Robert S. Beall

Mr. Beall is a Partner in the Firm's Orange County office. He currently serves as a member of the Firm's Executive Committee, the Co-Chair of the Firm's Business Litigation Group and as the Firm's Administrative Partner.

Areas of Practice

Mr. Beall specializes in complex civil litigation and intellectual property disputes, with emphasis in unfair competition, securities, trade secret, patent and professional liability litigation. Mr. Beall represents many major clients including LaSalle Business Credit/Abnamro, U.S. Bancorp, LendingTree Loans, Comerica Bank, IndyMac Bank, Extra Space Storage, American Megatrends, Inc., Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. and VirtualTourist.com.

Mr. Beall has extensive experience handling large class action lawsuits, including class actions filed under Business and Professions Code Section 17200 and 17500 and general business litigation matters in a wide range of areas with specific expertise in the areas of class action lawsuits, financial institutions and mortgage industry clients, including TILA, RESPA, privacy and false advertising claims.  Mr. Beall served as counsel on the County of Orange Securities Litigation matters which resulted in nearly $900 million in recoveries for the County in connection with the In Re County of Orange bankruptcy proceeding. Mr. Beall also has significant expertise in handling accountant malpractice actions.

Education

• J.D., University of Southern California, 1987
• B.A., University of California, Los Angeles, 1984

Admissions

• Orange County
• California
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Central District Court for the Southern, Central, and Northern Districts of California

Recent Experience

In March 2008, Mr. Beall successfully defended VirtualTourist.com in a major arbitration against Intent Brands, Inc. involving claims asserted against Virtual Tourist arising out of an unsuccessful M&A transaction.  Intent Brands sought damages of 17 million.  The arbitrator at JAMS issued a defense verdict in favor of Virtual Tourist on all causes of action.

In January 2008, successfully defended Pacific Mercantile Bank, defeating class certification in a nationwide class action alleging violations of the Truth-in-Lending Act.

In October 2006, represented LaSalle Business Credit in a breach of contract/fraud claim against Chinatrust Bank which resulted in a verdict against Chinatrust Bank in excess of $20 million after a 30 day jury trial.

Represented Pacific Mercantile Bank in a nationally watched class action in California involving the right to class wide rescission for alleged violations of the Truth in Lending Act. The class wide rescission claims were dismissed at the trial court level and the appellate court upheld the decision in a published decision Laliberte v. Pacific Mercantile Bank.

In 2005, represented Comerica Bank in connection with amount malpractice action arising out of $50 million loan fraud. Obtained a significant recovery through mediation of the dispute prior to trial.

Articles

• Read My Mind - The Perils of Surfing the Web at Work, June 26, 2000

Hispanic/Latino Newsletter

• Enfoque Latino - Summer 2005
• Enfoque Latino - Winter 2005

Speeches

• Lectured extensively on the topic of Business and Professions Code Section 17200 and 17500
• Appeared with Judge Charles McCoy (Head of Los Angeles Superior Court Class Action Panel) before the Southern California Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association for a presentation on "Everything You Need To Know About Business & Professions Code Sections 17200 and 17500", July 2003
• Served as the Orange County Moderator for the statewide PLI presentation - "Unfair Competition Claims 2003: California Section 17200's impact on Consumers and Businesses Everywhere", August 2003
• Appeared with Judge J. Richard Haden before the San Diego Chapter of ACCA to present "Business and Professions Code Section 17500 and its Impact on Advertising in California", April 2004
• Appeared before the Southern California Chapter of ACCA for a presentation on "Recent Developments Regarding California Consumer Class Actions", December 2004
• Appeared before the Commercial Finance Association and gave a presentation on "Fraud: The Early Warning Signs and Potential Recourse" , March 2006
• Southern California Chapter of the American Corporate Counsel Association and presented an "Update On Recent Developments Under Business & Professional Code Section 17200", January 2003