Murchison & Cumming’s Dan Longo Recognized by L.A. Times

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Murchison & Cumming, LLP is pleased to announce that Managing Partner Dan L. Longo has been recognized as a Visionary by the L.A. Times B2B Publishing Division in the Business of Law: Trends, Updates, Visionaries & In-House Counsel Leadership Awards Magazine.

When Dan Longo started at Murchison & Cumming, LLP back in 1982, the Firm’s Los Angeles headquarters were based in the Mid-Wilshire area, that had for many years been home to Los Angeles based insurance companies and the law firms that they worked with. The 80’s were a much different time, most everyone at the office smoked, there were no computers, laptops or even word processors, documents could be transmitted “instantly” by something called a Telecopier. Every secretary had an IBM Selectric on a side desk, by which dictation onto cassette tapes were transformed into pleadings, discovery, and correspondence. The firm was almost by definition an old-school insurance defense operation.

Fast-forward, not with a cassette tape, or even a compact disc, but in time to present day 2021. Longo is currently overseeing the renovation of M&C’s downtown Los Angeles office, which first moved there in 1993. When the major construction work is completed in a few months, it will be a completely updated, modern office that includes “hotel” stations for attorneys who do not need or want to work out of a traditional office. The renovations will also be emblematic of the many positive changes and transitions that Longo has instituted during his tenure as Managing Partner.

Chief among those transitions is employing a highly successful Covid-19 remote-working plan so that even a litigation firm like M&C could not only be fully functional, but thriving and growing. During the last 15 months, when many law firms were doing anything but that, M&C remained a leader in the field without any disruption to day-to-day business or our clients despite literal overnight changes.

“We feel very fortunate to have gotten through the worst of Covid-19, thanks to the loyalty of our clients and the hard work and dedication of all our attorneys and employees,” Longo said. “I think we are emerging as a stronger, better law firm and am very proud to be able to say that.”

Longo has been committed to the ongoing initiative of diversity, equity, and inclusion achievements at the firm. Between continuing programming within the firm and outreach to new organizations, including a partnership through USLAW NETWORK with Howard University, Longo continues to ensure positive and diverse growth with the firm’s employees. Under his leadership the two most recent senior partners were both women and the 2020 summer associate program was the most diverse group the firm has ever recruited. Of the six summer associates, five were from a diverse background.

On a personal level, Longo, a native Angeleno, attended John Marshall High School in Los Feliz, University of Southern California, and Loyola Law School. A true family man, Longo and his wife Marti have been married for 33 years and raised their three children in Orange County. The family played a major role in the planning and development of Serra Catholic School in Rancho Santa Margarita, where Marti taught.

In an era where many competitors have either closed their doors or merged into mega-operations where most of the lawyers do not even know each other, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is more valued by its longtime clients than ever. M&C continues to serve a wide array of clients including insurance companies, corporations, public entities, small businesses, and individuals.

Murchison & Cumming Welcomes New Senior Associate to Los Angeles Office

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Murchison & Cumming is pleased to announce Julie A. Esposito has joined the Los Angeles office as a Senior Associate focusing her practice on general liability, products liability, and professional liability.

With extensive experience in the arena of SIU (fraud) claims, she has assisted in suspicious motor vehicle accidents and various property theft claims for several major insurance carriers. Known among her peers as attentive to detail, she consistently works toward obtaining a successful outcome on clients’ behalves as early as possible.

Julie received her B.A. in Political Science at California State University Northridge, awarded cum laude. She earned her J.D. at the Loyola Law School, in which she attended law school at night and worked as a law clerk. After law school, Julie moved on to a legal career, practicing all phases of litigation, including real property litigation, civil litigation, construction defect litigation, and more.

Among her recent accomplishments, Julie succeeded on a motion for summary judgment in a civil fraud case where her client, an insurance carrier defrauded by a former employee, was awarded a large sum of money. The motion was based upon the proceedings and disposition in a criminal case in which the former employee was convicted of the same underlying facts that constituted the fraud in the civil action.

Julie sits on the board of directors for a non-partisan civil liberties organization and is involved with the Daughters of the American Revolution, a historical society advocating for education concerning the United States Constitution. Moreover, Julie served as a volunteer Judge Pro Tem for Los Angeles County for three years and has also represented indigent clients pro bono and prepared amicus briefs on crucial constitutional issues.

Five Murchison & Cumming Lawyers Recognized by Best Lawyers

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Chip Farrell, Jean Daly, William Snyder, and Tyler Ure have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America 2022. Joshua Praw has been recognized by Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch; this is an honor for lawyers who have been in practice for 5 – 9 years.

Edmund G. “Chip” Farrell, III is a Senior Partner in the Los Angeles office. Mr. Farrell serves as Chair of the firm’s Appellate Law practice group and Co-Chair of the Professional Liability practice group. As chair of the Appellate Law group, he has been involved in the handling of over 400 appeals and writ petitions and has argued before the California Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and in all six districts of the Court of Appeal of the state of California. He has been certified as an Appellate Specialist by the State Bar of California. Additionally, Mr. Farrell has devoted much of his practice to the defense of professional liability claims, including attorneys and brokers.

William J. Snyder is a Partner in the San Diego office and serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Foodborne Illnesses practice group. In addition to foodborne illnesses litigation, he focuses his practice in the areas of product liability, catastrophic injury, general liability, professional liability, employment, representation of public entities, and environmental law/toxic torts.

Tyler N. Ure is Senior Associate in the Las Vegas office and focuses his practice on insurance coverage, professional liability, and commercial general liability. He has experience in all areas of commercial litigation as well as creditor’s rights.

Joshua W. Praw is an Associate in the Los Angeles office focusing his practice on commercial general liability, products liability, and toxic tort. Mr. Praw Co-Chair’s the firm’s Summer Associate Program and Post-Bar Law Clerk Program where he trains, mentors, and oversees the firm’s summer associates and post-bar law clerks.

Best Lawyers is “the oldest and most respected peer review publication in the legal profession. Recognition in Best Lawyers is widely regarded by both clients and legal professionals as a significant honor, conferred on a lawyer by his or her peers.”

Two Murchison & Cumming Women Attorneys Named to Southern California Rising Stars List

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Murchison & Cumming, LLP is pleased to announce that Partner Kelsey Maxwell and Associate Partner Georgiana Nikias, have been selected to the 2021 Southern California Rising Stars list. This is an exclusive list, recognizing no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in Southern California.

Kelsey L. Maxwell is a Partner in the Los Angeles office. Ms. Maxwell focuses her practice on the areas of general liability, entertainment, product liability and specialty tort including habitability and discrimination claims. She is a graduate of The University of Arizona (B.A.) and Chapman University, Dale E. Fowler School of Law (J.D.). Ms. Maxwell started with the firm as a summer associate at M&C’s Orange County office in 2012 and 2013 continuing on as an attorney in Los Angeles beginning in 2014.

Georgiana A. Nikias is an Associate Partner in the Los Angeles office. She has experience in business litigation, employment law, products liability, general liability, art law, and commercial real estate litigation. Ms. Nikias is a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Gould School of Law (B.A. and J.D.) and Oxford University (M.St.). She is involved in her community through fundraising events for various charity groups and serving on her Homeowner’s Association Board.

Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.

Murchison & Cumming Welcomes New Associate to San Francisco Office

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Murchison & Cumming is pleased to announce that Laurie E. Yoon has joined the San Francisco office as an Associate. She has represented individuals and businesses in a wide variety of matters, including housing, personal injury, real estate, premises liability, business litigation, employment, and probate matters. She has handled a wide variety of litigation and controversy matters at all stages, including pre-litigation counseling, discovery, motion practice, mediation, arbitration, trial and appeal.

Laurie’s clients appreciate her personalized service keeping them informed at every turn and providing honest feedback. She strives to provide a positive legal experience with favorable results. Prior to joining M&C, Laurie was a litigation associate at plaintiff as well as defense firms representing both individual and corporate entities in a variety of civil litigation matters in state and federal court. Her experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants in all civil litigation matters provides her with unique perspective and insight.

While in law school, Laurie served as certified intern at the Housing Advocacy Clinic representing underprivileged and low income tenants in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has also provided pro bono legal services to the disadvantaged groups in the community in various legal matters including immigration, landlord/tenant, and probate.

Arleen Milian Nominated as an Executive of the Year by LABJ’s Diversity, Inclusion + Equity Symposium & Awards

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Murchison & Cumming is pleased to announce that Director of Client Relations, Arleen Milian has been nominated as an Executive of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal’s (LABJ) Diversity, Inclusion + Equity Symposium & Awards. On March 24th, the LABJ will host the awards portion to honor diversity & inclusion champions in the Los Angeles region for their ongoing efforts to celebrate and respect the unique needs, perspectives and potential of all their team members while simultaneously creating an inclusive environment that enables diversity to thrive.

“Arleen brings a unique and intuitive perspective to our firm and brightens the firm’s path to the goals of diversity, equity and inclusion,” said Ken Moreno, Senior Partner at Murchison & Cumming. “We value and applaud Arleen’s role in our firm and the deserved recognition of this nomination.”

As the Director of Client Relations for Murchison & Cumming, LLP, Ms. Milian oversees the firm’s client services and DE&I Initiative; successfully launching the Firm’s Diversity and Inclusion initiative in 2017. She is a purpose-driven leader who possesses the ability to elevate & embed the necessity of diversity and the power of inclusion as catalysts that drive innovation, engagement, productivity, and profit. Her primary area of focus involves providing personalized strategic planning to drive cultural transformation within an organization.

Outside of the professional spectrum, much of her time and energy is devoted to mentoring women in marginalized communities. Her vision is to create a world where underrepresented groups within an organization are able to bring their authentic selves, and are provided opportunities to be in leadership positions.

Three M&C Senior Partners Named 2021 Southern California Super Lawyers

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Jean A. Dalmore, Murchison & Cumming’s newest Senior Partner, joins colleagues Friedrich W. Seitz and Guy R. Gruppie as 2021 Southern California Super Lawyer honorees in the annual vote of peers and area judiciary conducted by Thomson Reuters.

Ms. Dalmore is the co-chair of the Construction Law practice group. She focuses her practice in the area of construction litigation, including breach of contract, construction defect and construction site accident, representing developers, general contractors, sub-contractors, design professionals, manufacturers and material suppliers in all fields of construction, and in the area of professional liability, representing insurance and real estate agents and brokers, accountants, design professionals, and other professionals in malpractice actions. Ms. Dalmore is well experienced in all aspects of litigation, including discovery, mediation, arbitration, and trial having spent her entire career as a trial lawyer at Murchison & Cumming. She is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell.

Mr. Seitz chairs the Wildland Fire Litigation and the International Law practice groups and co-chairs the Product Liability, and Business Litigation practice groups. He served as Managing Partner of the firm from 1986 to 2007 and has been recognized by Super Lawyers 17 times. He focuses his practice on domestic and international product liability, aviation, catastrophic injuries and business litigation and is a specialist in defending Wildland Fire cases representing public utility companies. Achieving the rank of Advocate with the American Board of Trial Attorneys (ABOTA), Mr. Seitz has tried more than 100 jury trials , most involving product liability matters. He holds the Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating.

Mr. Gruppie, one of California’s go-to defense trial attorneys, has now been recognized as a Super Lawyer for the 13th consecutive year. He specializes in the defense of complex, high-stakes and high-profile litigation. His clients include national and major regional and local businesses, entertainment/media companies, celebrities, professional athletes and other high net-worth individuals. Mr. Gruppie is a sought-after speaker/lecturer on trial and tort trends often by national and local media for comments, expertise and quotes regarding various civil litigation issues including in the past year, insurance, immunity, and tort reform issues pertaining the Covid-19 Crisis and related legislation. Mr. Gruppie is “AV” rated by Martindale-Hubbell, has taught Civil Procedure at Southwestern Law School, and currently serves as a mediator with the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have been chosen by their peers and through independent research of Law & Politics. The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country. Only the top 5% of attorneys in each state or region are honored as Super Lawyers.

Murchison & Cumming Senior Partner Guy R. Gruppie Featured in Elevator World Magazine

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Elevator World

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Guy R. Gruppie was the subject of an interview/profile for the September issue of Elevator World, an edition focusing on pandemic-related issues affecting tort litigation in general and elevator and escalator accident cases in particular. The profile and related Q&A addressed vertical transportation claims and lawsuits in the COVID-19 era and related topics such as case trends, court backlog and staffing issues, statute of limitation extensions and COVID-19 immunity/claim limitations being debated in Congress and legislative bodies in several states.

Gruppie has handled more than 500 escalator/passenger elevator/freight elevator cases in his career on behalf of product manufacturers, service and maintenance companies, property owners and public entities. He has authored numerous legal papers addressing issues arising in such cases, including the widely cited: “Uncommon Perception: The Common Carrier Duty Does Not Rule Out Defense Verdicts in Elevator and Escalator Accident Trials,” first published in the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel Law Review in conjunction with Marquette University Law School.

Elevator World is considered the leading publication in the world of vertical transportation news and information, commerce, product development and innovation, and claims/litigation. It is the most credible source of industry news because its reporters, editors, readers and advertisers encompass all parts of the “elevator world.”

Gruppie is a Senior Partner who is resident in the Los Angeles and San Francisco offices of Murchison & Cumming, LLP, serves as Chair of the Firm’s Emerging Risks and Specialty Tort Practice Group, and is a senior member of the Firm’s Product Liability and General Liability practice groups. His first elevator matter was in 1993 in a case where several college students were allegedly injured in the free fall of an apartment elevator that suffered a sudden hydraulic failure.

Cannabis Businesses Need to Ensure Protective Safety Measures Are in Place

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During many of the recent protest demonstrations, numerous cannabis businesses in California were vandalized and robbed. Some businesses have reported that the damage was not done by the peaceful protesters, but by opportunistic criminals.

Since cannabis remains illegal under federal law, businesses do not have basic access to bank accounts, some insurance policies, and are ineligible for the federal government’s small business loans. This makes the cannabis businesses an easy target for crime, with little recourse available. It’s unclear when, or if these smaller cannabis businesses will be able to recover from the theft and damage done.

In response to the threats, damage, and burglaries, California’s Cannabis Industry Association issued a letter to the Bureau of Cannabis Control requesting they take action to safeguard these businesses by removing the physical addresses of cannabis licensees from their online licensee search portals.

The Bureau of Cannabis Control has removed all physical addresses for the businesses. While CDFA’s CalCannabis temporarily disabled its licensee search portal. California’s Department of Public Health’s Manufactured Safety Branch Licensee Search Tool remains active, but does not disclose physical addresses of its Manufacturing Licensees.

Last week, CDPH’s Manufactured Cannabis Safety Branch, issued a press release with reminders and tips on maintaining a secure premises. Now is a good time for cannabis businesses to review safety protocols, policy coverages, and be aware of notification requirements, and relief options that might be available to them

Safeguards & Options for Your Cannabis Business Include:

  1. Ensure that your security alarm systems and commercial-grade locking systems are in place and working properly.
  2. Properly secure windows and points of entry.
  3. Review insurance policy coverages to know what is and is not covered.
  4. If necessary, a business could choose to close, or request local and state permission to adjust operating hours.
  5. Businesses can request Disaster Relief from their appropriate State Licensing Authority, which could allow them to temporarily relocate cannabis goods or cash to a safer and more secure location.
  6. If your cannabis business experiences theft or loss of goods, State laws and regulations require a Licensee to notify the appropriate State Agency and local law enforcement within 24 hours of the discovery.

For more information or questions on how to properly ensure your cannabis business is protected, you can contact Kelly Hayes.

Four Murchison & Cumming Attorneys Named to Southern California Rising Stars List

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Murchison & Cumming, LLP is pleased to announce that Partner Tina Vo and Associates Suzanna Harman, Kelsey Maxwell, and Tyler Sanchez have been selected to the 2020 Southern California Rising Stars list. This is an exclusive list, recognizing no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in Southern California.

Tina H. Vo is a Partner in the Los Angeles office. She has experience in products liability, business torts, commercial, entertainment, employment, and commercial trucking defense litigation. Throughout her career, Ms. Vo has represented clients ranging from corporations and insurance companies, to premises liability defendants and contractors.

Suzanna R. Harman is an Associate in the Los Angeles office focusing her practice on Law & Motion. She has always enjoyed being able to assist others in amicably resolving their disputes and rising to the occasion when there is a group that needs a voice. Her clients know that she will focus intently on their case and make sure that they understand exactly what is going on, during what can be one of the most stressful times of their lives.

Kelsey L. Maxwell is an Associate in the Los Angeles. Ms. Maxwell focuses her practice on the areas of general liability, and specialty tort including habitability and discrimination claims. Ms. Maxwell routinely seeks to resolve cases through dispositive motions and has found success with these motions both in the courtroom and as leverage to encourage early resolution.

Tyler E. Sanchez is an Associate in the Los Angeles office. Tyler regularly represents insurance carriers in complex insurance and bad faith litigation matters. His clients have come to appreciate his disciplined approach to resolving their matters. He is committed to developing and honing his ability to think creatively in order to mitigate potential exposures.

Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys.