Alison L. Plessman

Plessman and a handful of attorneys left their prior firm to co-found Hueston Hennigan LLP in 2015. Within a week, Plessman said, the firm grew to almost 30 lawyers, many of whom brought their clients with them.

“We started functioning as a robust law firm right away,” she said. “We have continued to grow since then. We continue to take on really interesting, dynamic cases, not just in California, but nationally and internationally.”

Plessman is defending Hong Kong investment company Dong Yin Development in a RICO claim in cases involving the development and launch of satellites intended to provide telecommunications to Sub-Saharan Africa. STM Atlantic N.V. et al v. Dong Yin Development Holdings Ltd. et. al. 2:18-cv-01269 (C. D. Cal., filed Feb. 15, 2018).

Dong Yin was accused of stealing sensitive satellite data in violation of U.S. export control laws, given its indirect ownership by the Chinese government. The case attracted national media attention when the Wall Street Journal reported on the allegations. In February, Plessman secured a stay of the litigation pending arbitration between plaintiffs and other parties in Hong Kong “who should have been the parties litigating these claims all along,” she said.

“We argued that the plaintiffs cannot avoid contractual promise to arbitrate the issues involved in the litigation by failing to name and assert claims in the litigation against parties to an arbitration agreement,” she said. “The court knows that the Federal Arbitration Act is clear that where a suit involves an issue referable to arbitration under an arbitration agreement, a stay of such suit is mandatory. But most importantly for our client, the court also said that a nonsignatory to the arbitration agreement could enforce that provision.”

Other clients include InterDent Inc., Western Digital and its SanDisk subsidiaries as well as T-Mobile USA Inc. She also is defending Edison International and Southern California Edison in proceedings stemming from the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, and in litigation arising from the recent Montecito mudslides.

When she is not in litigation venues, she serves on the boards of the Western Center on Law and Poverty as well as the Governors of the Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles and is a member of the Women’s White Collar Defense Association.

— Jennifer Chung Klam