Oct. 16, 2014
Browne George Ross LLP
See more on Browne George Ross LLPLos Angeles, San Francisco | Litigation
"There's not a lot of overlap in the people we know," Ross said. "And Eric probably knows 90 percent of them and I know the other 10 percent."
Ross said that over lunch at Hillcrest Country Club, a few blocks from their office in Century City. Hillcrest is Ross' club but George, who belongs to Los Angeles Country Club, knew as many or more people.
The second thing you should know is that Ross has won his last 20 trials. Two recent cases ended in eye-popping verdicts.
In February, a unanimous jury awarded Ross' client, Beverly Hills-based spinal implant manufacturer Orthotec LLC, $48 million in a dispute with a French company. The verdict is likely to top $75 million with prejudgment interest, Ross said.
In August, he won a $30 million verdict on behalf of Neurovision Medical Products Inc. in a trademark dispute with rival NuVasive Inc.
George has also racked up some top-dollar verdicts. In October, he won a $62 million verdict on behalf of Wells Fargo Bank NA in a dispute with the Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. The verdict was one of the biggest in California in 2013.
Together George and Ross have formed a potent modern iteration of the firm Allan Browne started in 1985. Browne, who is something of a legend in Los Angeles litigation circles and a founder of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, retired three years ago. Last year, the firm expanded to San Francisco with Joseph P. Russoniello, the former U.S. attorney for the Northern District.
George has been with the firm for 14 years, since he was 31. He previously served as legal counsel to Gov. Pete Wilson and to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee under Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. The son of retired California Chief Justice Ronald M. George, Eric George has deep ties to California's legal and political structures. He has served as an advisor to California governors and U.S. senators of both political parties in the selection of judges in the state.
Ross joined the firm in 1985. He has built a reputation as a talented litigator by winning more than 90 percent of the 60-plus civil trials he has first-chaired over the course of his career. And he is on a roll, having scored victories in his last 20 consecutive trials.
"Pete's the complete lawyer, a matchless law partner, and nothing less than a true brother," George said of his partner Ross. "During our annual heli-skiing trips together, it's my job to keep him off of the cliffs and away from the trees."
- David Houston
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