Brad D. Brian

Los Angeles

Litigation, Investigations & Trials

Brad D. Brian says he likes it when his active caseload is about half civil and half criminal matters. So it is perhaps fitting that in one of his most significant current cases, he has won a civil injunction against part of the criminal justice system in Los Angeles.

An MTO team led by Brian, along with lawyers from Public Justice, Civil Rights Corps and two other law firms, effectively halted enforcement of L.A. County's cash bail schedule and ended pre-arraignment cash bail for people arrested for infractions and nonviolent misdemeanors.

"It's of national importance," Brian said of the decision. Urquidi v. City of Los Angeles, 22STCP04044 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Nov. 14, 2022).

In 2021, the state Supreme Court ruled that holding someone in jail after arraignment simply because of an inability to pay bail violates Equal Protection. But in L.A. County, some people unable to pay bail were being held in jail for several days before ever being arraigned, he said.

During several lengthy evidentiary hearings, Brian and co-counsel argued against the bail schedule. In May, an L.A. Superior Court judge enjoined use of the schedule pre-arraignment, calling the practice a "clear, pervasive and serious constitutional violation."

A revised bail schedule that seems to fix some problems will go into effect in October, Brian said. "The question is going to be is that in compliance with [Riff's] order."

In another very important case, Brian defended Pacific Gas & Electric against 31 criminal charges, including four manslaughter counts, growing out of the Zogg wildfire in 2020. After a three-and-a-half-week preliminary hearing and a probable cause motion, he whittled the charges down to two misdemeanors.

Then, after three weeks of intense negotiations, Shasta County prosecutors agreed in June to dismiss all criminal charges in exchange for a $50 million civil settlement to fund fire prevention services. "We were very happy with the result," Brian said. People v. Pacific Gas and Electric, 21-0006622 (Shasta Super. Ct., filed Sept. 24, 2021).

The preceding April, he had negotiated a $55 million settlement for PG&E with six counties to resolve potential criminal charges related to the 2019 Kincade Fire and 2021 Dixie Fire.

And last month, Brian was retained as the lead trial counsel for Maui Electric, Hawaiian Electric, and HEI in litigation from the tragic Maui fires.

In other matters, he is co-counsel representing Activision Blizzard in an employment discrimination case brought by the state of California. "It's just been one fight after the next," he said of the lengthy, complex litigation. California Civil Rights Department v. Activision Blizzard, Inc., 21STCV26571 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed July 20, 2021).

He also often defends law firms in litigation, including settling a potentially huge malpractice suit for Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP two years ago. "I believe very much in the legal profession," Brian said. "I believe what we do as lawyers is good for our system, so I really enjoy representing law firms."

-- Don DeBenedictis