Oct. 17, 2013
Steven J. Stone
See more on Steven J. StoneJAMS Los Angeles Specialties: product liability, employment, intellectual property, entertainment
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He has already served as a special master for a case federal court dealing with claims against Toyota for unintended acceleration. That case required Stone and the other special master, John K. Trotter, to obtain technical information from experts all while respecting Toyota's intellectual property rights.
"They are tightly held secrets," he said. "The protective agreements are very intense." The discovery has mostly wrapped up and the case is moving toward trial, Stone said.
The courts' continuing budget problems mean the trend of hiring out for such work will only become more commonplace, Stone said. "It's really just beginning."
That's not the only way the economy has shaped his practice, either. With thousands of recession-era layoffs, Stone has seen a great deal of age-discrimination claims in wrongful termination cases. In fact, the majority of these cases are going before arbitrators because workers who have risen in a company a likely to have signed an arbitration agreement, he said.
Stone said he's also become very familiar with disputes that emerge from the sale of a business. Either the buyer thinks they didn't get what they paid for, he said, or the seller thinks they should be getting more from profit sharing agreements.
"I'm seeing more disappointment from them," Stone said.
Looking forward, Stone expects the implementation of the Affordable Care Act to breed civil claims. "I expect to see an increase because of uncertainty," he said. "We have to make decisions on those individual cases to see what amends or additions to this complex law are needed."
- Laura Hautala
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