BRAD BRIAN is a partner in the Los Angeles firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, specializing in complex civil and criminal litigation of all types. Mr. Brian is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers, and has earned a reputation as one of the premier “big case” trial attorneys in the country. Mr. Brian is listed in S. Naifeh & G. Smith, The Best Lawyers in America, in five separate categories, including the “Business Litigation”, “Criminal Defense” and “Bet-the-Company” cases, was selected by the National Law Journal as one of the top ten trial lawyers of 1994, has been identified by California’s leading legal newspaper, the Daily Journal, for the past ten years as one of the 100 most influential attorneys in the State of California, was identified by California Lawyer (August 2004) and by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers For Business (2006) as one of the top five commercial litigators in California, received a number one rating by Chambers USA in the area of white collar criminal defense, and in 2007 was recognized by Super Lawyers as one of the Top Ten lawyers in Southern California. Mr. Brian has been retained to represent clients in their most challenging, high-profile lawsuits and government investigations, including the following:
- Mr. Brian was retained in 2002 by the companies of California Gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon after a jury had returned a $78 million fraud verdict against them, and successfully persuaded the trial judge to vacate that verdict and to enter judgment in favor of Bill Simon’s firms.
- Mr. Brian has represented a multitude of Fortune 500 corporations (including GE, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, AXA Financial, Warner Bros., General Dynamics, Litton, Teledyne, and PETsMART) in a wide variety of large commercial lawsuits and arbitrations involving securities matters, toxic torts, trade secret misappropriations, patent infringements, and other commercial disputes.
- A number of these matters have involved the companies’ most significant cases, including representations of: (a) Northrop Grumman in multiple False Claims Act civil lawsuits and one criminal indictment (all matters were resolved satisfactorily to Northrop); (b) Allstate Insurance Company in response to a criminal investigation arising from thousands of insurance claims filed after the 1994 Northridge earthquake (Mr. Brian persuaded the U.S. Attorney’s Office not to file charges); (c) Shea-Kiewit-Kenny in a criminal investigation and related civil lawsuits arising from its alleged deficiencies in the construction of the Hollywood subway tunnel (no criminal charges filed and civil suits settled); (d) Boeing in connection with a civil lawsuit in Florida by Lockheed Martin (and related criminal investigation in Los Angeles) arising from Boeing’s alleged theft of thousands of Lockheed Martin’s trade secrets (no criminal charges filed and civil suits settled); and (e) a national law firm in dozens of civil lawsuits filed throughout the United States arising from the firm’s rendering of tax opinions (pending).
- Mr. Brian successfully defended Tom Spiegel (the former Chairman of Columbia Savings & Loan), who was acquitted on all 45 criminal counts after a two month jury trial in 1994;
- Mr. Brian has represented dozens of companies and individuals in DOJ, SEC and/or NASD investigations for alleged securities, environmental, government contracts, public corruption, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or other violations;
- Mr. Brian has represented Northrop Grumman, GE, Litton, Rockwell, Motorola, Fluor Daniel, Jacobs Engineering, Shea Kiewit Kenny, the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory and others in more than 40 lawsuits filed under the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act;
- Mr. Brian has represented (including through trial) a number of law firms and lawyers in civil lawsuits for alleged legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty, conflicts of interest and malicious prosecution, and in criminal investigations of various types (including alleged false statements, false loan applications, and obstruction of justice);
- Mr. Brian has conducted more than 100 internal corporate investigations involving a variety of subjects (including overseas investigations under the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act, as well as investigations raising issues under government contracts, environmental and regulatory issues, and securities laws violations).
Mr. Brian has been active in the leadership of the ABA Litigation Section since 1986, and served as the Chair of the Section in 2005-2006. Mr. Brian is a Past President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and past Chair of the Central District of California attorney delegates to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference. Mr. Brian has taught trial advocacy at the University of Southern California Law Center, Harvard Law School’s trial advocacy program, and the National Institute for Trial Advocacy. Mr. Brian is the co editor of Internal Corporate Investigations (ABA Section of Litigation, 2d Ed., 2002).
Mr. Brian is active in a variety of pro bono and community activities. In 1990-91, Mr. Brian served as the Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Joffrey Ballet and has served twice on the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors of the Los Angeles County Music Center. Mr. Brian has served as a member of the Indigent Defense Panel for the United States District Court in Los Angeles and the Chair of the Pro Se Panel for that District Court. Mr. Brian is a Past President and member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, and served on the Boards of Directors of the Western Justice Center Foundation.
In 1977, Mr. Brian graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Harvard Law School, where he served as the Managing Editor of the Harvard Law Review. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Brian served as law clerk to the Honorable John J. Gibbons of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit during the 1977-78 term. From 1978 to 1981, Mr. Brian was an Assistant United States Attorney in Los Angeles, where he tried many criminal cases in the United States District Court and argued numerous appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Mr. Brian graduated with Great Distinction in 1974 from the University of California at Berkeley, where he was one of two recipients of the Robert Gordon & Ida Sproul award for the most outstanding contribution to the University. Mr. Brian was a member of the United States All Star Baseball Team playing in the World Amateur Games in 1972, was voted Most Valuable Player of the University of California Baseball team in 1974, was selected First Team All-Pac 8 (Southern Division) and Second Team Academic All-American in 1974, and was awarded an NCAA Post-Graduate Scholarship.
Education
- Harvard Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 1977); Managing Editor, Harvard Law Review, 1976-77
- University of California at Berkeley (B.A., 1974); Phi Beta Kappa
Clerkships
- Clerk to Judge John J. Gibbons, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1977-1978
Fellowships
- American College of Trial Lawyers
