Counsel

Paul M. Gelb is counsel in the firm's Los Angeles office, concentrating his practice on commercial litigation.  He represents clients in a wide variety of matters, including contract, unfair competition, health care, ERISA, pharmaceutical, securities, intellectual property and employment cases, as well as appellate law before the Ninth Circuit and the California Courts of Appeal and the California Supreme Court.

Representative Matters:

• Defending, on behalf of a financial services holding company, two actions brought by the California Insurance Commissioner alleging damages in excess of $450 million based upon alleged misappropriation of assets and net operating losses (cases settled favorably after the filing of comprehensive motion for summary judgment); 
  
  
• Counseling a managed behavioral health organization on issues arising under the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 and the February 2, 2010 regulations applying the statute;
  
  
• Defending, on behalf of a major pharmaceutical company, the removal to federal court of several thousand complaints alleging pharmaceutical product liability (removal to federal court survived three separate attempts to add in-forum defendants and to remand thousands of actions to state court); 
  
  
• Defending, on behalf of renewable energy development companies, a multi-million dollar unfair competition and public trust action seeking to shut down one of the largest wind turbine energy operations in the U.S. because of alleged violations of various Federal and State environmental statutes that protect raptors (case dismissed on motion for judgment on the pleadings and affirmed on appeal). This is a landmark case interpreting California’s Proposition 64;
  
  
• Defending, on behalf of a European fashion designer, a copyright infringement action brought by a California artist for allegedly improper use of geometric designs (case settled favorably after the filing of motion for summary judgment);
  
  
• Prosecuting, on behalf of a real estate developer, a breach of contract action for the return of a multi-million dollar deposit involving a development project in San Diego (case settled favorably before trial); 
  
  
• Petitioning, on behalf of an NFL team, the California Supreme Court for review of an action involving over $1 billion in claims asserted against the NFL (Supreme Court granted review); and
  
  
• Representing hospitals and other health care providers in state and federal court litigation.

In General.  Paul earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.  He received his B.A., cum laude, from Columbia University with degrees in history and mathematics.  Paul lectures frequently on topics of legal interest.  He has published a range of articles including No Safe Harbor for Secondary Infringements in the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Patent Licensing After MedImmune in the American Health Lawyers Association Life Sciences publication, U.S. Supreme Court Decisions in Teleflex and MedImmune Increase Patent Licensee Power in The Licensing Journal, and Reimbursement to Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans as a comprehensive American Health Lawyers Association member briefing.