Tue 28th Jul 2020, Blog, Case Successes
On June 29, 2020, the Supreme Court adopted Bienert | Katzman’s arguments and held in Seila Law v. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that the structure of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) violates constitutional separation of powers by having a single director removable only for cause. Bienert | Katzman represented the prevailing party at the Supreme Court and through all stages of the litigation, spanning several years. In 2017, as a continuation of litigation arising …
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Mon 27th Jul 2020, Blog, Case Successes
In July 2019, Bienert | Katzman’s client obtained a judgment and attorney’s fee award under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 of more than $3 million against a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detective after a jury trial. Bienert | Katzman’s client presented evidence at trial, including video recordings, demonstrating that the baseless arrest was orchestrated by the detective and the culmination of a multi-year campaign of harassment against Bienert | Katzman’s client. A few months after …
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Tue 16th Jun 2020, Blog, Case Successes
A little over a year after issuing a 69-page sealed Order Finding Government Misconduct in a tax evasion prosecution, the Court unsealed an Order calling out prosecutors and IRS employees for willfully withholding evidence and making misrepresentations to the defense and to the Court. The order followed dogged requests and multiple days of evidentiary hearings and briefing by B|K attorneys Ariana Seldman Hawbecker and John Littrell. A copy of the order is available here. The …
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Wed 3rd Jun 2020, Blog, Firm Accomplishments and Recognition
Bienert | Katzman is pleased to announce that Tony Bisconti and Whitney Z. Bernstein have been selected to the 2020 Southern California Super Lawyers® “Rising Star” list. This is the first time Ms. Bernstein, who joined the private sector at the end of 2018, has been selected to the “Rising Star” list. Mr. Bisconti has been selected to the Southern California Super Lawyers® “Rising Star” list every year since 2015. Super Lawyers® is a peer-review …
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Mon 27th Apr 2020, Blog, Case Successes
After five years of contested litigation the Supreme Court granted our petition, vacated our client’s conviction, and remanded to the Ninth Circuit. At issue was the constitutionality of the National Firearms Act (“NFA”), a 1934 law that strongly discouraged, but did not outright ban, machine guns and other particularly dangerous weapons. At the time the law was passed Congress believed, based on the advice of the U.S. Attorney General, that the federal government had no …
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Mon 6th Apr 2020, Blog
A Georgia company that manufactures and sells human tissue grafts agreed to pay $6.5 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act. The case, unsealed last October, settled relatively quickly before the defendant, MiMedx Group Inc. (“MiMedx”), filed a responsive pleading. The qui tam complaint filed by former MiMedx sales representatives alleges that MiMedx falsely represented its commercial sales prices to the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”). By claiming that it sold …
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Fri 3rd Apr 2020, Blog
Provisions of CARES Act Likely to Increase Number of Small Business Bankruptcy Filings The recently enacted “Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act” (CARES) expands the applicability of the Small Business Reorganization Act (SBRA), passed just last year. As a result: Businesses with less than $7.5 million in debts may proceed under the new subchapter V of chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code; The cost of a chapter 11 reorganization for these qualifying businesses will …
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Wed 18th Mar 2020, Blog
Dear Colleagues, With the economy in turmoil due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, all of our businesses and practices may be impacted by bankruptcy issues. The economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic will likely create a flood of bankruptcies and restructurings as individuals and entities attempt to cope with the resulting financial loss. There will also be unprecedented legislation addressing the crisis that will require quick interpretation and action. As bankruptcy litigation practitioners, …
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Tue 28th Jan 2020, Blog, Case Successes
Bienert | Katzman, representing a whistleblower, filed a lawsuit on behalf of the federal government claiming that three computer part suppliers wrongly sold various federal agencies disguised Chinese products, including computer mice. One of the three defendants agreed to settle for $1.2 million. In order to support domestic manufacturing and business with favored trading partners, Congress enacted the Trade Agreements Act (“TAA”). The TAA requires that government suppliers ensure that products sold to federal …
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Tue 14th Jan 2020, Blog, Firm Accomplishments and Recognition
Bienert | Katzman is pleased to announce that James D. Riddet, Thomas H. Bienert, Jr., Steven J. Katzman, and Michael R. Williams have been selected to the 2020 Southern California Super Lawyers® list. Mr. Riddet holds the distinction of being the Bienert | Katzman attorney who has been selected for inclusion on the Southern California Super Lawyers® list the longest – from 2004 through 2020. Mr. Bienert has been a Southern California Super Lawyers® honoree every year since 2006, in …
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