Kurt L. Schmalz is a business litigator with over 26 years of experience in the state and federal courts. He has handled litigation of substantial size and complexity in the areas of real estate, antitrust, insurance and insurance coverage, business torts, professional liability, intellectual property/trade secrets, corporate/partnership disputes, product liability, First Amendment/media law and bankruptcy.
Mr. Schmalz has published articles on the subjects of expert witnesses, civil procedure, constitutional rights, privacy, the First Amendment and copyright law, and conflicts of interest and attorney-client fee disputes. He currently sits on the board of directors of the American Heart Association (Los Angeles Division). In October 2008, he was awarded the “Education Advocate of the Year” from the Redondo Beach Unified School District for leading the successful campaign for the district’s $145 million school improvement bond. From April 2001 to April 2005, Mr. Schmalz served as an elected member of the Redondo Beach City Council. While on the council, Mr. Schmalz was a member of the Ethics Education Task Force for the League of California Cities. He has also served as an adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University, teaching a course in Mass Communications Law. In addition, he has been a lecturer on legal ethics and professional responsibility and has testified in court as an expert on legal ethics and the Rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers.
Mr. Schmalz received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree in 1983 from the Vanderbilt University School of Law where he was the Senior Articles Editor of the Vanderbilt Law Review. Before becoming a member of Lurie, Zepeda, Schmalz & Hogan, Mr. Schmalz was a litigator in the Los Angeles office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher. Mr. Schmalz is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell, and was rated by his peers as one of Southern California’s “Super Lawyers” for 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2009.
A. Lead trial attorney for major airline in its breach of fiduciary duty and legal malpractice lawsuit against a prominent Los Angeles law firm. Won plaintiff’s verdict on breach of fiduciary duty and malpractice causes of action against defendants following three-week jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court. Lead appellate attorney on the case which was affirmed on appeal and which resulted in an important legal ethics opinion from the Court of Appeal in American Airlines, Inc. v. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, et al., 96 Cal. App. 4th 1017 (2002).
B. Lead plaintiff attorney in multi-million-dollar legal malpractice/architect’s liability/breach of fiduciary duty case involving the sale and development of an historic town square in Provo, Utah. Successfully briefed and argued the case to the Utah Supreme Court in Cathco. Inc. v. Valentiner. etc., 944 P2d 365 (Utah 1997). Case was favorably settled on behalf of client shortly before trial.
C. Represented major health care corporation in legal malpractice action against its trial counsel in a major product liability case. Client received a multimillion dollar settlement following mediation prior to complaint being filed.
D. Defended lawyers and law firms in legal malpractice actions which were resolved without payment by clients to any plaintiffs.
A. Obtained judgment of over $1 million in federal court for major airline client in dispute with foreign air carrier over equipment leases. Implemented creative collection strategy that resulted in the client collecting a significant portion of the judgment without extensive or expensive litigation outside the United States.
B. Represented a major Russian airline in federal court in a personal injury lawsuit brought by a passenger involving issues of liability under the Warsaw Convention and related treaties and agreements.
A. Represented both insurers and policyholders in a wide range of insurance disputes, including major precedent-setting coverage and “bad faith” litigation. Also retained by insurers as “Cumis” counsel in real estate litigation. Recent cases include representation in federal court of a small business investment corporation in a bad faith/breach of contract action against a major national insurance company. Also represented a major airline, as a judgment creditor, in bad faith/breach of contract litigation against insurer of a bankrupt travel agency. In both cases, I obtained a summary adjudication for clients on duty to defend and breach of contract. Bad faith and punitive damages portions of one of the cases were settled by the insurer shortly before trial with a payment to the client of $775,000.
B. Previously represented domestic and foreign insurers in several major environmental insurance coverage cases pending in Los Angeles Superior Court. These cases, which involved whether general liability policies covered losses and liability arising from pollution at toxic sites in California and the United States, raised numerous coverage issues that have been the subject of important Court of Appeal and Supreme Court opinions in California.
C. Represented defendant in catastrophic personal injury case where insurer, during the trial, tried to withdraw coverage by seeking a declaratory relief judgment of noncoverage in federal court. Engineered a three-way multi-million dollar settlement between insurer, defendant and injured plaintiff while trial judge kept jury’s verdict under seal. Insurer paid all of client’s liability to plaintiff in settlement.
A. Representation of creditors and debtors, as special litigation counsel appointed by the court. Responsible for putting together a creative and complex settlement of bankruptcy litigation brought by creditor client, a large commercial airline, in which the client received a judgment against the debtors and valuable rights to insurance proceeds.
B. Represented shareholder of health care provider, placed into conservatorship by State of California and then into Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Debtor thereafter sued the shareholders for, among other things, fraudulent transfers and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duties. Case eventually settled as to shareholder without out-of-pocket payment of any money by shareholder and with the right to recover an uncontested and unsecured claim exceeding $282,100 from the bankruptcy estate.
C. Represented bank in objecting to discharge of debtor who made material misrepresentations on construction loan application. Case settled with portions of debtor’s outstanding obligations to bank being made non-dischargeable and with debtor making payments to bank for extended period.
D. Handled bankruptcy aspects of litigation for various clients. These included relief from stay motions, objections to proposed settlements, motions to approve compromise of controversy, and appeals before the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.
E. Served as trial counsel for a Colorado-based financial institution in a bankruptcy court adversary proceeding to appoint a trustee to take control of a film production company and its subsidiaries which were in Chapter 11.
F. Involved in potentially precedent-setting litigation on the issue of whether, or to what extent, a leveraged buyout can constitute a fraudulent transfer ( See, In re Bay Plastics, 187 B.R. 315 (Bankr. C.D. Cal. 1995)).
A. Significant involvement in representing broadcasters and publishers in defamation, privacy and public access cases. Responsible for numerous successful summary judgment motions, demurrers, motions to dismiss and appellate briefs in these cases. Co-authored an amicus curiae brief to the California Supreme Court in CBS. Inc. v. Block, 42 Cal.3d 646 (1986), on behalf of a group of newspapers and a broadcasting company.
A. Represented a major airline and a large municipality in multi-party litigation arising from an alleged release of supposedly toxic fumes at LAX.
B. Handled numerous small to medium-sized tort cases on behalf of defendants. These included a series of cases involving, among other things, allegedly defective cranes, aircraft and lead products.
C. Defended French pharmaceutical company in Diet Drug litigation. Case dismissed for lack of personal jurisdiction.
A. Heavily involved in all phases of defending one of the nation’s largest airlines in antitrust litigation brought by other airlines in connection with the client’s development and operation of a highly successful computer reservation system. Participated in virtually every aspect of the case, including the trial in federal court, which resulted in a defense verdict.
A. Won $400,000 arbitration award for clients against a San Diego-based investment company arising from the company’s acquisition of a residential care facility in a bankruptcy settlement. Obtained summary judgment for owner of Wilshire Boulevard high-rise office complex in protracted breach-of-contract/fraud litigation. Spearheaded the defense of a multi-million dollar fraud/breach of contract case arising from the sale of a well-known Westside office/entertainment complex. Used summary adjudication motions to eliminate fraud causes of action which prompted a favorable settlement shortly before trial.
B. Successfully prosecuted real estate litigation against sellers of residential property, winning a summary judgment on the buyer’s breach of contract claim and receiving a prevailing party attorney’s fee award of more than $270,000.
C. Obtained preliminary and permanent injunction to specifically perform the sale of an ABC liquor license for a beach city restaurant/bar owner whose continued financial viability was dependent upon the license.
A. Defended restaurant businesses and property owner at trial in federal court litigation brought by plaintiffs under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Defended other business owners in similar ADA/Unruh Act cases with favorable results.
A. Handled a rare Corp. Code ‘ 709 expedited trial involving a dispute among shareholders of a biopharmaceutical corporation over the election of directors.
B. Defended and/or prosecuted numerous shareholder and partnership disputes involving injunctive relief, business torts, shareholder derivative actions, securities fraud and breach of fiduciary duty litigation. Also represented investors in industry arbitrations (e.g. NASD arbitration) against brokers and investment firms.
