A commercial lawyer based in Sacramento, California, John S. Poulos previously served as a partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman. Currently the managing partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP’s Sacramento office, John S. Poulos was recently featured in the Sacramento Business Journal for the firm’s recent hiring of five lawyers from Locke Lord LLP. Lewis Brisbois’ new hires include Scott Bartel, John Yung, and Eric Stiff. The three bring tremendous international commercial law experience and a solid client base from various international locations. Bartel, Yung, and Stiff started working together in the 1980s at the firm Bartel Eng Linn and Schroder. They decided to grow their reach beyond California so Bartel sought clients in Europe, Yung in China, and Stiff in Canada. Once they established an international client base, they needed an office in California to grow their practice. Lewis Brisbois was a good fit. While Lewis Brisbois already had a strong commercial law litigation department, it was looking to expand its transactional expertise. The new hires, according to Poulos, will strengthen Lewis Brisbois’ commercial law practice, grow its transactional expertise, and expand its international reach.
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With experience in multiple areas of complex business litigation in Sacramento, California, John S. Poulos serves as an equity partner within the litigation group in the offices of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP. His previous experience includes serving as a partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP. Sacramento-based John S. Poulos has handled cases involving class actions, the California Endangered Species Act, the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, or Superfund, and the California False Claims Act. The California False Claims Act, administered through the state’s Office of the Attorney General, aims to recover monies fraudulently obtained from the state through submission of false documentation. The attorney general retains the power to initiate a civil case for treble damages, as well as civil penalties, against a person or corporation that intentionally misleads the state through false claims in statements or documents in order to achieve financial gain. California’s False Claims Act, like those of New York and other states, is modeled on the original federal statute signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, and as amended in 1943 and subsequently. The False Claims Act focuses on alleged acts of fraud committed against the nation’s or a state’s taxpayers, including fraud involving banks, contractors, and Medicaid or Medicare. An attorney in Sacramento, California, with more than two decades of experience, John S. Poulos is a partner at Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard and Smith LLP. Prior to moving to Sacramento, John S. Poulos earned a juris doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, (Berkeley Law) which will host the 10th Annual Privacy Law Scholars Conference from June 1-2, 2017. The Privacy Law Scholars Conference (PLSC) will bring together scholars and practitioners in the field of privacy law to explore the latest issues within this specialty. Attendees also will include scholars with expertise in privacy as it pertains to other disciplines, from political science and economics to philosophy and computer science. Featuring multiple paper workshops, PLSC will give attendees the opportunity to discuss works in progress by a diverse group of scholars. Prior to the event, attendees should spend a day and a half to two days reading in preparation for workshop discussions. PLSC is a collaborative effort of Berkeley Law and the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, DC. Last year’s event gathered 260 participants at George Washington University School of Law. Based in Sacramento, California, attorney John S. Poulos brings 20 years of litigation experience to his role as a partner with the law firm Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP. An experienced trial lawyer, John S. Poulos, who works from the firm's Sacramento office, has been named to the list of Best Lawyers in America (2013) in the area of construction law. Best Lawyers is a highly-respected, legal peer review publication that is distributed worldwide in nearly 70 countries. Construction attorneys provide legal services to entities (individual and corporate) involved in the construction industry, serving clients that include owners, contractors, material suppliers, engineers, banks, and insurance companies among others. Considered a specialist, a construction lawyer actually functions as a generalist who needs to be prepared for almost any type of legal situation affecting those in the industry, ranging from contract, banking, and insurance law, to criminal, international, and bankruptcy law, in addition to litigation. The complexity of construction projects is often mirrored in the complexity of construction disputes, which often involve multiple parties and large sums of money. A successful construction attorney will also be familiar with dispute resolution alternatives. A legal professional based in Sacramento, California, John S. Poulos is a managing partner in the litigation practice group of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP. During his time with the Sacramento firm, John S. Poulos has been selected three times as one of Northern California's Super Lawyers. To be recognized as a Super Lawyer, an attorney first must be nominated by peers or identified by the Super Lawyers research department. Every year, the Super Lawyers selection committee encourages lawyers in regions throughout the US to nominate high-performing attorneys they have worked with. After receiving nominations, the Super Lawyers research team evaluates the candidates, assessing their performance in areas such as client representation, verdicts, settlements, pro bono work, and special certifications. Next is the peer evaluation step, in which panelists rank the highest-scoring attorneys from the research step. Finally, the lawyers with the highest totals in each category are selected as Super Lawyers. The results are published annually in the state and regional editions of Super Lawyers Magazine. John S. Poulos is an experienced attorney who has also been recognized as a Northern California Super Lawyer. Currently, John S. Poulos serves as a partner at the Sacramento-based law firm of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith. Mr. Poulos currently specializes in commercial litigation, but also has experience in many other legal areas, including settlement of claims related to the California Endangered Species Act. The California Endangered Species Act was originally passed in 1970 (first known as the California Species Preservation Act) to protect rare and endangered species within the state. Types of wildlife protected under the law include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, invertebrates, and plants. Currently, the law is administered by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). The Act has been amended several times. In 1984, it was modified to reclassify rare species as threatened, include plants, and allow incidental “take” in specific situations. The incidental take program was expanded in 1997 through the addition of permits. Lastly, in 2016, Senate Bill 839 was passed to raise additional funding through permit application fees to allow the CDFW to maintain current operations. A Northern California Super Lawyer, attorney John S. Poulos is a partner at Lewis Brisbois, Bisgaard, and Smith in Sacramento. Although John S. Poulos focuses on commercial litigation, he has significant experience handling binding arbitration cases for clients in and around Sacramento. A form of alternative dispute resolution, binding arbitration involves a neutral third party making a decision regarding a dispute between two parties. In this process, both involved parties have the opportunity to present their cases before a decision is made. Ultimately, the parties agree to comply with arbitrator’s decision. The most common form of binding arbitration is voluntary arbitration. Often, this form is agreed upon well in advance in the form of a contract that stipulates arbitration as the dispute resolution method. This is a common feature in labor law and contracts between unions and employers. Mandatory arbitration, which is usually required by legislation, is less common. This form of arbitration requires parties to use binding arbitration when specific issues arise. Based in Sacramento, California, attorney John S. Poulos has earned several Super Lawyer awards for his work in commercial litigation. As a partner in the Sacramento firm of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith, John S. Poulos is experienced in cases of breach of contract. Breaches of contract come before a judge when one party claims a failure of the other party to fulfill part or all of a contract, without a legal excuse. Breaches are classified as material or minor. A material breach occurs when one party obtains a good or service different than what the contract promised. For instance, providing tennis balls instead of the specified footballs could constitute a material breach. The aggrieved party would no longer have to fulfill the contract’s terms and is eligible for remedies. By contrast, a minor breach can involve the provision of a good or service that does not match the terms of the contract. For example, the delivery could be later than desired by the non-breaching party. This could happen in contracts that did not specify a time of fulfillment. If a delay is ruled minor, the non-breaching party could receive damages John S. Poulos of Sacramento California, is a commercial litigation attorney with Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP Attorneys. An experienced federal and state trial lawyer, John S. Poulos serves as vice chair of the Sacramento firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice. Lewis Brisbois recently sent out a client alert on the recent ruling by the US Supreme Court clarifying the awarding of attorney fees for copyright infringement cases. The US Supreme Court recently issued an overdue ruling that clarified the rules to be followed when US District Courts awarded attorney fees in copyright infringement cases. Before the ruling, the language of 17 U.S.C Section 505 necessarily mandated the District Courts to exercise discretion in awarding attorney fees. However, this resulted in inconsistent awards by the Appellate Courts and the District Courts when exercising their discretion. The recent ruling by the nation’s highest court in the case of Kirtsaeng v. John Wiley & Sons gave guidelines for the awarding of attorney fees. The ruling began by reiterating that “objective reasonableness” was an important factor to consider; that where a party put forward an objectively reasonable position and prevailed, attorney fees would be awarded in his/her favor. However, it went on to state that objective reasonableness was just one of the factors District Courts should put into consideration when awarding attorney fees. The Supreme Court gave instances in which the burden of paying attorney fees would shift. These include situations wherein a party’s litigation misconduct warrants it, to discourage further copyright infringement by a serial copyright infringer, and wherein the copyright holder is overaggressive with copyright claims. A seasoned litigator serving clients in Sacramento, California, attorney John S. Poulos serves as a partner at Lewis Brisbois. John S. Poulos counsels Sacramento clients, as well as those in surrounding areas, on commercial law. In addition to providing legal representation, the firm Lewis Brisbois hosts educational seminars regularly. “Los Angeles Employment & Workers’ Compensation Law” is among those slated for September 2016. The course takes place at 333 Universal Hollywood Drive in Universal City on September 22. It begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 3:30 p.m. Attendees will receive a comprehensive explanation regarding management of risks to limit claims related to employment and workers’ compensation. The seminar benefits workers’ compensation administrators, insurance claims managers, in-house legal professionals, and executives. Individuals tasked with employee relations should attend, as well. The course requires payment of a $75 fee. Upon completion, all attendees will receive four hours of continuing education credit. The credits will be documented in the form of a certificate, which participants receive prior to their departure. |
AuthorJohn Poulos, a Managing Partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, has realized a number of successes over the course of his academic and professional careers. Archives
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