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Entertainment/New Media
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Legal Elite
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Description of Specialty |
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Pierce is one of the leading trial lawyers in the
country and has handled numerous complex cases in a variety of fields,
including entertainment, environmental, energy, securities, products
liability, toxic tort, real estate, constitutional law, and finance.
A graduate of Georgetown and Yale, he clerked for Supreme Court
Justice Byron R. White and Ninth Circuit Judge Shirley M. Hufstedler.
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| Mr. O'Donnell's litigation clients
include: |
| Pfizer Inc. |
Reebok |
| New Line Cinema |
Republic of France |
| Bridgestone/Firestone |
General Electric Capital |
| National Broadcasting Company |
Phillips Petroleum |
| Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc./United Artists Corporation |
Lockheed Martin Corporation |
| Texaco |
W.R. Grace |
| Miramax Films |
McCarthy Construction |
| City of Los Angeles |
| Pierce also represents many celebrities,
including Faye Dunaway in her lawsuit against Andrew Lloyd Webber
over termination from the Los Angeles production of "Sunset Boulevard."
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3. Transaction Samples
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| Mr. O'Donnell has won numerous precedent-setting cases.
He was lead counsel for Firestone in the landmark "fear of cancer"
case in Potter v. Firestone Tire & Rubber Co., 6 Cal. 4th 965 (1993).
He also served as lead trial counsel for Pfizer Inc., successfully
defending 375 anxiety/emotional distress cases involving allegedly
defective Shiley heart valves. In 1995, Mr. O'Donnell won the landmark
case of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc.,
900 F. Supp. 1287 (C.D. Cal. 1995), which recognized federal copyright
protection of the fictional movie character James Bond. Three years
later, he successfully enjoined Sony Corporation from launching its
own competing James Bond movie franchise. (Danjaq, LLC v. Sony Corp.,
49 U.S.P.Q. 2d 1341, aff'd, 165 F.3d 915 (9th Cir. 1998)). In a series
of environmental cost recovery cases under CERCLA, he has won judgments
or settlements for his clients of over $325 million. Mr. O'Donnell
has developed innovative methods for budgeting, streamlining discovery,
and mediation of complex cases. |
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4. Selected Publications,
Books & Articles
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Author of books and articles in scholarly journals, newspapers,
and magazines on the following topics:
- Entertainment industry
- American jury system
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Sentencing and parole reform
- Federal drug abuse programs
- Criminal justice system reform
- Banking abuses and reforms
- Funding for poverty, urban renewal and environmental programs
- Eliminating waste in federal fiscal and money management practices
- Constitutional law aspects of a federal takeover of a corporate
regulation
- Corruptive influence of excessive violence and money in amateur,
intercollegiate and professional sports
- Saving public libraries in the aftermath of Proposition 13
- Judicial election and discipline reform
- Local election and campaign finance reform
- Disarmament
- Draft rights
- Tenants' rights
Contributor "The Private Diary of Lyle Menendez" (Dove 1995)
Contributor "The Private Diary of An O.J. Juror" (Dove 1995)
Author "The Hands of Justice: A Law Clerk Fondly Remembers Byron
R. White," Washburn Law Journal, Volume 33 (1993)
Co-Author "Fatal Subtraction: The Inside Story of Buchwald v. Paramount,"
(Doubleday 1992)
Author "Killing The Golden Goose: Hollywood's Death Wish," Beverly
Hills Bar Journal, Entertainment Law Symposium Issue, Vol. 26, No.
3, 1992
Author "Common Sense and the Constitution: Justice White and the
Egalitarian Ideal," 58 Colorado Law Review 801 (1987)
Author "Justice Byron R. White: Leading From The Center," American
Bar Association Journal, Special Issue, June 15, 1986
Co-Author "Toward A Just and Effective Sentencing System: Agenda
for Legislative Reform," (Praeger 1977) [foreword by Senator Edward
M. Kennedy]
Contributing "Citibank: Ralph Nader Study Group Report on First
National City Bank," Author (Grossman 1973)
Executive "Federal Drug Abuse Programs: A Report to the Criminal
Law Section of the Director American Bar Association and the Drug
Abuse Council," 1972
Editor "New Perspectives on Urban Crime: A Report by the American
Bar Association Special Committee on Crime Prevention and Control,"
1972 Co-
Author "A Poor Man in the Billion Dollar Wasteland: Proposals for
a National Linkage System, Poor People's Bond, National Lottery,
and Judibank," 59 Georgetown Law Journal 123 (1970)
Author "Federal Chartering of Corporations: Constitutional Challenges,"
61 Georgetown Law Journal 123 (1972)
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| 5.
Selected Speeches & Testimony |
"Afflicting the Comfortable: The First Century
of California Newspapers," Economic Round Table, April 1987
"Intergovernmental Referrals and Sovereign Immunity," Orange County
City Attorneys' Association, February 1987
"Paper Chase: USA Today,
" Economic Round Table, March 1985
"Judging the Judges: The Case for Responsible Reform of Judicial Selection,
Retention and Discipline," Town Hall, Los Angeles, December 5, 1979
"The Federal Sentencing Reforms," California Democratic Party, Platform
Committee, Subcommittee on Public Safety and Law Enforcement, Los
Angeles, October 6, 1979
"The Case for Abolishing Parole," National Council on Crime and Delinquency,
Denver, Colorado, November 14, 1978
"Criminal Justice Improvements Act of 1978," Statement of U.S. House
of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary, September 20, 1978
"Criminal Code Reform Act," U.S. Senate, Subcommittee on Criminal
Laws and Procedures, Hearings, June 8, 1977
"Reform of Criminal Laws," District of Columbia Law Revision Commission,
November 13, 1976 |
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6. Professional Associations
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Pierce frequently lectures at Harvard, UCLA, USC, Loyola, and Pepperdine.
He is an Adjunct Professor at the UCLA Independent Film and Television
Producers Program. He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Senate
Judiciary Committee on federal criminal law reform. Pierce is an
elected member of the American Law Institute, P.E.N., and the Economic
Round Table of Los Angeles.
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| 7.
Professional Experience |
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1996-present Partner, O'Donnell & Shaeffer, LLP.
1987-1996 Partner, Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler
1994-present Adjunct Professor, Independent Producers Program, UCLA
School of Film and Television
1982-1987 Partner, O'Donnell & Gordon
1981-1982 Partner, Hufstedler, Miller, Carlson & Beardsley
1978-1981 Partner, Beardsley, Hufstedler & Kemble
1979 Special Counsel Team, Commission on Judicial Performance (Investigation
of California Supreme Court)
1975-1978 Associate, Williams, Connolly & Califano
1976-1978 Washington Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
(Executive Committee)
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| 8.
Education |
Master of Law: Yale Law School 1975
Doctor of Law: Georgetown University 1972
Bachelor of Arts: Georgetown University 1969 |
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A noted author, his book, Fatal Subtraction: How Hollywood Really
Does Business (Doubleday, 1992), was a best selling account of his
successful representation of Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Art
Buchwald against Paramount Pictures in the famous "Coming to America"
case. In the wake of his triumph, Forbes Magazine hailed Mr. O'Donnell
as "the new Perry Mason in Hollywood."
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| 10.
Civic Activities |
Richstone Center for Children (Advisory
Board, 1981 to present)
Interfaith Center to Reverse the Arms Race (President 1987 to 1989;
Board of Directors, 1984 to 1989)
Friends of Altadena Library (Board of Directors, 1979-1981)
Small Wilderness Area Preservation (SWAP) (Chairman, Verdugo San Rafael
Urban Mountain Park Fund; Board of Directors, 1979-1986)
Friends of the Cal Tech Y (Chairman, 1983-1984)
Foothill Family Service (Board of Directors, 1979-1982)
Find the Children (Board of Directors, 1985 to 1989)
Columnist, Pasadena/Altadena Weekly, 1984 to 1989
Pasadena-Foothill Urban League (Board of Governors; President, 1983-1985)
Los Angeles Urban League (Board of Directors, 1984-1985)
Rossi Youth Foundation (Kid City) (Board of Directors, 1981-1984)
Gridiron Club, Georgetown University (former President) |
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