Eric M. George

George said the most fun he had at work this year was reaching deep into California's legal history for a precedent that let him win a client's right to collect a $1.6 million poker debt. Despite a widespread belief among lawyers that gaming obligations cannot be enforced by courts, George persuaded a judge to rule to the contrary following his client's wins at a series of poker games at friends' houses. Jiang v. Zheng, BC567417 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 22, 2014). Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Mark V. Mooney decided the issue in Jiang's favor on summary adjudication March 17.

"The defense lost its motion for reconsideration, and we settled to avoid an appeal, though it would have been fun to have an appellate record and precedent on it," George said.

"Everybody learns in contracts class in the first year of law school that you cannot sue to collect a poker debt," George said. "That was the defense argument." But that hornbook principle applies to casinos and for-profit gambling establishments, not private residences. "We thoroughly researched this area before proceeding with the suit and were surprised to find a case decided in 1851 by the California Supreme Court actually extolling the virtues of these card games," George said. Such games operate, "when practiced innocently and as a recreation, the better to fit a person for business," the high court concluded.

George also fended off in a February jury trial a $14 million claim by a former financial consultant for the TV series "Survivor" against his client, a co-creator of the show. A jury awarded the plaintiff only $480,000 in a case where George called the claims "highly exaggerated" due to serious statute of limitations problems. Britton v. Riggs, BC496298 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Nov. 27, 2012).

A late August coup, George said, was his recruiting former governor Pete Wilson along with former senior political advisor Sean Walsh, to join his firm to create a consulting affiliate to be known as Wilson Walsh George Ross Consulting LLC. George served as deputy legal affairs secretary to Wilson's administration from 1997 to 1999.

"You need more than a litigation strategy, especially when you're dealing with government agencies," George said in explaining the move. "We will be doing consulting work for businesses that have matters before federal and state agencies." An early client is a plaintiffs' group challenging the Golden State Warriors' plan to build a new basketball arena in San Francisco's Mission Bay district, George said.

As to how he persuaded Wilson to come on board, George laughed and said, "I told him that, like with the poker case, we'd have a lot of fun."

— John Roemer