Greenberg Gross LLP Opens Its Doors

• Partners grabbed national headlines for $50 million jury verdict
• Specializing in high-stakes commercial cases
• Partner Wayne Gross is President of Orange County Bar

COSTA MESA (April 1, 2013) – Two shareholders of international law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP announced that, effective today, they have opened a new litigation firm that will specialize in high-stakes commercial cases. The firm, started by Alan A. Greenberg and Wayne R. Gross, will be named Greenberg Gross LLP, and will be headquartered on the 17th Floor of the Center Tower building in Costa Mesa.
The partners grabbed national headlines for winning a $50 million jury verdict in a partnership dispute regarding iconic Hollywood properties, including the world-famous Palladium.
Gross said the firm is in the process of hiring several exceptional attorneys, and will offer clients a flexible fee structure.
“Big firms traditionally use a leverage-billing model that does not reward efficiency. If a case calls for a contingent fee, a fixed fee, or a hybrid fee, Greenberg Gross will provide such an alternative billing option to the client,” he said. “We offer the world-class talent and passion of big firm partners with the flexibility and access clients need – and should demand.”
Gross, president of the Orange County Bar Association and former chief of the Orange County Division of the Office of the United States Attorney, prosecuted cases of national and international significance during his 17-year tenure in government service. His primary area of emphasis at the U.S. Attorney’s Office was complex fraud work, for which he was presented with awards of two U.S. Attorneys General and the Director of the FBI. In 2007, Gross left government service to become a partner at a regional law firm where he specialized in complex business litigation, as well as in white-collar defense. In 2009, Gross joined the global law firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP in its Irvine office as a litigation shareholder, later becoming co-head of the office’s litigation practice group with Greenberg.
John Hueston, a litigation partner at Irell & Manella who worked with Mr. Gross at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, said: “Since entering private practice, Wayne has been called upon to try several high-stakes business cases and has repeatedly demonstrated that he is a bet-the-business litigator who can be counted on to defend a company in its darkest hour.” His victories include obtaining a defense verdict for a television station and CEO against a former executive alleging fraud and breach of contract, a defense verdict for principals of a manufacturing company against a former partner alleging fraud and breach of contract, and, along with Greenberg, a $50 million jury verdict for a developer on a counterclaim arising from repudiation of a joint venture to redevelop prominent commercial properties in Hollywood.
Greenberg, who co-tried the $50 million Palladium case, is also an accomplished business trial lawyer, having tried cases for more than 23 years since moving to Orange County from New York, where he started his legal career as a transactional lawyer on Wall Street. Among his other trial successes, Greenberg obtained a seven-figure jury verdict for a Canadian company whose California division was sabotaged by a competitor, and a seven-figure verdict for improper contractual penalties on behalf of a medical transportation company against a company that factored its accounts receivable.
Greenberg joined Greenberg Traurig LLP in 2007. Greenberg is not related to Mel Greenberg, the co-founder of Greenberg Traurig.
Both Greenberg and Gross have been repeatedly recognized for their outstanding trial work, including being selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 (Copyright 2012 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC).
David Zak, the principal of Newport Capital Advisors, LLC, which won the $50 million verdict in the Palladium case, said: “No one is better than Alan Greenberg and Wayne Gross. They took a case that other firms thought had no chance of winning and turned it into a stunning success. I cannot say enough about how appreciative I am to have had such outstanding advocates on my side. Greenberg Gross is an immediate powerhouse in business litigation.”
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For additional information, please visit www.GGTrialLaw.com, or contact Wayne R. Gross: (949) 383-2800 /WGross@GGTrialLaw.com.
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