Professional Experience Mr. Platt's has been one of Los Angeles' most successful general commercial litigators for almost 30 years. Mr. Platt's nationwide practice includes all types of complex business litigation, including defending class action lawsuits, false advertising lawsuits, consumer class actions, housing discrimination lawsuits, employment litigation, wage and hour class actions, trade secret litigation, real estate litigation, securities litigation, entertainment litigation, and sports law. He represents a wide variety of clients in state and federal courts, as well as before various administrative agencies. Mr. Platt has also served as the General Counsel for the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team from 1988 to the present. Mr. Platt has also been recognized as a "Super Lawyer" by both Los Angeles Magazine and the Los Angeles Times every year since the inception of the awards. Memberships & Activities Admitted to practice in the Southern, Central, Eastern and Northern District Courts of California, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the New York Supreme Court. Representative Matters Mr. Platt has served as lead trial counsel in hundreds of cases throughout the United States. Below are some examples: Elgin Baylor v. Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully obtained a defense judgment in a highly publicized trial after a 5 week jury trial. The team's former general manager alleged claims for age and race discrimination, wrongful discharge and retaliation. After just 3 hours of deliberation the jury unanimously ruled in the Team's favor on all claims. Jane Doe v. Match.com, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended Match.com in a case that received national media attention. The Plaintiff sought an injunction requiring Match.com to screen for registered sex offenders. Plaintiff dismissed the suit against Match.com, after failing to obtain injunctive relief. Sumner Davenport v. Beverly Hills Properties and Donald T. Sterling, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended Beverly Hills Properties and Donald T. Sterling before a jury. The plaintiff was a former property supervisor and alleged claims for sexual harassment, retaliation and wrongful discharge. After a 9 week trial, the jury ruled in defendant's favor on all claims. Citizens Business Bank v. Marin Community Bank, Marin Superior Court. Prevailed on behalf of plaintiff after a six week jury trial. Plaintiff successfully proved that defendant had wrongfully solicited plaintiff's employees and misappropriated plaintiff's trade secrets. Plaintiff received a judgment in excess of 1 million dollars. Ticketmaster v. Cleveland Cavaliers, United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. Prevailed after a 1 week trial filed against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ticketmaster successfully enforced its exclusive ticketing agreement against the Cavaliers and recovered damages. United States of America v. Beverly Hills Properties, Donald Sterling, the Sterling Family Trust and Shelly Sterling, United States District Court, Central District of California. Successfully defended the largest housing discrimination case ever brought by the United States Department of Justice. The DOJ alleged claims of race, national origin and familial discrimination in connection with the defendants' alleged discriminatory rental practices. Ticketmaster v. RMG, 507 F.Supp.2d 1096 (C.D. Cal. 2007); 536 F.Supp.2d 1191 (C.D. Cal. 2008). United States District Court for the Central District of California. Successfully obtained a judgment for $18 million as well as an injunction prohibiting RMG Technologies from marketing automated devices enabling users to access and navigate through the Ticketmaster website. Michael Bateman v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc. and Jarchafjian v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc., United States District Court for the Central District of California. Successfully defended two putative class actions brought under the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 ("FACTA"). Housing Rights Center v. Beverly Hills Properties, United States District Court for the Central District of California. Successfully defended a housing discrimination lawsuit filed against one of the nation's largest property management firms. Delaney v. Casden Properties, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defeated class action seeking damages for charging allegedly excessive late fees to tenants. EEOC v. Earl Scheib, United States District Court for the Central District of California. Successfully defended claims brought by the EEOC alleging race discrimination. DOJ v. Nara Bank, Successfully defend Nara Bank in connection with claims made by the Department of Justice alleging claims of race discrimination in connection with the provision of automobile loans. Costanzo v. Sterling, California Court of Appeal. Successfully defeated lawsuit under the Drug Dealer Liability Act (the "Carroll O'Connor Law"). The Post Group v. Santa Monica Video, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully brought trade secret and employee raiding claims. Evans v. Match.com, 244 F.R.D. 568, 2007, WL 2350113 (C.D. Cal. 2007). United States District Court for the Central District of California. Successfully defeated class certification of a purported consumer class action alleging claims for false advertising, unfair business practices, breach of contract and RICO violations. Ticketmaster v. Tickets.com, 54 U.S. P.Q. 2d 1344 (C.D. Cal. 2000); 2000 WL 1887522 (C.D. Cal 2000), aff'd, 2 Fed. Appx. 741; 2003 WL 21406289 (C.D. Cal 2003). United States District Court for the Central District of California. Successfully established new standards regarding the enforceability of terms of use on a website. Baker and Young v. Hythiam, Inc., Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended Hythiam in two related cases where former employees were alleging sexual harassment. Hoffman v. Pacific Sunwear, Sacramento Superior Court. Successfully defended Pacific Sunwear in a putative class action alleging company used unlawful employment application. weAttract v. Match.com, Successfully prevailed on behalf of Match.com in a AAA arbitration where claimant sought damages for breach of a license agreement. Huebner v. Match.com, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defeated putative consumer class action raising claims under California's Dating Service Act. Morat v. InterActiveCorp., Federal District Court in Florida. Successfully defended IAC in a putative class action alleging that IAC willfully violated FACTA. Fitch v. Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended Los Angeles Clippers in suit brought by former head coach Bill Fitch claiming that he was owed additional compensation under his employment contract. King Media and Prime Time Concerts v. Staples Center and Nederlander, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended Staples Center and Nederlander Organization from a lawsuit brought by promoters claiming that event tickets were not properly sold for a New Year's Eve concert held at Staples Center. Geller v. America Multi-Cinema, San Francisco Superior Court. Successfully defended AMC Theatres in a class action alleging that AMC improperly sold gift certificates in violation of California Civil Code Section 1749.5 which prohibits the sale of gift certificates containing expiration dates. Galindo v. American Multi-Cinema, Inc., Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended class action for violation of meal and break periods. Elston v. Alaska Airlines, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended Alaska Airlines in a lawsuit brought by a former pilot alleging that he was terminated because of his race. Macionski v. Alaska Airlines, United States District Court, Central District of California, and Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Obtained a defense judgment on behalf of Alaska Airlines in a case alleging wrongful discharge. Activision v. Plaga, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully prosecuted a trade secrets and breach of fiduciary duty case against a group of former Activision employees who left Activision during the term of their respective employment contracts. Burton v. Sunworld International, Successfully prevailed in an arbitration on behalf of Sunworld against claims brought by the company's former CEO who claimed that he was entitled to additional incentive compensation. DePhillips v. Ticketmaster, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended putative class action claims that Ticketmaster's website discriminated against individuals that are sight-impaired. Druyan v. Rolling Stones, Ticketmaster and Clear Channel SFX, United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prevailed on a motion to dismiss to defeat a putative class action suit claiming that defendants violated New York Consumer Protection Laws by failing to timely and properly notify consumers of the cancellation of a concert tour. Jackson v. Ticketmaster, Holliday v. Ticketmaster, and Petrey v. Ticketmaster, Successfully defended Ticketmaster in three similar putative class actions (filed in federal courts in Alabama, California, and Illinois, respectively) alleging that Ticketmaster willfully violated FACTA. Stevens v. PacSun, Ohio State Court. Successfully defended PacSun against tort claims brought in Ohio by three former female employees after a store manager allegedly set up a video camera in a store restroom. Dorcel v. Twistbox Entertainment, Inc., Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended Twistbox against claims for license fees allegedly due under a wireless distribution agreement. P.S. Investment Co., LLC v. Tuchscher, Superior Court of Riverside County. Prosecuted action for fraud and declaratory relief and defended against cross-complaint for breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with $47 million development in Palm Springs, California. Robert Rodriguez v. Match.com, United States District Court for the Central District of California. Successful in obtaining dismissal of action on behalf of Match.com, L.P. against claims of fraud, unfair business practices and false advertising. Tara Delaney v. Casden Properties, Inc., Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended one of the nation's largest residential landords against tenant's claims that landlord's late fees were excessive as a matter of law and constituted an unfair business practice Ander Business & Professions Code § § 17200, et seq. Sayed v. AMC Theaters, et al., United States District Court for the Central District of California. Successfully defended theater chain in defense of action in which the ACLU alleged that two Afghan-American plaintiffs were removed from theater by security officers based on their ethnicity and foreign language. Susan Pietrocarlo v. ADAC Healthcare Information Systems, United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Defended software company against claims of wrongful termination. Strawder v. Pacific Sunwear, 2010 W.L. 4118366 (Cal App 2d, 2010) Los Angeles Superior Court. 2009 W.L. 1360374 (2009). Defeated class certification on behalf of PacSun, in a case involving claims for unpaid overtime, missed meals and rest breaks, and related allegations. Aguilera v. Pacific Sunwear, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully defended PacSun in a class action for unpaid wages and expense reimbursements. Karber v. Pacific Sunwear, Sacramento Superior Court. Successfully defended PacSun in a class action involving claims that the Company failed to reimburse its employees for wearing uniforms. Grey v. AMC, Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully represented AMC in connection with claims for violations of child labor laws. TBA Global Events, Inc. v. Gail & Rice, Inc., Los Angeles Superior Court. Successfully prevailed in trade secret misappropriation case filed against two former executive employees and their new employer. Citizens Business Bank v. Foothill Independent Bank, et al., Los Angeles County Superior Court. Successfully represented Citizens Business Bank in a lawsuit against Foothill Independent Bank alleging causes of action for breach of contract, fraud, intentional interface with contract and prospective economic advantage, trade secret misappropriation, and unfair competition. Dodson v. Alaska Airlines, Los Angeles County Superior Court. Successfully represented Alaska Airlines in a wrongful termination and race discrimination lawsuit brought by a former flight attendant. Romero v. Ticketmaster, et al., Los Angeles County Superior Court. Successfully represented Ticketmaster and the individual supervisors sued along with Ticketmaster, against this former employee's claims of same-sex sexual harassment, retaliation, negligent hiring/supervision, infliction of emotional distress. Representative Clients · Activison · Alan I. Casden · Alaska Airlines · American Multi-Cinema · Ask.com · Beverly Hills Properties · Brain Research Labs · Casden Properties · Cerberus Capital Management · Citizens Business Bank · CitySearch · Deloitte & Touche · Evite · Ganeden Biotech · Giftco · H&M · Hackman Capital Partners · Hythiam Inc. · Image Entertainment · InterActive Corp. · Live Nation · Los Angeles Clippers · Mandalay Medi · Match.com · Mervyns · Nara Bancorp · NeuMedia, Inc. · Network Telephone Systems · Pacific Sunwear · Post Group · Raytheon · ReserveAmerica · The Richman Group Capital Corporation · The Richman Group · Donald T. Sterling · Stevco, Inc. · Storitz · Sunworld International · TBA Global Events · Ticketmaster · Trinad Capital · Twistbox Entertainment |