Steven S. Davis

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Steven S. Davis

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Of Counsel
Advertising & Digital Media
Commercial & Business Litigation

Los Angeles

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310-299-5500
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310-299-5600
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10880 Wilshire Blvd.
19th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024

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[email protected]
Bar & Court Admissions

  • State Bar of California
  • Admitted to practice in all federal trial and appellate courts in California

Community Involvement

  • Board of Trustees, Temple Beth Am
  • Chair, Education Director Search Committee, Pressman Academy
  • Represented the United States in 2013 Maccabiah Games, Israel, Tennis

Education

  • University of California at Los Angeles, School of Law, J.D.
  • Dartmouth College, B.A.

Steven S. Davis is of counsel in M&R’s Los Angeles office. He focuses his practice on complex business disputes, as well as defending law firms and attorneys sued for professional negligence. Over the years, Steve has successfully represented clients in state and federal courts and in binding arbitrations in connection with a variety of claims, including profit participation disputes, breach of real estate partnership and lease agreements, employment matters and trademark infringement actions, to name a few.

His industry expertise includes the automotive space. Steve has handled matters for clients involving NHTSA compliance and false advertising. In addition, he has substantial employment expertise, having successfully resolved claims of breach of employment contract, wrongful termination, violation of California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and violation of California public policy, along with labor contract arbitrations.

Steve has also represented franchisees in lawsuits against franchisors for violations of federal and California franchise laws, as well as taxpayers in disputes with the IRS.

Copyright Litigation: Representing a New York-based fashion house in litigation filed against it alleging an infringement of plaintiff’s copyright; namely, plaintiff’s purported ownership in two-dimensional graphic artworks for use on textiles and garments. This litigation is ongoing and will likely proceed to trial.
Contract Dispute: Obtained a complete dismissal for the defense when plaintiffs alleged the client refused to honor a contract valued in excess of $13M for the purchase of a raw commodity.
Employment: Successfully defended many employment matters alleging wrongful termination and other labor grievances. Received a defense jury verdict for a Fortune 500 client on a claim of retaliation in violation of California public policy, in which the client’s former employee alleged lost compensation in excess of $700,000. Have also defended many guild arbitrations brought before SAG and AFTRA.
Entertainment: Achieved a defense jury verdict in a $20M profit participation case, where client was also awarded in excess of $1.5M in attorneys’ fees.
Franchise: Recovered several million dollars on behalf of a franchisee of a national car rental firm.
Injunctive Relief: Obtained injunctive relief on behalf of the owners of an assisted living facility as against a management company that breached its agreement to pay the owners a monthly management fee, reimburse the owners’ lease payments on the facility (approximately $86K each month) and preserve the owners’ license issued by the Department of Social Services to operate the facility. By virtue of firm’s efforts, the owners were able to regain control and possession of the facility placed in jeopardy due to the management company’s negligence.
Real Property: Represented numerous real estate developers and commercial property owners. In one matter, secured over $600,000 in damages and attorneys’ fees in a binding arbitration for the owner of a commercial building against a breaching tenant.
Trademark Litigation: Defended a national credit union against a claim of trademark infringement by credit card company Visa. In the action, Visa claimed that its “PLUS” mark for its network linking automatic teller machines was infringed by the credit union’s “MoneyPlus” mark for the credit union’s debit cards, where those debit cards could be used in the same ATMs that are part of Visa’s “PLUS” ATM network. Successfully defended the credit union in the federal trial court. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court.
Trademark Litigation: Brought an action to enjoin infringement of a famous trademark belonging to the client, a manufacturer of automotive lighting products, where the defendant was altering and selling under its own brand name the product of the client. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the injunction granted by the federal trial court in favor of the client.