Jim Pettis

Practice Summary

I have handled all aspects of litigation in state and federal court in a broad range of cases including consumer actions, personal injury, product liability, wrongful death, toxic torts, employment discrimination, employment wage and hour, environmental contamination, breach of contract, fraud, unfair competition, lending practices, trade secrets, lease disputes, shareholder disputes, and many others. Outside of my litigation work, I act as outside general counsel to clients, providing business counseling on best practices and regulatory compliance, corporate formation, contracts and protecting intellectual property. -Successfully prosecuted breach of implementation contract on behalf of software implementation company after arbitration against Fortune 500 company. -Successfully prosecuted breach of advertising agreement on behalf of digital media company after arbitration. -Successfully prosecuted breach of aviation leasing agreement on behalf of individual against aircraft leasing company after arbitration. -Obtained $3,000,000 class action settlement on behalf of workers based on wage and hour violations related to untimely payment of wages, failure to pay for all hours worked, and meal and rest breaks. -Litigated federal and state cases involving consumer title loan origination, collection, and recovery in California. Prevailed in cases alleging California’s Rosenthal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Truth in Lending Act, misrepresentation, and unfair competition claims. Obtained dismissal of misrepresentation and statutory claims on motion for summary judgment and dismissal of state and federal claims on motion for terminating sanctions. -Represented clients in litigation arising from Spanair Flight 5022 disaster at Madrid-Barajas Airport in Spain. Served as liaison counsel appointed by the Court in multidistrict litigation involving 150 wrongful death and injury actions brought by 204 plaintiffs in the Central District of California, Middle District of Florida, Northern District of Illinois, and state courts in those districts (In Re: Air Crash at Madrid, Spain, on August 20, 2008). -Litigation work throughout the United States in product liability claims arising from aircraft incidents and accidents, including claims arising from Singapore Airlines SQ006 disaster at Chiang Kai Shek Airport in Taiwan. -Successfully negotiated settlements with Cal/OSHA after fatal industrial accidents. -Successfully prevailed on state court fraud and civil rights claims on behalf of national non-profit civil rights organization, and defeated subsequent appeal. -Successfully prevailed in federal age discrimination claims under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. -Successfully prevailed in multi-million dollar contract dispute after obtaining pre-judgment writs of attachment. -Litigated federal and state cases involving consumer mortgage loan origination and wrongful foreclosure suits in California. Prevailed in numerous cases alleging Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Truth in Lending Act, Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act violations, as well as state consumer protection and unfair competition claims and common law predatory lending claims. Successfully prevailed in subsequent appeals.