David Scheidemantle, Co-Managing Partner of the
Firm, has been elected a California Super Lawyer for four
successive years. In 2008, he was selected as a Fellow of
the Litigation Counsel of America, an elite society of trial lawyers
limited to one-half of one percent of American lawyers.
David focuses his practice on complex business
litigation, insurance coverage counseling and litigation on behalf
of policyholders, products liability litigation, toxic tort defense,
and class action defense. Before joining the Firm, David was an
equity partner for 10 years at Proskauer Rose LLP. Earlier, he
practiced at Cahill Gordon & Reindel in New York and Shearman &
Sterling in Los Angeles.
Highlights of David’s practice include the
following:
·Argued and won affirmance in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit of summary judgment in favor of a U.S.
subsidiary of a $90 billion petro-chemical company in a putative
nationwide class action. The plaintiff had alleged defects in
products plaintiff contended had been sold for $4 billion to the
U.S. market. Wasco Products v. Southwall Technologies, et
al., 435 F.3d 989 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 127 S.Ct. 83
(2006).
·Won recovery from multiple insurers of $2.85 million
in coverage fees and defense costs incurred by a client in
successfully defending a massive products liability action.
·Won a permanent injunction against a trademark
infringer and then successfully moved to have the infringer held in
contempt of court for violating the injunction. Henry Schein,
Inc. v. Certified Business Supply, Inc., United States District
Court, Central District of California Case No. SACV03-1662 DOC.
·Won dismissal of virtually all claimed damages in
alleged $30 million products action based on the plaintiff’s
spoliation of evidence, then defeated the plaintiff's petition for
interlocutory appeal. Shortly thereafter, the plaintiff agreed to
dismiss the action in exchange solely for a waiver of costs.
·Argued and won affirmance in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Second Circuit of the dismissal of a products liability
action alleging $4 million in damages. Four Seasons Solar Prods.
Corp. v. Black & Decker Corp., et al., 2004 U.S. App. LEXIS
10688 (2d Cir. Jun. 1, 2004).
·Argued and won reversal in the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Ninth Circuit in favor of a policyholder in which the Ninth
Circuit adopted the after-acquired property doctrine notwithstanding
California appellate authority rejecting that doctrine. KF
Dairies, Inc. v. Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., 224 F.3d 922 (9th
Cir. 2000).
·Argued and won summary judgment in the U.S. District
Court for the Central District of California, obtaining insurance
coverage for a performing artist sued for wrongful death.
·Argued and won dismissal on the pleadings of an
environmental nuisance and fear of disease action against an
industrial company by 60 residents of a trailer park.
·Won a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of the
parent of a failed savings and loan association in an action against
multiple federal regulators. Due to its size, the settlement
required the approval of the President of the United States and the
Secretary of the Treasury.
·Achieved a multi-million dollar settlement in favor of
the claimants in an accountant malpractice action involving highly
complex tax issues, without the necessity of commencing litigation.
·Prosecuted and successfully settled a $100 million
contract claim on behalf of a Spanish pharmaceutical company against
a California supplier of blood plasma in an International Chamber of
Commerce arbitration in London, governed by California and Dutch
law, in which the principal arbitrator sat on Britain’s House of
Lords.
·Won insurance coverage from multiple off-shore
insurance carriers for a performing group under a tour-cancellation
policy in which the aggregate recovery exceeded the anticipated
profits from the tour.
·Prosecuted insurance coverage actions in federal
district courts in Pennsylvania, Texas, and Massachusetts, involving
a series of multimillion dollar products liability claims, resulting
in a highly favorable settlement under which the insurer funded
past claims and future claims.
·Obtained a highly favorable settlement in defense of
an antitrust and RICO action against a major television studio,
precipitated by a summary judgment motion scheduled for hearing on
the day the settlement was reached, which resulted in a payment to
the studio in excess of $1 million.
·Successfully defended a Fortune 500 company in a
series of complex limited partnership disputes involving the
divestiture of a hospital.
·Successfully defended a major rental car company in
two putative nationwide consumer class actions alleging unfair
business practices.
·Represented a weight loss company in AAA International
Arbitration proceedings and in multiple injunction actions by
franchisees throughout the United States and Canada alleging
breaches of alleged rights to exclusive territories.
·In a products liability action arising from a
nationally reported vehicular crash involving 16 fatalities, won
dismissal of the alleged manufacturer of the shock absorbers in the
van in which the 16 victims were passengers.
·As West Coast litigation counsel to Australia's
largest bank, litigated and advised the bank concerning securities
and lender liability actions and other banking-related matters.
·Ran complex insurance coverage litigation in one of
the largest bankruptcies in the history of the State of California
in which the debtor sought and obtained millions of dollars in
environmental cost recovery from multiple insurers and prior
property owners.
·Represented a public utility seeking insurance
coverage in a series of wrongful death and fear of cancer actions
involving more than 1000 plaintiffs.
·Participated in coordinating a national defense and
trial strategy for a Fortune 100 company in approximately 150
products liability asbestos-in-buildings cases involving tens of
thousands of buildings located throughout the United States,
including virtually every public utility building, public school,
public office building, bridge, and tunnel in the City of New York.
David is licensed to practice in both California and New York and is
a member of the Federal and State courts in both States. He
graduated cum laude from Fordham University School of Law,
where he served as editor of the Fordham Law Review. He was a
judicial law clerk to Judge Inzer B. Wyatt of the Southern District
of New York and Judge William H. Timbers of the U.S. Court of
Appeals for the Second Circuit. He received a bachelor's degree from
The Juilliard School, where, as a violinist, he was Concertmaster of
the Juilliard Symphony and the National Orchestra of New York. He
currently performs as a violinist with the Concert Choir of the Los
Angeles Children’s Chorus.
David is committed to pro bono matters and won the
release under the Battered Women’s Syndrome Act of a woman who had
been incarcerated for 20 years for murdering her abusive boyfriend.
He also has represented numerous non-profit arts and educational
organizations on a pro bono basis, including the Suzuki Music
Association of California, the Pasadena Junior Theater, the
Renaissance Arts Academy, and the American Friends of the Israel
Philharmonic.
Involved with the community, David has served on
boards of directors of several non-profit organizations, including
the Century City Chamber of Commerce and the Friends of the Levitt
Pavilion. He currently is Vice-Chair and Chair Elect of the Los
Angeles Children’s Chorus (http://www.lachildrenschorus.org/).