Hon. Margaret M. Morrow, Ret.

Discrimination

• As a lawyer, represented a major national law firm in a suit alleging that it had engaged in sex discrimination in failing to elevate a female associate to partner.
• As a lawyer, successfully mediated claims against a prominent national law school arising from its failure to grant tenure to a female professor.
• Adjudicated a suit brought by a sheriffs lieutenant who was demoted following an unsuccessful run for sheriff and who claimed the demotion was in retaliation for protected First Amendment speech.

PAGA

• As a trial judge, adjudicated scores of wage and hour putative class actions under the California Labor Code and the Federal Labor Standards Act, as well as associated Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims.

Whistleblower Wrongful Term

• Adjudicated a wrongful termination and whistleblower suit brought by a former public relations executive against his employer after he was indicted for crimes associated with overbilling a government client.
• Denied motion to dismiss and conducted pretrial proceedings in a suit by an accounting executive against an entertainment/media company, who alleged that she was pressured to make inappropriate accounting entries, engaged in protected conduct under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, and was entitled to whistleblower protections. (The case, which was transferred to another judge before trial, resulted in a $6 million jury verdict for plaintiff).

Wrongful Termination

• As a trial judge, adjudicated hundreds of employment cases alleging wrongful termination, constructive discharge, retaliation, hostile work environment, sexual harassment, ADA failure to accommodate, and violation of the FMLA and CFRA.
• Conducted a court trial in a wrongful termination in violation of public policy case brought by a marketing executive for a media company who alleged that the company was falsely representing to customers the properties of a new technology.

Environmental Issues

• Handled a suit by nonprofit entities challenging a permit issued by the Army Corps of Engineers that allowed construction of a new shipping terminal at the Port of Los Angeles.
• Adjudicated a CERCLA suit alleging that property that had been leased and used for petroleum production for decades was contaminated and that past owners were responsible for the necessary clean-up, as were upstream operators whose activities had caused stormwater to deposit lead on the property.

Aviation

• Participated as part of a three-judge panel in a mock arbitration concerning research and development efforts and the contracts that governed them in the aviation industry to evaluate its litigation risk, settlement posture, and the possible range of damages.

Civil Rights

• Mediated civil rights case in which officers shot one of the plaintiffs, causing brain trauma, impairing cognitive function and physical abilities. There was substantially divergent views of liability with significant damages exposure for injuries for the individual shot, and for loss of consortium, interference with familial relationship, and emotional distress if liability were to be found.

Class Actions

• Complex MDL case involving 41 class actions alleging claims from an international car manufacturer installing anti-theft immobilizers on their vehicles for over a decade. A social media platform posted videos to promote a challenge (showing how to steal cars) that has led to a raft of vehicle thefts. During mediation, many complicated issues arose including a lack of available data. There are millions of vehicles involved in the class action and limited data on how many have been stolen, and how many class members with and without theft insurance.
• Mediated a public nuisance and negligence claim brought by municipalities throughout the United States against a company for the design of its product.

Copyright Matters

• Served as a neutral evaluator in a matter involving a copyright infringement case over a software product between a government entity and a technology company.
• Mediated a trademark infringement and unfair competition dispute between social media platform companies. The claimed damages, supported by expert testimony, were several hundred million dollars, and substantial legal issues as to whether a common law trademark was merely descriptive and therefore not protectable, and where the likelihood of confusion evidence were main factors.

Trademark Issues

• Trademark, trade dress, and copyright claims were settled after substantial discussion of causation of the plaintiff's lost profits/price erosion damages (6-10 parties in the marketplace selling allegedly infringing goods). Additionally, there were significant coverage issues related to policies with changing terms governing injury coverage.

Bad Faith

• While in practice, authored numerous coverage opinions pertaining to claims under comprehensive general liability policies, including bodily injury and property damage claims as well as personal and advertising injury claims; similarly provided coverage opinions pertaining to professional errors and omissions policies and directors' and officers' policies.
• As a lawyer, successfully secured coverage on appeal for parents and children after children were molested by one of the owners of a nursery school on the basis that the policy afforded coverage to the co-owner of the school as an individual.
• As a trial judge, adjudicated a dispute between insurance carriers regarding their duties to defend and indemnify a suit brought by the owners of more than one hundred single-family dwellings for damages resulting from alleged construction defects.
• Conducted a court trial of a bad faith case brought by insureds who were denied coverage for destruction of their home based on the insurer's conclusion that arson was involved.
• Adjudicated a representative action for breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant, and violation of Business & Professions Code Section 17200 brought by a plaintiff who alleged she had been denied benefits under a group disability policy issued to her employer.
• Conducted a court trial of an action brought by an insurer alleging that its agent failed to disclose and misrepresented material facts regarding an application for jeweler's block insurance, which resulted in the insurer having to pay policy limits following a theft at the insured's premises.
• Adjudicated a case brought by estranged former spouses, who were both employees of an insured company, alleging that the company' s insurer had a duty to defend a slander suit brought by the former wife after statements by her former husband that she was responsible for severe cash flow problems at the company and had stolen company property.

Coverage

• Mediated coverage dispute involving a media services policy (both defense and indemnity were contested) in which a mediated settlement in the underlying MDL class action was contingent upon resolution of the coverage dispute.
• Successfully mediated a multidistrict litigation consumer class action case involving a product used by infants, as well as related insurance coverage dispute.

Inter Carrier Dispute

• Mediated a matter involving disputes between two insurance agencies regarding a lack of services performed in accordance with its contractual obligations and applicable industry standards and laws. Settlement entailed a joint letter to the insurance industry and to the insureds in addition to a monetary amount. This settlement was achieved after three and a half months of working with the parties.

IP Copyright

• Adjudicated a case brought by major print publications alleging that posting copies of their news articles without permission on a website was not a legally protected fair use under the copyright statute.
• Adjudicated a suit in which plaintiff alleged that the Matrix and Terminator movies infringed copyrights in two works plaintiff had created.
• Adjudicated copyright claims related to the Avatar movie.
• Adjudicated claim by a beauty pageant corporation that a former employee and her beauty pageant company infringed its copyrights in pageant materials and misappropriated customer lists, which were purportedly protectable trade secrets.
• Adjudicated claims by a songwriter that various defendants infringed his copyrights in songs he created for the television series "Remington Steele."

IP Patent

• Adjudicated a suit by company holding a patent on a ceramic orthodontic bracket against a competitor also marketing a ceramic orthodontic bracket, involving claims in invalidity and infringement.
• Suit by a company that had licensed patents held by an inventor of a silicone gastric band used in treating morbid obesity and other products related to gastric banding, alleging invalidity of the patents and non-infringement.
• Adjudicated multiple suits between two eyewear manufacturers alleging both invalidity and infringement of patents protecting an eyeglass frame with magnetic members designed to engage corresponding magnetic members on an auxiliary frame such as a non-prescription sunglasses frame.
• Adjudicated an action alleging infringement of a patent covering a method of fireproofing the space between the ceiling and walls of a structure.
• Adjudicated infringement and invalidity claims related to patents held by competitors in the market for interface devices that allow factory-installed remote vehicle stereo controls to be used with after-market replacement stereos.

IP Trademark

• Adjudicated claims by a Los Angeles business that the creator of the Grand Theft Auto video game infringed the business' trademark and trade dress by designing and including a similar-looking business in the game.
• Successfully mediated a dispute between two bottled water companies alleging that one had infringed the other's trademark and trade dress.
• Adjudicated a case brought by a manufacturer of plush toys alleging that another toy company had infringed its copyrights, trademark, and trade dress, and had engaged in unfair competition, misappropriation and false designation of origin by promoting a similar line of plush toys.
• Adjudicated a case filed by an international company, with businesses spanning several industries, which claimed that a gas station in California infringed its trademark and logo.
• Adjudicated a suit filed by the manufacturer/marketer of a trademarked line of fragrances, bath and body care products against a celebrity and a national cosmetics company, alleging trademark infringement because of their use of a confusingly similar mark on fragrances, cosmetics, and skin care products.

Agent and Broker Malpractice

• As a lawyer, handled multiple matters involving malpractice claims against lawyers, accountants, insurance brokers, architects and engineers.

Prof Malpractice Accounting

• As a lawyer, represented a Big 8 accounting firm in multiple multimillion-dollar lawsuits alleging malpractice in connection with audits and other services.

Professional Malpractice Legal

• As a lawyer, was retained in malpractice and other cases to provide expert testimony concerning ethical standards governing lawyers.

Real Property

• Mediated a difficult and emotional dispute between two sophisticated real estate investors who have been partners and friends for three decades. Claims involved the theft of a partnership opportunity by one of the partners. At the heart of the dispute is a property containing thousands of acres of land which is being operated as a mitigation bank (government entities and private developers whose projects will destroy wetland areas in Southern California.)
• Arbitrated a non-binding arbitration between two communication companies regarding a real estate dispute over several buildings. Rulings made on several motions and the threshold legal issues involved the interpretation of extensive lease agreements.
• Served as one of three arbitrators on a mock arbitration panel hearing evidence and arguments in a dispute between two of the major commercial real estate developers in the United States.

Civil Rights

• Adjudicated hundreds of police misconduct cases alleging violations of civil and constitutional rights under of 42 U.S.C. § 1983; many of these cases went to trial.
• Adjudicated claims against a county jail by the family of an inmate who suffered from mental health problems and jumped to his death while incarcerated awaiting trial.
• Adjudicated numerous suits alleging violation of the First Amendment right of free speech, right to petition, and right of association.
• Adjudicated scores of cases involving claims of violation of rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Adjudicated the government's effort to dissolve an almost 20-year-old injunction requiring that it advise Salvadoran refugees of their right to counsel, their right to apply for political asylum, and their right to a hearing prior to removal, as well as claims by the plaintiff class that the conditions in ICE detention facilities that led to entry of the injunction in the 1980s persisted.
• Adjudicated an Alien Tort Claims Act case alleging racial discrimination and environmental harm, as well as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity arising from the activities of a mining company in Papua New Guinea; the case raised important questions of jurisdiction of US courts, and was heard by the Ninth Circuit twice and ultimately by the Supreme Court.
• One member of a three-judge panel that adjudicated a Voting Rights Act case challenging the lines drawn in the 2000 decennial redistricting; the decision affirmed on direct appeal by the Supreme Court.

General Negligence

• Adjudicated a case brought by an inmate against a prison facility alleging that, due to the facility's negligence and failure to take protective measures, he contracted Valley Fever.

PI Auto

• Mediated a case in which a plaintiff received a multi-million dollar jury verdict at trial for a TBI sustained after a motorcycle accident. The plaintiff's life is inalterably changed. The defendant had a limited policy and the plaintiff had no insurance. The defendant also had limited assets, particularly because his immediate family suffers from cancer and depression and/or attempted suicide resulting in his income which barely meets expenses. The defendant's church conducted a fundraiser for him and he was able to offer about half a million dollars, and with an additional sum from the carrier, the matter settled.
• Conducted a court trial in a personal injury action filed by a longshoreman injured in an automobile accident at the Port of Long Beach after his vehicle collided with a vehicle driven by a Customs and Border Patrol officer.

PI Sexual Assault

• Mediated a case that concerned the sexual molestation of two young boys over a period of years by a religious figure who was later convicted of molesting other children and served time in prison. Three different insurers were involved and key issues were involved pertaining to a wide variety of insurance coverage disputes.

Product Liability

• As a lawyer, tried a case alleging that plaintiff had lost portions of his hand due to defects in a paper pulp processing machine and the manner in which it was installed in a factory.
• As a trial judge, tried a case involving products liability and wrongful death claims that asserted defendant's beard trimmer was defective, and caused a flash fire that ignited a 16-year-old's clothing and body while shaving, resulting in his death.
• Tried a personal injury case asserting that a child was injured as a result of the negligent design of a ride/attraction at a theme park.
• Oversaw a case involving claims that certain drugs manufactured by a pharmaceutical company caused osteonecrosis of the jaw.
• Adjudicated a couple's products liability and related claims against the manufacturer of a paper converting machine after the husband was injured while working with the machine.