Tre Lovell

Tre Lovell was working with an insurance defense firm representing big automakers years ago when some actors and writers he knew asked him to look over some of the contracts they had been asked to sign. "I started to get an interest in entertainment law through just getting in at the basement level with some friends," Lovell said. That early interest eventually developed into his law practice.

He left the big firm, practiced with an older lawyer for a while and then, in 2004, launched his own firm focusing on entertainment, business and copyright, including serving as counsel to some film productions. Eventually, the practice segued into litigation, including trade secrets and other intellectual property matters.

Lately, Lovell has achieved what he called "amicable resolutions" in three of his higher-profile cases.

In one, he accused two of the stars of the TV show "Shark Tank," Kevin O'Leary and Kevin Harrington, of endorsing or being involved in a scheme in which a pair of crowdfunding companies allegedly defrauded entrepreneurs. Lovell brought the suit on behalf of 20 victims who had lost all the money they had placed with the companies. O'Leary was dismissed from the case, but Harrington settled. Bucket Social v. O'Leary, 21STCV32370 (L.A. Sup. Ct., filed Sept. 1, 2021).

Lovell said that celebrity endorsements generally have become a big industry and a growing source of litigation, noting that several celebrities who appeared in ads for Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX cryptocurrency exchange have been sued. He predicted the FTC or other agencies may even seek to regulate such endorsements.

Last spring, Lovell also amicably resolved a lawsuit in which he had accused Justin Bieber and country duo Dan+Shay of copyright infringement with their country hit "10,000 Hours." According to the complaint, the Grammy-winning song copies a 47-note sequence from a song the plaintiffs had copyrighted in 1980. Lovell said the case settled shortly before trial. International Manufacturing Concepts Inc. v. Bieber, 2:22-cv-2650 (C.D. Cal., filed April 21, 2022).

A third case just resolved in March. He represented several defendants accused of violating the right of publicity of the owner of an insurance agency prominent in the Southern California Latino community. Coincidentally, the owner, Adriana Gallardo, appears on Shark Tank Mexico. Adrianas Insurance Services Inc. v. Auto International Insurance Agency Inc., 8:22-cv-00174 (C.D. Cal., filed Feb. 1, 2022).

Currently, Lovell is defending insurance brokers in a separate case in Orange County. He represents 13 defendants accused of stealing trade secrets when they left one insurance agency to start an agency of their own. Golden Ivy Marketing v. Song, 30-2022-01266371 (O.C. Super. Ct., filed June 22, 2022).

-- Don DeBenedictis