Wins

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, LLP v. J-M Manufacturing Co., Inc. (2016) 244 Cal.App.4th 590 (California Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District, Division Four) [published]. In a unanimous published opinion reversing the $1.7 million judgment against GMSR’s client J-M Manufacturing Co., Inc., the Second District Court of Appeal, Division 4, held in Sheppard, Mullin v. J-M Manufacturing (2d Civ. No. B256314) that when a client engages an attorney for representation, a broad, non-specific waiver of all present and future conflicts of interest in the engagement agreement is not valid—only a fully-informed waiver is effective. The Court also held because such a purported waiver is contrary to California public policy as embodied in the California Rules of Professional Conduct, an arbitration award that refuses to invalidate the waiver cannot be enforced in court and must be vacated.

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