Brian is a respected leader in the legal community, having served as the global co-chair of the securities litigation and professional liability practice at his prior firm, immediate past chair of the Litigation Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and current co-chair of the California Complex Courts Committee. He began his career as a law clerk to the Honorable Gary A. Feess of the US District Court for the Central District of California.

In his active pro bono practice, Brian has successfully represented many low-income tenants in landlord disputes, transgender and Afghani refugees in asylum proceedings, and families in adoption hearings.

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• Obtained dismissals with prejudice, which were later affirmed on appeal, of all lawsuits at the pleadings stage on behalf of Insight Enterprises Inc. and its officers and directors in a securities fraud class action and multiple derivative cases following the company’s restatement announcement*
• Represented a Big Four accounting firm against claims of professional malpractice in two confidential arbitrations in which the claimants alleged more than $1 billion in damages; the first trial resulted in a complete defense verdict and the second, after weeks of testimony, settled on the eve of closing arguments for a nominal amount*
• Represented technology company Avago in its high-profile $37 billion acquisition of multinational software company Broadcom (this was the largest such transaction in United States history at that time)*
• Represented Hudson Pacific Properties and its board in a shareholder lawsuit arising out of a $3.5 billion acquisition and defeated the plaintiff’s emergency motion to enjoin the shareholder vote (a ruling that was named “Verdict of the Year” by The Daily Journal)*
• Successfully represented the founder, former chairman and CEO of Banc of California in a securities class action and three shareholder derivative lawsuits arising out of a short-seller report which resulted in a stock drop*
• Obtained dismissals with prejudice of all lawsuits on behalf of the former CEO of Wilshire State Bank in a securities fraud class action and related derivative cases following the bank’s disclosure of a material adjustment to earnings*
• Obtained a complete defense verdict in a complex commercial litigation jury trial involving alleged damages in excess of $100 million against a company and individual defendants; following four weeks of trial, the jury returned a complete defense verdict after deliberating for less than 24 hours*
• On behalf of minority shareholders in a shareholder derivative lawsuit, successfully argued the appeal before an en banc panel of the Nevada Supreme Court and obtained a reversal of the lower court’s decision in a landmark opinion that dramatically altered Nevada corporate law*
• Prevailed on more than a dozen motions before plaintiffs agreed to settle all claims on favorable terms in shareholder litigation involving derivative claims against World Oil Corp. and its affiliated companies*
• Obtained dismissal with prejudice of all claims at the pleadings stage on behalf of the former chief financial officer of a publicly traded company in a securities fraud class action involving allegations that defendants engaged in an alleged scheme to inflate stock prices through “stock-loan” transactions*

*Matter handled prior to joining McDermott.

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• Law360, Rising Star, 2013
• Daily Journal, Top 20 Under 40, 2013

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Courts / Agencies
US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
California Courts of Appeal
US District Court for the Central District of California

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