Office Profile

Horvitz & Levy LLP

Burbank Office

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USA

Profile

Provided by Horvitz & Levy LLP

Managing Partners: Karen M. Bray, Jason R. Litt, Robert H. Wright

Number of partners: 23

Number of lawyers: 38

Languages: English


Firm Overview:

Founded in 1957, Horvitz & Levy LLP is the largest law firm in the United States specializing in civil appellate litigation and trial strategy consulting. Horvitz & Levy delivers a deep bench of appellate-related advice and services, including counseling clients on preserving and developing issues for appellate review, preparing critical trial court motions in anticipation of appeal, negotiating favorable settlements pending appeal, and full briefing and argument before the appellate courts. The firm most frequently appears in the California appellate courts. Since 1990, the firm has appeared in more than 150 cases before the California Supreme Court. Horvitz & Levy also frequently appears in federal appellate courts, including the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and state appellate courts across the country. Over the last decade, Horvitz & Levy has won, on behalf of appellants in California and the Ninth Circuit, at a rate nearly three times the statistical average.

Appeals:

Clients throughout the country turn to Horvitz & Levy for the firm’s demonstrated success in shaping the law on appeal. With dozens of appellate filings every month, the firm’s attorneys regularly handle groundbreaking appeals in a range of areas, including entertainment, First Amendment and anti-SLAPP, healthcare, labor and employment, punitive damages, and toxic tort and product liability.

Amicus Curiae Support:

Horvitz & Levy monitors pending cases and legislation where the outcome may impact the interests of the firm’s clients, and regularly prepares amicus briefs and letters to inform appellate courts about how their decisions will affect individuals and businesses who are not parties to the case. The firm’s amicus briefs advance arguments to move or clarify the law in ways favorable to clients by, for example, explaining how other jurisdictions handle similar issues more fairly or efficiently.

Trial Consultation:

In cases that are of exceptionally high value to clients, either because of the liability exposure in the individual matter or because of recurring institutional issues, Horvitz & Levy works in the federal and state trial courts to lay the foundation for an appeal before a notice of appeal is filed. The firm consults with trial lawyers with an eye toward preserving important legal issues for appeal. The firm drafts critical pretrial motions, including motions for summary judgment and motions in limine, as well as special jury instructions in an effort to secure a victory in the trial court before a verdict is returned. And if an adverse verdict is returned, the firm often drafts important post-trial motions to obtain any possible relief from the trial judge.

Recent Matters:

Berroteran v. Superior Court (2022): Horvitz & Levy secured a ruling from the California Supreme Court that limits the circumstances under which deposition testimony obtained in one case can be introduced against a party in a later case, an issue institutionally important to entities that must defend serial litigation.

Sandoval v. Qualcomm (2021):Horvitz & Levy convinced the California Supreme Court to overturn an adverse jury verdict and direct entry of judgment in favor of its client, and also to disapprove of a model jury instruction on the retained control exception to Privette’s general rule of hirer non-liability for work-related injuries sustained by contractors’ employees and subcontractors.

Pinto v. Farmers Insurance Exchange (2021): Horvitz & Levy obtained reversal of a nearly $10 million judgment against Farmers Insurance Exchange and secured a published decision disapproving a controversial model jury instruction that the plaintiffs’ bar frequently used to support claims of bad faith failure to settle against liability insurers.

Putt v. Ford Motor Co. (2021): Through successful posttrial motions and appeal, Horvitz & Levy obtained reversal of a $36 million judgment in an asbestos action, paving the way for a new trial in which the firm’s client faces vastly reduced liability exposure.

Quidel v. Superior Court (2020): Horvitz & Levy filed a successful writ petition on behalf of a diagnostic healthcare manufacturer engaged in a joint venture, resulting in a published opinion on the validity of business exclusivity provisions. The opinion disapproved the per se invalidity standard applied by the trial court, which would have proven devastating to California businesses.

Hardesty v. Sacramento County (2020): Horvitz & Levy obtained reversal of a $105 million judgment following a jury verdict against Sacramento County in a lawsuit involving constitutional challenges to the County’s enforcement of mining regulations.

Offices

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USA - Head office
3601 W.Olive Ave., 8th Fl., Burbank, California, USA, CA 91505

Web: www.horvitzlevy.com

Tel: +1 818 995 0800

Fax: +1 844 497 6592