Alexander H. Cote

First Amendment and Free Speech

• Represented Sidley Austin LLP in a suit alleging that the firm aided and abetted a billion-dollar Ponzi scheme involving real estate investments through its advocacy before state regulators.
• Represented the Los Angeles Police Protective League by securing dismissal in a suit alleging a novel theory of First Amendment retaliation and affirming same on appeal.
• Obtained dismissal of a suit for FBI Agents alleging religious profiling in connection with an anti-terrorism investigation conducted in Orange County, which was largely affirmed on appeal in a published decision.
• Secured dismissal for Verizon Wireless in a failure-to-rescue suit brought by the family of a hiker who became lost in the San Bernardino Mountains, and successfully employed a statutory speech privilege in a case of first impression under California law.
• Represented defamation defendants, including a national law firm accused of defaming certain real estate developers (the defendants in an underlying suit brought by the firm), by successfully prevailing on anti-SLAPP motions.

Complex Commercial Litigation

• Obtained dismissal of Andre (Dr. Dre) Young, O’Shea (Ice Cube) Jackson, Sr., and NBC Universal from a wrongful death case arising out of the slaying of community activist Terry Carter by Marion (Suge) Knight, and affirming same on appeal.
• Obtained a preliminary injunction and writ of attachment for Verizon Wireless against a fraudulent customer who used a bogus startup company to misappropriate thousands of iPhones from the company under false pretenses.
• Represented a former executive in a civil suit brought by a company in Saipan related to the widely reported KPMG criminal tax shelter case in the Southern District of New York.

Intellectual Property

• Represented a former president and two vice-presidents in a suit brought by American International Group (AIG), their former employer, alleging misappropriation of trade secrets and other unlawful activity.
• Represented a former employee accused of misappropriating trade secrets and other unlawful activity in the suit between Mattel, Inc. and MGA Entertainment, Inc., which resulted in a directed verdict for the client.
• Represented Microsoft Corporation in a dispute with a Hollywood screenwriter alleging misappropriation of trade secrets that were later used to develop an innovative exercise videogame for the Xbox.
• Represented a former employee who left her employment at an Oregon technology startup to work for a California-based competitor. Although the client was initially the defendant in a trade secrets action brought in Oregon, Alexander obtained a settlement in which all claims were resolved, and the former employer paid a substantial sum to the executive.
• Secured millions of dollars in judgments and settlements for a dental product manufacturer from the prosecution of trademark claims against the manufacturers and sellers of counterfeit dental goods.

Insurance

• Secured dismissal for The Travelers Companies in coverage disputes concerning (a) policies covering automated property evaluation services that proved faulty during the 2007 subprime mortgage crisis and (b) officers’ liability for collapse of a bank and affirming same on appeal.
• Represented a nonprofit drug rehabilitation center in a suit alleging that an insurer failed to defend and indemnify the center against claims arising out of a program participant’s death.
• Represented a Lloyd’s of London syndicate in a coverage dispute between insurers arising out of a scuba diving accident involving a boat that left a diver behind when leaving a dive site.

Real Estate Litigation

• Represented a national real estate brokerage firm to (a) secure a favorable decision in a bench trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, and (b) obtain several favorable decisions in arbitrations, including a complete defense verdict, and a six-figure attorneys’ fee award, after an eight-day arbitration alleging a multi-year and multimillion dollar real estate fraud.
• Secured a decision from the Court of Appeal for a real estate developer affirming judgment in the developer’s favor in a case arising out of the controversial sale of the “South Central Farm,” which was the subject of the 2008 Academy Award nominated documentary film The Garden.
• Represented a Fortune 100 company in a four-day arbitration with its former business partner and landlord concerning alleged breaches of a release.

False Claims Act

• Obtained dismissal for Verizon California of a False Claims Act case alleging a failure to collect utility taxes and affirming same on appeal.
• Represented a national liberal arts college in a False Claims Act suit alleging that the school received loans for students attending a satellite campus that were not disclosed to the Department of Education.

Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)

• Obtained victory for Verizon Wireless on an early motion to deny class certification.
• Represented HD Supply, a national chain of home improvement stores, in a suit seeking millions of dollars in statutory penalties.

Education

• Represented a Claremont McKenna College student, in a published decision establishing procedural fairness requirements in the school’s student disciplinary procedures.