Matthew J. Cave 

Matthew J. Cave is glad that the litigation boutique he co-founded allows him to represent large clients like PricewaterhouseCoopers and individuals like the photographer who immortalized the late gorilla Harambe.

He and colleagues launched the firm in January 2020 to take on cases, especially trials, for “the core businesses of Los Angeles,” which means his practice includes many entertainment and real estate matters.

One regular client is PLB Management, the owner of one of the largest apartment communities in Los Angeles. Most of its matters don’t turn into litigation, but a case alleging disability discrimination did.

“That is not a practice area that anybody at our firm has ever practiced in,” Cave said. Nonetheless, the firm took over the case about a week before trial. “The challenge was fun for us,” he said. The jury awarded the plaintiff $250,000 in emotional distress damages, but in June, the federal district judge knocked that award out. The case is now on appeal. C.R. v. PLB Management LLC, 23-55596 (9th Cir., filed July 7, 2023).

Cave is representing PwC in another sort of case his firm doesn’t usually handle, bankruptcy. The trustee of the PG&E Fire Victim Trust has subpoenaed the accounting giant in regard to consulting it did for the utility. The work basically is discovery management, but it became quite contentious, he said, because the trustee was requesting information “way beyond what should have been allowed.” In re: Pacific Gas & Electric Co., 3:19-bk-30088 (Bankr. N.D. Cal., filed Jan. 29, 2019).

In the Harambe case, Cave’s firm sued Barstool Sports for copyright infringement after it used the photographer’s pictures of the gorilla — who had to be executed when a young boy got into its enclosure at the Cincinnati Zoo — on its website, T-shirts and other items without crediting him. McCurry v. Barstool Sports Inc. 2:22-cv-07036 (C.D. Cal., filed Sept. 28, 2022).

Cave said almost every photo of Harambe on the internet was taken by his client. “Barstool was using the pictures egregiously despite being notified a few times of the violations of [the client’s] copyrights,” he said. “It was devastating for him when this happened.” The case settled in January.

About a third or more of Cave’s caseload involves copyright or artist-management disputes. Just this year, he settled copyright infringement litigation against Lana Del Rey and Megadeth. “I often represent the little guy in these entertainment disputes,” he said. “They are talented artists, but their work is being used by higher profile artists in violation of their rights.”

He currently is in litigation against the singer-songwriter Remi Wolf, representing her former artist management company. The matter is now before the state Labor Commissioner on a claim under the Talent Agencies Act. Take & Thrown LLC v. Wolf, 22STCV28188 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Aug. 29, 2022).

— Don DeBenedictis