Russ August & Kabat is proud of its partner, Philip X. Wang, who was profiled by Super Lawyers Magazine in the cover story titled, “The Master: Philip X. Wang brings a chess-champion mind to patent law”, published in June 2019. Read the article.
Dallas jury rejects $25 million claim filed by client’s ex-boyfriend
Last week, Russ August & Kabat’s Entertainment Litigation Partner Ashley R. Yeargan and co-counsel Richard A. Rohan, Kelli Hinson, and Thomas S. Conner from Dallas’s Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, L.L.P. won a complete victory for reality television star Camille Grammer in a defamation and malicious prosecution lawsuit filed by her ex-boyfriend after she reported that he assaulted her in 2013.
A jury of five women and three men issued the unanimous verdict on April 24, 2019 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas before the Hon. Karen Gren Scholer.
Best known for her role in the popular television series “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Ms. Grammer was sued in 2014 by her ex-boyfriend, Dimitri Charalambopoulos, for defamation and malicious prosecution after she reported that he assaulted her in her hotel room on the morning of October 16, 2013. She counterclaimed for assault and for defamation after Mr. Charalambopoulos claimed in an interview on Access Hollywood that she had fabricated the story of the attack.
The jury completely denied Mr. Charalambopoulos’s claims and rejected his request for more than $25 million in damages against Ms. Grammer. Though Ms. Grammer’s attorneys did not ask for any specific amount of money damages, jurors nevertheless awarded her $1,000 in actual damages arising from the assault and $25 in nominal damages based on their finding that she was defamed by her ex in the TV interview. Jurors also awarded Ms. Grammer an additional $35,000 after determining that Mr. Charalambopoulos had acted with malice and gross negligence. These amounts are in addition to a prior fee award of approximately $120,000 that Ms. Grammer’s counsel secured against Mr. Charalambopoulos in connection with a successful motion to dismiss pursuant to Texas’s version of an anti-SLAPP statute.
The verdict capped nearly five years of contentious litigation between the parties. “We are grateful to the jury for their diligence and careful attention before reaching the right result that completely vindicates our client,” says Mr. Rohan. “We are happy that we were able to help Ms. Grammer finally find justice,” says Ms. Yeargan.
Russ August & Kabat Partner, Larry C. Russ, negotiated a highly publicized settlement on behalf of Yodeler Wylie Gustafson against early internet era pioneer Yahoo, in 2002. Gustafson, who had recorded a single yodel for a supposedly regional Yahoo radio commercial for $590.38, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Yahoo after the company began using Gustafson’s distinctive and unique yodel as the company’s audible signature on a myriad of company products and releases. See article.
Russ August & Kabat Partner, Stanton “Larry” Stein, alleges that Rovier Carrington, a self-described Hollywood ‘It Boy’, faked emails to support a $100 million sexual assault lawsuit against Viacom. Stanton “Larry” Stein said, “Not one of 39 contested emails that the Plaintiff filed in support of his claims exists in native form in any of his accounts.” Stanton “Larry” Stein said he would file a motion for monetary sanctions against Carrington for his “fraud on the Court and spoliation” of evidence. See Article.
Stanton “Larry” Stein was selected for inclusion in an inaugural group of Legal Legends as part of the 13th annual Top 100 Power Lawyers report, which was published this week by The Hollywood Reporter. The Hollywood Reporter describes the new Legal Legends list as a class of attorneys whose “impact on Hollywood is so historic and lasting, they transcend the Power Lawyers list.”
To determine the entertainment industry’s 100 most influential attorneys, The Hollywood Reporter researches the biggest deals and legal cases of the past year. Lawyers are identified as talent dealmakers, litigators or corporate dealmakers and evaluated against their peers based on cases won/nature of deals closed as well as their reputation within the entertainment legal community.
Stanton “Larry” Stein is the head of Russ August & Kabat’s Media & Entertainment group. His clients include actors, writers, directors, producers, musicians, high-net-worth individuals, entertainment guilds, talent agencies, personal and business management companies, independent production companies, and interactive gaming companies.
Throughout his career, Larry has been recognized by leading legal, business, and entertainment industry publications and organizations for the successes he has achieved on behalf of his clients. He is ranked as a “Top Media and Entertainment Litigator” by Chambers USA, regularly recognized as a “Power Lawyer” by The Hollywood Reporter, rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, and has been named a “Southern California Super Lawyer” from 2004-2009 and 2011-2019. The Daily Journal named Larry one of the “100 Most Influential Lawyers in California,” while the Los Angeles Business Journal profiled him in “Who’s Who in LA Law,” and California Lawyer featured him as a top five “A-list Entertainment Lawyers.” Nationally, Larry has been recognized as a “Best Lawyer” by The Best Lawyers in America and in “Lawdragon 500: Leading Lawyers in America.” Larry has received the “Entertainment Lawyer of the Year” awards from both the Beverly Hills and Century City Bar Associations, as well as the ACLU Foundation’s “Pro Bono Civil Liberties Award.”
Click here to view The Hollywood Reporter Power Lawyers issue.
Click here to view The Hollywood Reporter Legal Legends article.
Russ August & Kabat attorneys Reza Mirzaie, Adam Hoffman, Neil Rubin, and Jacob Buczko won a jury verdict for damages of approximately $3.5 million for their client, Conversant Wireless (formerly Core Wireless), against LG Electronics for the infringement of two Conversant Wireless patents. The jury’s award reflected the exact amount of damages Conversant Wireless requested for LG’s infringement of two Nokia patents on fundamental cellular technology relating to “2G” and “3G” cellular standards. In addition, the Court awarded $699,142.36 in enhanced damages for willful infringement, for a total award of just under $4.2 million. The trial, held in Marshall Texas, was a retrial on damages arising from a September 2016 trial in which the jury found that LG had willfully infringed Conversant Wireless’s patents. The jury award in this retrial represents a significant increase in damages from the $2.28 million in past damages awarded in the 2016 trial.
The patents at issue are U.S. Patent No. 7,804,850, related to improved capacity and battery life through reduction in superfluous transmissions, and Patent No. 6,633,536, related to a signaling protocol designed to improve network operation and call reliability. During the trial, LG argued that damages should be as little as $80,000. Conversant Wireless argued that damages should be $3,495,712, based on royalty rates of 4 cents for the ‘850 patent and 5 cents for the ‘536 patent. The precise amount awarded by the jury was $3,495,712.80. While the ‘536 patent expired in late 2017, the ‘850 patent does not expire until 2027.
The case is Core Wireless Licensing S.A.R.L. v. LG Electronics, Inc., Case No. 2:12-cv-912.