Brian D. Walters

LITIGATION AND APPEALS

• Led discovery team and was part of the trial team in San Francisco Superior Court that obtained a mid-trial settlement for pennies on the dollar in a finder’s fee alleged breach of contract case on behalf of our international fiber optic cable company defendant client after the judge threatened to non-suit the case against plaintiff.
• Created and executed a legal strategy in Los Angeles Superior Court and federal court that obtained a judicial ruling prior to a motion to compel arbitration finding a company’s pay scheme illegal, which quickly led to a seven-figure settlement for the former executive client.
• Obtained a stay pending appeal and a preliminary injunction in Orange County Superior Court on behalf of seven individuals where documents detailing their private and clergy-penitent privileged communications were previously allowed by the same judge to be disclosed.
• Representing plaintiff, one of the largest private companies in California, designed and implemented a legal strategy in Los Angeles Superior Court that led to a defendant in a public and private nuisance case in West Hollywood demolishing its properties and agreeing to pay attorney’s fees to our neighboring corporate client.
• Second-chaired a four-week jury trial to verdict in a products liability case in Ventura County Superior Court, and on post-trial motion and negotiation, turned a potential $1.6 million liability into a $125,000 settlement.
• Substituting in as counsel, extracted a six-figure settlement paid to the plaintiff client in the United States District of Colorado after prior counsel lost a motion for summary judgment and the client faced six-figure sanctions and attorney’s fees claims in a patent dispute.
• Obtained a rarely granted writ of certiorari from the United State Supreme Court on an amicus brief as part of a legal team representing a pro bono client.
• Decertified or defeated certification of classes in four cases involving industry leaders in transportation (American Airlines), retail (Wal-Mart), and entertainment (Sony).
• Executed a litigation strategy in Kern County Superior Court that resulted in a note payoff on an unrecorded residential mortgage loan from a deceased borrower where there were two bona fide purchasers and an expired statute of limitation.
• From a referral by Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, secured a six-figure settlement for an indigent client from a deadbeat dad in a real estate-related case in Los Angeles Superior Court.
• Successfully petitioned the Court of Appeal to modify its opinion excluding client from ordered sanctions.
• Representing a plaintiff startup, implemented a litigation strategy in a trademark infringement matter in Central District of California leading to a settlement that ended all such infringement by the defendant.
• Designed and implemented a new legal strategy to protect defendant religious organizations and their congregants in cases in which they were frequently named as defendants and had previously experienced catastrophic losses.

BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS

• Drafted, revised and negotiated asset purchase agreements totaling more than $45 million for the purchase of non-performing residential notes and REO (bank-owned residential properties) and was co-counsel on additional asset pools valued at more than $100 million.
• Led the legal team for a successful acquisition of a multi-million dollar historically-significant commercial property in New York.
• Completed multi-million dollar expedited acquisition of a controlling stake in a strategically competitive company and successfully negotiated the subsequent unwinding of the transaction after discovering seller fraud.
• Drafted, revised, and negotiated numerous leases on behalf of both the landlord and the tenant.
• Turned around potentially catastrophic wind-up of financial services subsidiary, saving the company millions of dollars.
• After the unexpected filing of a debtor bankruptcy resulting in a delisting notice to the creditor client, co-created and executed a buyout of the debtor’s assets to avoid bankruptcy of the creditor and preserve continuity of the company.
• Prosecuted trademark application for a new company brand to successful registration.

REGULATORY AND COMPLIANCE

• Identified high risk areas in employment and human resources (HR) and developed related policies and procedures to ensure company-wide compliance.
• Led incident response team investigation for healthcare clients following a cybersecurity attack and breach, successfully protecting thousands of individuals’ private records and ensured compliance with healthcare-related privacy and other regulations, including HIPAA, HITECH Act, Stark Law, False Claims Act and the Affordable Care Act.
• Conducted multiple internal investigations, including employment-related claims, regulatory violations, disclosure of confidential information and trade secrets, and investigations on behalf of colleges and Board of Director Audit Committees.
• Negotiated and resolved complaints and citations issued by the state’s environmental agency on behalf of client.
• Resolved multiple government investigations regarding company affiliations while preserving company’s practices, clients, brand and reputation.
• Eviscerated a 100% tax penalty error made by another in a six-figure note sale by implementing a creative solution to a REIT compliance issue.
• Argued and obtained dismissal of harassing employee’s unpaid wages claim before the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE).
• On behalf of a faith-based affiliated university in Ohio, successfully petitioned the Higher Learning Commission to modify a rule change to allow the college to retain its accreditation.