Paul B. Salvaty
Partner
Paul is a business trial lawyer who handles complex commercial litigation, antitrust, entertainment, technology litigation, and intellectual property matters in both state and federal courts. He has been recognized repeatedly for his work in commercial litigation, including being named the 2021 “Litigation Lawyer of the Year” by the Century City Bar Association.
Key Matters
Some of the experience represented below may have been handled at a previous firm.
- Biden v. Ziegler, et al. CD Cal. Case No. 2:23-cv-07593 – Representing Hunter Biden in connection with federal and state law claims arising from the illegal accessing and tampering of computer data.
- US Dominion, Inc., et al. v. Fox News Network, LLC – Served as one of the lead lawyers at trial for Fox Corp. and Fox News Network in a high-profile Delaware Superior Court litigation brought by Dominion Voting Systems, which sued Fox for defamation and US$1.6B in damages, after Fox aired allegedly false claims concerning voter fraud following the 2020 U.S. Presidential election. The case settled after jury selection and just before opening statements were about to begin.
- ITV Gurney Holding Inc. v. Gurney. Case No. B286442 (Cal. Ct. App.) – Represented British film and television studio, ITV, in a business dispute arising from its purchase of a majority interest in the television production company that created the hit reality show, Duck Dynasty. For more than two years, the case involved extensive proceedings in the trial court, dozens of hearings before a discovery referee, and two successful trips to the Court of Appeal, including one involving invocation of ant-SLAPP statute.
- John Michael Ozzy Osbourne v. Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. et al. Case No. 2:18-cv-02310 – Represented Anschutz Entertainment Group and affiliated entities in antitrust class action filed by Ozzy Osbourne. Ozzy purported to challenge the legality of AEG's "Staples Center Commitment" policy, which required artists who wished to perform at the 02 Arena in London to play at least one date at Staples Center during a world tour that included Los Angeles dates. Ozzy alleged that the commitment unlawfully restrained competition in violation of Section I of the Sherman Act.
- United States of America, et al v. Morpho S.A., et al. Case No. 5:15-cv-00746 – Lead counsel for French multinational in False Claims Act case. Represented Safran SA and two of its subsidiary companies in False Claims Act case pending in Northern District of California. Two former high-ranking executives in Russia alleged that Safran made false claims to the U.S. and state government agencies that Safran's fingerprint identification software was developed in Russia and potentially contained a Russian "backdoor." After several rounds of briefing, Judge Koh dismissed case with prejudice and also granted motion for fees.
- Mintz v. Mark Bartelstein and Associates Inc. Case 2:12-cv-02554 – Lead trial counsel for sports talent agency. Successfully defended multi-million-dollar invasion of privacy and computer hacking claims against a Chicago-based sports talent agency. The case culminated in a federal jury trial before the Hon. Stephen Wilson in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. At trial, the Court granted a directed verdict on the plaintiff's claim for punitive damages, and the jury awarded compensatory damages in an amount that was a small fraction of that sought by the plaintiff.
- City National Bank v. Autumn Games (LA Superior Court Case No. BC485137) – Co-lead trial counsel for national bank. Successfully prosecuted contract and fraud claims on behalf of City National Bank in connection with multi-million-dollar claims against Autumn Games and Konami Digital Entertainment arising from the defendants' development and worldwide distribution of a video game entitled "DefJam Rapstar." The case was judicially referred to the Hon. Richard Neal (ret.). The case settled after a two-week trial and shortly before a final decision was rendered.
- California Housing Finance Agency v. Hanover/California Management and Accounting Center, Inc. – Lead trial counsel for state housing finance agency. Secured more than US$9M in compensatory and punitive damages for state housing finance agency in prosecuting claims for conflict-of-interest, fraud, and unfair competition. The verdict followed an eight-week jury trial in Orange County Superior Court and, at the time, was the largest award ever under California's conflict-of-interest law. The jury rejected the defendants' US$20M cross-claim against the agency. Immediately following the verdict, the defendants were arrested by the state attorney general and subsequently were subjected to criminal prosecution. The court awarded the agency more than US$3M in attorney's fees. The judgment was affirmed in all respects on appeal.
- Cinedigm Corp. v. Gaiam Inc. Case No. CV 15-01557 – Co-lead trial counsel in working capital arbitration. Represented independent content distributor in connection with dispute arising from US$50M purchase of entertainment business division of international media company. Dispute centered on potential claims that the target company engaged in accounting fraud and other wrongdoing that overstated business division's value and working capital by more than US$20M.
- Prodanova v. H.C. Wainwright and Co., LLC et al. Case No. 2:17-cv-07926 – Lead counsel for specialty bank. Represented health care specialty bank in stock drop case in which plaintiff-class alleged that bank fraudulently inflated the stock of a pharmaceutical company. Following multiple rounds of briefing, the district court dismissed the case with prejudice.
- In re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust MDL. (3rd Cir.). – Lead trial counsel for major health insurer in MDL. Secured dismissal of all claims against CIGNA Corporation, which consolidated into single multi-district proceeding numerous nationwide antitrust, RICO, and ERISA class actions filed after Eliot Spitzer and other Attorneys General launched investigations into broker compensation practices in the insurance industry.
- Woodrow v. Worldview Entertainment Holdings LLC et al., Case No. 653125 (Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York) – Lead counsel for independent studio. Represented a leading independent motion picture studio that financed, produced, and acquired theatrical quality feature films, in connection with a consolidated litigation in New York as well as several arbitrations arising out of disputes with film distribution and production companies, a talent agency, and other business partners.
- Cruz v. Ayromloo. (LA Superior, Second District Court of Appeal) – Lead counsel in bench trial in pro bono slum housing case. Won precedent-setting verdict for tenants of building against former landlord on claims for forcible detainer, wrongful eviction, and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The trial before the Hon. Emilie Elias in L.A. Superior Court spanned several days and established important new precedents regarding landlord liability to tenants, the proper calculation of damages in wrongful eviction cases, and a prevailing party's entitlement to attorneys' fees. The verdict was affirmed in all respects on appeal.
- Harris et al. v. Koenig et al. Case No. 1:02-cv-00618 (U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia) – Served as lead trial counsel for Waste Management Inc. in ERISA class action involving employee stock held by company plan. Court granted summary judgment for client on the key claims based on a statute of limitations defense, and the case was subsequently resolved on favorable terms.
- AICCO v. Insurance Company of North America. (First District Court of Appeal) – Won major victory for ACE in decade-long battle over the restructuring of its business by convincing the First District Court of Appeal to affirm summary judgment in favor of ACE and against insurance industry competitors, led by a company called AICCO, based on Proposition 64. Paul handled the appeal for ACE.
- In re Certain Set-Top Boxes and Components Thereof – Represented Gemstar-TV-Guide International Inc. in a Section 337 investigation before the U.S. International Trade Commission involving patent and antitrust claims relating to interactive program guides used in cable television set-top boxes. Paul was a member of the trial team and was primarily responsible for all motions and evidentiary issues during a three-week trial in Washington, D.C. before the ITC.
- Successful defense of California Institute of Technology in federal toxic tort action brought by more than 80 plaintiffs.
- Los Angeles News Service v. Reuters Television Intern. (United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit) – Won summary judgment for Reuters Inc. in defense of international copyright claims by Los Angeles News Service pertaining to Reuters' use of the videotape beating of Reginald Denny during the L.A. riots. The ruling was affirmed by the Ninth Circuit on appeal.
- Sun Microsystems Inc. v. Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (N.D.Cal.) – Successful defense of Hynix Semiconductor in price-fixing actions related to Department of Justice investigation into Dynamic Access Random Access memory (DRAM) market. The case settled on the eve of trial. Paul's role included defending Hynix in a series of opt-out cases brought by major DRAM purchasers that did not want to participate in the direct-purchaser class settlement. Obtained summary judgment that eliminated several hundred million dollars of alleged damages from Plaintiffs' claims.