settlement Law Imposes Substantial Limitations On The Timing And Amount Of Fees That May Be Charged To Consumers (August 2010)
• Author, The New Consumer Financial Protection Agency: How Will It Affect U.S. Businesses? (August 2010)
• Author, New FTC Rule Bans Debt Relief Providers From Charging Advance Fees (July 29, 2010)
• Co-Author, “Hid[ing] Elephants in Mouseholes”: the FTC’s Unwarranted Attempt to Regulate the Debt-Relief-Services Industry Using Rulemaking Authority Purportedly Granted by the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act, Texas Review of Law & Politics (July 23, 2010)
• Presenter, Debt Settlement Marketing Compliance: What Not To Say, USOBA Sales Conference Call (July 13, 2010)
• Author, 2010 State Law Update: New Debt Settlement Laws Become Effective In Three States on July 1, 2010 (July 2010)
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Affiliations

• Member, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Compliance & Legal Division
• Former NASD-licensed Registered Representative and General Securities Supervisor

Distinctions

• Highest "AV Preeminent (5 out of 5)" Professional Rating, Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory
• Director, American Corporate Counsel Association, Los Angeles Chapter (1998-2000)
• Director, Region Coach and Assistant Commissioner, American Youth Soccer Organization, Region 214 (2000-2005)
• Director and Auxiliary Director, South Pasadena Education Foundation (1997-2006)