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Gary A. Pemberton

Practice Areas

  • Complex Civil, Business and Bankruptcy Litigation
  • Class Actions
  • Directors and Officers Liability
  • Professional Malpractice

Biography

Practice Admissions: Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, U.S. District Courts of the Northern, Central and Southern Districts of California, and all courts of the state of California.

With over 35 years of business and bankruptcy litigation experience, Gary A. Pemberton is director of the Shulman Bastian Friedman & Bui LLP Litigation Department and is a resident in the Irvine office. Mr. Pemberton specializes in business and bankruptcy litigation and has handled breach of contract disputes, unfair competition, business torts, interference with contract, insurance litigation, real estate litigation, securities litigation, corporate director and officer litigation, public entity litigation, intellectual property litigation, bankruptcy litigation, probate litigation, health care litigation, environmental litigation, labor and employment litigation and class action litigation.

Mr. Pemberton has tried a number of cases to successful conclusions in federal and state courts in San Francisco, Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties. Based on the recommendation of other attorneys in the Orange County legal community, for the last 25 years the legal publication Martindale-Hubbell has awarded Mr. Pemberton an AV Preeminent rating, the highest possible rating in both legal ability and ethical standards. From 2007 through 2010, Mr. Pemberton was also selected for inclusion in Southern California Super Lawyers, identifying him as one of the top attorneys in Southern California. He has repeatedly been recognized as one of the top attorneys in Southern California by the Los Angeles Times, as well as by Los Angeles Magazine and Orange Coast Magazine. Finally, in 2022 the American Registry placed him in the top 1% of America's Most Honored Lawyers.

Mr. Pemberton graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1977. While at UCLA, Mr. Pemberton was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity and the Pi Gamma Mu National Social Science Honor Society. He also volunteered extensively with the Big Brothers Organization. Mr. Pemberton then matriculated to Princeton Theological Seminary where he obtained a Master of Divinity in 1981. He served as a Presbyterian pastor for two years before entering law school at the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 1986. While in law school, Mr. Pemberton was awarded a Moot Court Commendation of Excellence and a Major Walter Dinkelspiel Scholarship, was Fundraising Chairperson for the Berkeley Law Foundation and volunteered his time for the Legal Aid Society of Alameda County. Mr. Pemberton also served as a judicial extern to the Honorable Earl B. Gilliam, Jr., judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

Active in the professional community, Mr. Pemberton has spoken and presented continuing education seminars on various topics related to business litigation. He has served on the board of directors of the Orange County Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and was the editor of its newsletter. Mr. Pemberton has also served on the boards of directors of the Orange County Bar Association, the YMCA of Newport Beach/Costa Mesa/Irvine and the UCLA Club of Orange County. Finally, Mr. Pemberton is active in the city of Irvine, where he resides; coached Woodbridge High School to the Constitutional Rights Foundation Orange County Mock Trial Championship; and served as Nation Chief of the YMCA Indian Princess Program. Mr. Pemberton is married, with three adult daughters.

Professional Accomplishments

  • First-chaired trial on Bankruptcy Trustee's behalf and obtained successful ruling after briefing and arguing at Ninth Circuit resulting in a published opinion that luxury home, avocado groves and raw land were property of Bankruptcy Estate on theory irrevocable trust was a sham and debtor's alter ego.
  • First-chaired trial defense of principal of mining company against multimillion-dollar waste and trespass claim brought by subsequent landowner with favorable result after briefing and arguing successful opposition to motion for summary judgment filed by client's insurance carrier and convincing carrier to pay significant proportion of client's defense fees and costs.
  • First-chaired trial of breach of fiduciary duty claims on corporation's behalf against ex-officers and directors and obtained $8.3 million verdict, plus $1 million in punitive damages.
  • First-chaired guarantors' successful trial defense of breach of sublease claim brought by corporation alleging over $1 million in damages.
  • Briefed and obtained Ninth Circuit reversal of adverse summary judgment on RICO claim filed by Canadian Receiver leading to favorable multimillion-dollar settlement.
  • Briefed and obtained appellate reversal of $2.5 million default judgment against client and then successfully prosecuted malpractice claim against attorneys responsible for default.
  • Enjoined hostile shareholders in takeover attempt of client corporation and obtained attorneys' fees award on corporation's behalf against shareholders.
  • Obtained full dismissal with prejudice of $60 million claim in contract and business tort action brought by real estate developer against public entity redevelopment agency.
  • Successfully first chaired defense of commercial tenant in trial of $1 million breach of contract damage to premises action brought by landlord.
  • Successfully first-chaired jury trial of action brought by client landowners against contractor and owner of neighboring property for lead contamination of clients' property.
  • Co-tried successful defense of public entity in action brought by developer challenging public entity's zoning regulations.
  • First-chaired trial and obtained compensatory and punitive damages on commercial creditor's behalf against debtors in non-dischargeability action in bankruptcy court.
  • Expunged lis pendens recorded against clients' commercial building and then obtained settlement during jury trial on fraud and conversion claims for a fraction of damages sought by plaintiff.
  • Successfully represented shareholder in dissolution of professional corporation resulting in favorable settlement and dismissal with prejudice of action filed against him.
  • Successfully represented health care provider in action filed against it by general contractor resulting in dismissal of contractor's action with prejudice, settlement at a fraction of the amount originally demanded by contractor and recordation of releases of mechanics lien and withdrawal of lis pendens on health care provider's real property.
  • Successfully represented shareholder and officer of manufacturer resulting in dismissal with prejudice of action filed against her, settlement payment to her and cancellation of multi-million dollar note on which she was an obligor.

Education

  • University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, Berkeley, California
    • J.D. - 1986
  • Princeton Theological Seminary
    • M.Div - 1981
  • University of California, Los Angeles, CA
    • B.A. - 1977
    • Honors: Cum Laude

Bar Admissions

  • California
  • U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
  • U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit
  • U.S. District Court Northern District of California
  • U.S. District Court Central District of California
  • U.S. Bankruptcy Court Southern District of California

Professional Associations

  • State Bar of California
  • Orange County Bar Association

Representative Cases

  • Farber & Partners, Inc. v. Garber, 417 F.Supp.2d 1143, 2006, C.D. Cal.
  • County of Riverside v. Superior Court, 54 Cal. App. 4th 443, 1997
  • In re Butcher, 200 B.R. 675, 1996, Bankr. C.D. Cal.
  • In re Schwarzkopf, 626 F.3d 1032, 2010, 9th Cir.
  • Quarterman v. Kefauver, 55 Cal. App. 4th 1366, 1997
  • Redevelopment Agency v. Superior Court, 228 Cal. App. 3d 1487, 1991
  • Tatung v. Shu Tze Hsu, 43 F.Supp.3d 1036, 2014, C.D. Cal
  • In re Palmdale Hills Prop., 2017 Bankr. LEXIS 3534 (Bankr. C.E. Cal. Aug. 2, 2017

Honors

  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent Rating (1997-2017)
  • Southern California Super Lawyer (2007-2010)
  • Los Angeles Magazine Top Attorneys in Southern California (2009)
  • Orange Coast Magazine Top Attorneys in Orange County (2010)
  • Los Angeles Times Top Attorneys in Southern California (2014-2017)
  • American Registry America's Most Honored Lawyers – Top 1% 2022