On June 29, 2011, Hurrell Cantrall LLP held a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the opening of its new offices in the Macy’s Plaza, located at 700 S. Flower Street in downtown Los Angeles. Over 60 Chamber and downtown community members attended the event. The Managing Partner, Tom Hurrell, presided over the ribbon cutting portion of the evening. Councilwoman Jan Perry of the Ninth District provided the attendees with a brief overview of upcoming developments in downtown Los Angeles.

 

 

The attorneys at Hurrell Cantrall LLP would like to thank everyone who participated in welcoming the firm to its new office. Hurrell Cantrall LLP represents Fortune 500 Companies, cities, counties, school districts, and small to medium-sized businesses in the areas of employment law, police misconduct, civil rights, insurance defense, premises liability, and products liability litigation. The firm consists of 17 attorneys, of which a considerable percentage are women and minorities.

The plaintiff in this matter was a jail inmate who alleged that on two separate occasions, only two days apart, he was the victim of excessive force inflicted by the defendants who consisted of five individual law enforcement personnel.  The plaintiff alleged that he was attacked by the deputies in an unprovoked manner and as a result he sustained serious personal injuries and violations of his civil rights.  The defendants contended that on both occasions the plaintiff was acting in a threatening, assaultive, and potentially dangerous manner and that they only used that force necessary to subdue him to maintain order in the jail, all in accordance with department policy.  After a short deliberation, the jury awarded defense verdicts on all counts as to each of the five defendants.

You are Cordially invited to celebrate the opening of Hurrell Cantrall’s new office at our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House on June 29, 2011 from 5:30 to 8:30p.m. Fellow L.A. Chamber of Commerce members, local officials, and downtown business owners and merchants will be in attendance. Wine, appetizers, and raffle prizes will be provided. We hope you will join us and take the opportunity to learn more about our firm and to meet our attorneys in a relaxed and festive atmosphere.

Hurrell Cantrall LLP represents local businesses, Fortune 500 corporations, product manufacturers and distributors, school districts, cities, counties, and other government entities in the areas of employment law, products liability, toxic tort litigation, and general liability defense.

If you have any questions, or would like to RSVP, please email Jacquelyn Shaw at jshaw@hurrellcantrall.com.

For the past few months, we have been designing our beautiful new office space on the 9th floor of the Verizon building at Macy’s Plaza on the corner of 7th Street and Flower Street. We will still be located in downtown Los Angeles, just two blocks from our current location. Please make a note of our new address, beginning May 21, 2011: 700 S. Flower Street, Suite 900, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Our phone numbers will remain the same.

In this action, a cross-complainant filed suit against our client, alleging fourteen causes of action, including, but not limited to breach of contract, fraud, misrepresentation, concealment, indemnity, and declaratory relief.  The cross-complainant also sought punitive damages against our client.  On behalf of our client, we demurred to the majority of the causes of action, and filed a separate lawsuit against the cross-complainant for breach of contract.  At the hearing of our demurrer to the operative cross-complaint, the Court dismissed twelve of the cross-complainants’ claims against our client without leave to amend.  Subsequently, we engaged in negotiations with the cross-complainant’s counsel, and argued that the evidence indicated that the cross-complainant had breached the contract at issue and owed our client damages pursuant to the liquidated damages clause.  The parties agreed to settle all actions under the condition that the cross-complainant pay our client the entire amount of damages owed under the liquidated damages clause of the contract.

Hurrell Cantrall LLP extends its congratulations to Blair Schlecter and Jamie Webb-Akasaka for their promotion to Partner at the firm.  We would also like to congratulate Lisa Martinelli and Jill A. Wood for their promotion to Equity Partner.

In this case, the plaintiff owned and operated a daycare and preschool on property owned by our clients, who were individuals and business entities.  The plaintiff filed suit against our clients claiming that they breached oral and written contracts related to the operation of the daycare and preschool.  Plaintiff also alleged that defendants tortiously interfered with her business and prospective business opportunities.  Finally, plaintiff alleged that her business was wrongfully evicted from the property.  The lawsuit sought damages for loss business profits and future business profits, as well as punitive damages and attorney’s fees.  Defendants demurred to the initial complaint, which was procedurally defective on its face.  In lieu of filing an opposition, plaintiff filed a First Amended Complaint, which completely changed the facts from the initial Complaint to get around the procedural defects of the statute of limitations and statute of fraud defenses.  Defendants demurred based on the “sham pleading” doctrine.  The Court dismissed all individual defendants and gave plaintiff leave to amend as to the business entities.  Also, the Court found that the tortious interference with contract and prospective economic advantage claims were barred by the statute of limitations.  Plaintiff filed a Second Amended Complaint alleging the same facts as the previous two complaints and attached the alleged contract.  Defendants again demurred based on the fact that there was no privity of contract and because the facts alleged did not show that the remaining entity defendants caused or contributed to plaintiff’s alleged damages.  The Court sustained the demurrer without leave to amend, dismissing the case in its entirety and entitling defendants to its costs. 

In this matter, four plaintiffs who had been charged with assault on a peace officer claimed that they were falsely arrested and subjected to excessive force.  The plaintiffs sued those officers as well as the public entity that employed them.  We filed a motion to dismiss all of the individual defendants based on various procedural and substantive grounds, which the Court granted without leave to amend, leaving only the public entity as a defendant in the action.  Through further negotiations between our office and the plaintiffs’ counsel, the plaintiffs agreed to dismiss all of their claims against the public entity.  The Court therefore ordered the dismissal of the case, terminating the action. 

Hurrell Cantrall LLP would like to welcome back Associate Joseph Johnson.  Mr. Johnson was admitted to practice law in California in 2004, and joined Hurrell Cantrall LLP where he honed his skills in all aspects of civil litigation.  In 2007, opportunities brought Mr. Johnson to Memphis, Tennessee, where he focused on personal injury and social security disability matters.  Recently, he authored an article entitled The Constitution’s Perfect Infalliability!  A Young Lawyer’s Discovery During His First Trip to Washington, D.C., which was published in the 2009 issue of the Tennessee Young Lawyer.  Mr. Johnson now returns to Hurrell Cantrall LLP to further pursue his legal career.

Thomas C. Hurrell served as a faculty member at the 23rd Annual Jack Daniels American Board of Trial Advocates Trial School. The Trial School is an intensive trial tactics program that brings in renowned and seasoned trial attorneys to instruct participants in the art of voir dire, opening and closing statements, and directing and cross-examining witness. The Trial School is sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Hurrell Cantrall LLP Associates Lisa An, Lala Hassaram, and Charles Phan participated and successfully completed this year’s Trial School program.