Stu is the Managing Partner of the Century City office of Reed Smith, LLP. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, representing clients in courts and alternative dispute resolution forums throughout the United States. He has particular experience in class actions, securities fraud, intellectual property disputes and business torts.
Stu has tried over a dozen complex civil cases to verdict or arbitral award. These include matters involving breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets, insurance bad faith and securities fraud.
Most recently, he was retained by a large outdoor advertising company to present evidence in the punitive damages phase of a fraud case. After a court had found the company had committed fraud, it retained Stu to argue why an award of punitive damages was not warranted or, in the alternative why such an award should not exceed the amount of compensatory damages. Despite the initial fraud finding, Stu was able to convince the judge not only that punitive damages were not warranted but also that legitimate appealable issues existed with respect to the original finding of fraud. The case settled shortly thereafter.
In addition to being an accomplished trial lawyer, Stu has had great success winning and settling complex matters short of trial. He recently obtained summary judgment in a software copyright and trade secret dispute against a large e-commerce company. The federal court not only granted summary judgment in favor of Stu's client on all counts, but awarded the client 100% of their attorneys' fees.
Stu has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Urban League and a winner of its Community Service Award. He is also committed to lending support to individuals that suffer from food allergies through his work with the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.
Stu earned his J.D. from George Washington University in 1989. In 1986, he graduated from Boston College with a B.A., cum laude, in Economics and Philosophy.
Representative Matters
Representative Recent Trials and Arbitrations
Carpenter Plaza v. Clear Channel Outdoor, Inc.
Los Angeles Superior Court - Served as lead trial counsel to Clear Channel Outdoor to defend the punitive damages phase of a fraud claim after prior counsel had lost the liability phase. After a multi-day hearing and the submission of new evidence, the same judge who found liability and malicious conduct, awarded no punitive damages and questioned the underlying ruling. The case settled shortly thereafter on favorable terms.
14 Crow Canyon, et al. v. Page Mill Properties, et al.
JAMS Arbitration, San Francisco, California - Served as lead trial counsel in a 3 week hearing arising out of claims for securities fraud brought by 20 investors after failure of a $350 million real estate investment in East Palo Alto, California.
Special Devices, Inc. v. National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pitts. Pa.
Los Angeles Superior Court - Served as lead trial counsel for plaintiff Special Devices, Inc. in 6 week jury trial for breach of contract and insurance bad faith. The case settled after the jury reached a verdict in favor of Special Devices on all counts, including a finding of punitive damages against National Union. The case resulted in an 8 figure settlement for Special Devices.
Cisco Systems, Inc. v. Rivers
JAMS Arbitration, San Francisco, California - Served as lead trial counsel in a multi-day arbitration hearing in Palo Alto, California arising out of Cisco's claims that it had the right to withhold $5 million in earn-out payment. Arbitrator awarded the entire amount requested, including prejudgment interest at 10% and denied Cisco's request for an extended non-compete period.
Complex Commercial Matters
MobiTV, Inc. v. Nokia Siemens Network, Inc.
ICC Arbitration, New York, New York - Served as co-lead defense counsel to Nokia Siemens Network in a case arising out of a licensing agreement to provide wireless services in China. The case settled favorably during discovery.
United States Auto Parts v Parts Geek, et al.
United States District Court, Central District of California - Served as lead defense counsel in a case alleging copyright infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets arising out of the alleged misuse of eCommerce software. The court granted summary judgment on all claims and awarded our client 100% of its attorneys fees.
Collins Signs v. Nissan North America, Inc.
United States District Court, Middle District of Alabama - Served as lead defense counsel for Turner & Townsend, a multinational consulting company, in a RICO/fraud claim arising out of a contract with Nissan to replace the exteriors of all of its North American dealerships. Court dismissed with prejudice all claims against Turner & Townsend.
Hermes Beteiligungsverwatungs v. Siemens Shared Services LLC
Los Angeles County Superior Court - Lead defense counsel to Siemens in a case arising out of an alleged failure to promote a proprietary software program designed to maximize investment returns.
Cybersitter v. The People's Republic of China, et al.
United States District Court of the Central District of California - Lead defense counsel to Chinese software development company that has been accused of misappropriating trade secrets and infringing copyrighted software used in the Green Damn content filter that the Chinese government had required to be installed on PC's sold in China. Alleged damages exceed $2 billion.
Network Signatures, Inc. v. BNY Mellon, UPS and 3M
United States District Court of the Central District of California - Lead defense counsel to BNY Mellon, UPS and 3M in separate patent infringement lawsuits arising out of U.S. Department of the Navy patent that purportedly covers network security applications.
People of the State of California v. YourTravelBiz.com, Inc. and
Los Angeles Superior Court - Served as lead counsel in defense of a publicly traded travel company accused of violating anti-pyramiding and unfair competition laws by the California Attorney General. The action was favorably resolved.
QR Spex v. Motorola, Inc.
United States District Court, Central District of California - Served as lead defense counsel to Motorola against a claim that the company misappropriated a trade secret for the implementation of BluetoothTM technology into eyewear.
ASAT Holding Ltd. v. Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.
United States District Court, Northern District of California - Served as lead defense counsel for Freescale Semiconductor in a dispute concerning royalty payments on Ball Grid Array packages and claims of patent misuse.
Class Actions
California Hospital Association v. Blue Cross of California
Los Angeles Superior Court, Complex Division - In a case of first impression, served as lead defense counsel for Blue Cross of California against a putative class action brought on behalf of California hospitals claiming that a July 1, 2006 initiative designed to reduce the cost of elective endoscopic procedure violates, among other things, California anti-kickback laws. See Open Forum, San Francisco Chronicle, June 29, 2006.
Van Ness v. Blue Cross of California
Alameda County Superior Court - Obtained summary judgment in favor of Blue Cross in a class action that sought hundreds of millions of dollars for purportedly misleading practices and unfair competition. The trial court's ruling was affirmed on appeal. Van Ness v. Blue Cross of Calif., 87 Cal.App.4th 364 (2001).
Murphy v. Walgreens
San Diego County Superior Court - Co-lead defense counsel to Walgreens in a putative class action alleging the company has no legal right to sell de-identified customer information used by third-parties to help manage relationships with prescribing physicians.
In Re Homestore Securities Litigation
United States District Court, Central District of California - Served as lead counsel for a group of defendants against a class action brought under Section 10b-5 of Federal Securities Laws. The court held that the complaint failed to state a claim and dismissed with prejudice the entire action against our clients. Days before plaintiffs' brief was due in the 9th Circuit, the case was settled by our clients when they simply waived their right to recover costs of suit. 347 F.Supp.2d 790 (C.D. Cal. 2004).
Shellhammer v. Clear Channel Broadcasting
San Francisco Superior Court - Served as lead defense counsel to Clear Channel Broadcasting against a putative class action alleging that outside salespeople were entitled to overtime pay, and that the putative class members were not properly reimbursed for reasonable business expenses. The case was favorably settled during the class discovery phase.