Dole Food Co. brought in new counsel for the punitive phase of the suit by Nicaraguan banana workers over their sterility due to pesticide use at the company’s plantation. His presence shows that Dole has already begun preparing for appeal.
Six Nicaraguan banana plantation workers were awarded $2.5 million two weeks ago in their case against the Westlake Village-based company. The company later announced it was pleased that the jury found that six other workers involved in the suit did not suffer any injury. Dole also announced it has changed its ways and takes more care over chemical exposures.
Nevertheless, the firm has hired Theodore Boutrous, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. He co-chairs the firm’s appellate practice.
In the suit, the workers claimed that the pesticide DBCP, which was produced by Dow Chemical, and used by Dole Food, left them sterile.
Boutrous made his first appearance in the trial at a hearing last week in preparation for the punitive phase. The jury awarded the plaintiffs another $2.5 million on Thursday.
Dole officials said Jones Day LLP partner Rick McKnight remains lead counsel on the case.
The official said Boutrous was brought into the case because of his expertise with appellate matters and the punitive phase of trials.
Four other similar suits against Dole, and other growers and chemical manufacturers involving thousands of Central American plantation workers who were exposed to the pesticide in the 1970s are pending in Los Angeles courts.
Doll Parts
Another high-profile local case, this one yet to go to trial, is getting a new attorney.
MGA Entertainment, the Van Nuys-based maker of the highly popular Bratz dolls, hired Thomas Nolan, a partner with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP, to defend it in a lawsuit brought by Mattel Inc.
The Los Angeles-founded law firm O’Melveny & Myers LLP, which had been defending MGA, left the case after a dispute with MGA about who would be lead trial counsel.
Mattel is represented in the case by John Quinn of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges LLP.
In the lawsuit, Mattel alleges that a former employee who joined MGA stole sensitive business plans and information that were critical in the development of the Bratz doll line.
The suit is scheduled for trial in federal court in May 2008.
Adding Abram
At the beginning of this month the law firm Brown Winfield & Canzoneri Inc. changed its name to Brown Winfield Canzoneri Abram Inc., the new name drops the ampersand, which is all the rage among law firms, and adds the name of managing partner Steven Abram.
Abram is a real estate attorney who has been with the firm since 1979. He has represented clients involved in the development of several shopping and entertainment complexes, including the Howard Hughes Center and the West Hollywood Gateway.
“Steve’s considerable real estate experience, background in economics and business-oriented approach to legal representation is a vital asset to our firm and its clients,” Tony Canzoneri, a name partner at the firm, said in a statement.
Return to Managing
Nancy Cohen is returning to the role of managing partner of the Los Angeles office of Heller Ehrman LLP.
Cohen takes the position following the departure of the office’s prior managing partner, Jerry Marks, who left to join the law firm Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP.
“Nancy has earned the respect of her fellow co-workers and peers within the firm, and she is well known in the L.A. business and legal communities,” firm Chairman Matthew Larrabee said in a statement. “She also has demonstrated that she has the leadership qualities that are needed to drive firmwide and core practice strategies, and she’s already proven she can simultaneously manage our L.A. office.”
Cohen held the position of managing partner for four years beginning in 1995. At that time, she was the first woman to head the office.
Her practice has included representing Clint Eastwood, television producer David E. Kelley and Holocaust survivors in their efforts to obtain life insurance money.
New Role at Greenberg
The Century City law firm Greenberg Glusker LLP announced last week that partner David Stanley will take the helm of the firm’s entertainment transactional practice.
Stanley has been with Greenberg Glusker only two years. But he brings to the post 30 years of experience in the entertainment industry, including stints as an executive at NBC.
“The combination of David’s legal and business expertise running a television company is precisely the real-world experience our clients have come to expect from us,” said Norman Levine, managing partner of the firm, in a written statement.
Staff reporter Drew Combs can be reached at [email protected], or at (323) 549-5225, ext. 228.
