Alan A. Greenberg

Los Angeles and Costa Mesa

Bet-the-Company Litigation & Trial

Alan A. Greenberg co-founded Greenberg Gross LLP in 2013 as a business-focused litigation boutique, reflecting Greenberg's early career as a structured finance attorney on Wall Street and his economics degree from Cornell University.

He later got his JD, cum laude, at Boston University School of Law.

The firm he launched with Wayne R. Gross -- both had been shareholders at Greenberg Traurig LLP -- has expanded its horizons to include cases aimed at social ills.

"We continue to evolve in new and interesting directions," said Greenberg, who obtained his Nevada bar card and has overseen the firm's new office in Las Vegas. "We're grappling with issues of importance to society."

Among his firm's new cases: a sexual assault and battery claim by a female patient against a Las Vegas OB-GYN. The suit followed a medical board investigation of the physician for sexual misconduct. Matthews v. Chambers et al., A-23-876063-C (Clark Co. Nev. Dist. Ct., filed Aug. 16, 2023).

"These cases are no longer unusual for us now," Greenberg said. His firm established a sexual abuse and human trafficking litigation practice in 2019, headed by Deborah S. Mallgrave.

Greenberg is co-lead counsel representing the trustee of the PG&E Fire Victim Trust pursuing claims in bankruptcy court against former vegetation management contractors and consulting firms for their roles in contributing to the causes of Northern California wildfires. Among the defendants are Davey Resource Group Inc., ACRT Pacific LLS and McKinsey & Co. This year, Greenberg achieved settlements totaling nearly $200 million. In re PG&E, 19-30088-DM (N.D. Cal. Bk. Ct., filed May 12, 2019).

"That money is being distributed now," Greenberg said. "And this is what we have always done -- sue for indemnification from the responsible parties."

He represents entertainment lawyer Michael R. Shapiro of Los Angeles in a contract dispute with Grammy Award-winning songwriter Philip M. Lawrence over the $90 million sale of his catalog, which Shapiro helped arrange and for which he claims he has not been paid.

"Now, Lawrence is trying to escape into bankruptcy, but where's the $90 million?" Greenberg said. In an order to show cause, the judge questioned whether the bankruptcy case should be dismissed. In re: Philip M. Lawrence II, Debtor, 1:23-bk-11082 (C.D. Bk. Ct., order filed Aug. 16, 2023).

Another Greenberg client, the former general counsel of a telecommunications satellite company, is suing his former employer for workplace retaliation for having acted to prevent the Chinese government from gaining illegal access to important satellite technologies. Greenberg has now asked a state appellate panel to lift a trial judge's stay of the litigation. Chen v. Superior Court, B298620 (2d DCA, filed June 21, 2019).

"It's a very rewarding experience to be working on such interesting cases," Greenberg said.

--John Roemer