Jeff Vucinich recently prevailed on a motion to dismiss a lawsuit claiming damages of $10 million for wrongful arrest and gender discrimination. The case was filed in Federal Court against a city on the Peninsula. In the same week, Jeff’s team obtained a dismissal for waiver of costs in a premises case alleging serious orthopedic injuries, a dismissal in a wrongful death case arising out of a motorcycle versus street sweeper, and summary judgment on the environmental side in an asbestos claim!
Partner Ted Scheley, and associates Daniel Lee and Catharine Christian represented a national wholesale distributor of construction products in a personal injury matter involving a plaintiff that partially severed three of his fingers while using a sliding miter saw. Utilizing key portions of plaintiff’s deposition testimony, they prepared a Motion for Summary Judgment on the grounds that a dual employment relationship existed between plaintiff and our client, limiting plaintiff’s recovery to worker’s compensation benefits. Without filing the motion, the Clapp Moroney lawyers convinced plaintiff to settle for a nominal amount, despite plaintiff’s significant injuries, our client’s potential exposure, and the minimal liability of the saw manufacturer.
Associate Selena Galaviz has been appointed to co-chair the San Francisco Bar Association Barristers Club Pro Bono and Community Service Committee. She will also be a volunteer judge for the 2012 San Mateo County High School Mock Trial Competition. Selena practices construction defect and general liability litigation in our San Bruno office.
Partner Chris Beeman will serve as a chairperson for the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA )“Civility Matters” program, which consist of panel presentations to bar associations throughout the greater Bay Area. He also serves on the executive committee of the San Francisco ABOTA chapter, and will be serving as a volunteer judge in the upcoming Berkeley Law School mock trial competition.
Clapp|Moroney has been designated by the Alameda County Bar Association as a Leadership Firm. We are one of the few law firms in Alameda County with 100% enrollment of our Pleasanton lawyers in the local county bar association, in which we play an active role.
Pleasanton Partner Matt Constantino has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Italian American Bar Association of Northern California. Matt has been with Clapp|Moroney since 2005, and specializes in construction defect litigation representing developers, general contractors and subcontractors throughout Northern California.
Clapp|Moroney sponsored an event hosted by the San Mateo County Bar Association’s Diversity Committee honoring California Supreme Court Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye. Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye is the first Asian-Filipina American and the second woman to serve as the state’s Chief Justice. Several attorneys from the firm attended the event, including partner Chris Scheley, and associates Pamela Bumatay, April Santos, Selena Galaviz, Catharine Christian, David Yoshida, and Daniel Lee. During the night, Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye emphasized the importance of diversity in the practice of law, and applauded the efforts of firms like ours.
Managing Partner Ted Scheley has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Defense Counsel (ADC) and will begin his term in December, 2011. He was also admitted to the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), joining two of his fellow named partners in that select group of trial lawyers. Ted will also participate as a panelist on Construction Defects Litigation: Hot Topics 2012 this spring.
Founding partner Bob Bellagamba served as the moderator of a panel addressing “What’s Working, What’s Not in the West Region CD Arena” at the MC Consultants Construction Defect Seminar held in San Diego. The presentation was given to an audience of 400 people, consisting of plaintiff and defense attorneys, consultants, builder representatives, and insurance industry representatives. The panel focused on right-to-repair statutes, insurance coverage issues, as well as duty to defend and indemnity issues, pointing out numerous “flaws” with some of the procedures and provided various recommendations designed to improve the process and lead to more cost effective, expedient resolution of cases.
The Irish Voice Newspaper recently announced that partner Chris Beeman has been elected as a member of the 2011 Irish Legal 100, a listing of the leading figures in law across the USA. Chris recently moderated a panel discussion entitled “Litigation on the Front Line” for members of Counsel for Litigation Management (CLM) on a Hornblower Yacht in the San Francisco Bay, and served as co-chair of the San Francisco MASTERS IN TRIAL program sponsored by the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).
