James H. Berry, Jr.
Los Angeles Office
1880 Century Park East, Suite 1101
Los Angeles, CA 90067
P: 310.691.7866
F: 310.557.0056
jberry@landaufirm.com
Mr. Berry follows three rules in his litigation practice: (1) know the client's business; (2) focus on the client's objective; and (3) manage each case accordingly, in active partnership with the client. These basic principles help assure efficient, cost-effective representation and favorable outcomes, whether through settlement, summary judgment, or trial.
Mr. Berry's practice includes both commercial litigation and employment litigation and counseling. He began his career in 1977 in the Litigation Group of Jones Day's Los Angeles office. As an associate and partner, Mr. Berry represented a wide variety of clients, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to mid-sized businesses. The subject matters of representative cases covered virtually every aspect of litigation in which businesses become involved, including breach of contract claims, trade secret claims, antitrust/unfair practices actions under federal and state law, unfair competition claims, corporate control disputes, securities claims, class actions, and other matters based on a variety of business torts. Mr. Berry also was asked to take charge of employment-related litigation, including cases before the National Labor Relations Board and a variety of cases alleging wrongful discharge and discrimination on various theories.
From 1987 to 1991, Mr. Berry continued his litigation and employment law practice as a partner with Wyman Bautzer Kuchel & Silbert. The matters on which Mr. Berry worked were similar to the wide variety of business litigation and employment litigation cases on which he had spent his earlier career.
When Wyman dissolved, Mr. Berry declined a partnership with another national law firm and established his own boutique litigation and employment practice, formerly known as Berry & Lussier and Berry & Cahalan. He continued to develop his commercial litigation and employment law practice until he and his team joined Landau Law LLP in July 2014. He represented a wide variety of clients in commercial litigation, including unfair competition and antitrust claims, breach of contract claims, franchisor-franchisee disputes, trademark infringement litigation and copyright disputes, claims by terminated distributors, corporate control disputes, class and representative actions, and other business torts and assorted claims.
Mr. Berry's employment law practice includes both litigation and counseling on the wide variety of challenges created for employers by California and federal law. Among the multiple cases handled by Mr. Berry are claims based on common-law tortious discharge theories; breach of express and implied contract; discrimination; harassment; wage and hour violations, including overtime, penalty pay, and Private Attorneys General Act claims; and matters before the NLRB involving non-union employers. He also represents manufacturers in negotiating and documenting celebrity endorsement contracts and in disputes relating to such contracts. His practice includes counseling as well as defense of employers.
Mr. Berry handles cases at all levels, from filing to trial and appeal. He also has extensive experience in pre- and post-filing mediation and other forms of ADR for cost-effective resolution of disputes in appropriate instances.
Mr. Berry was admitted to the California Bar in 1977. He practices before all California federal courts and state courts and is admitted to the Ninth Circuit and Fifth Circuit. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1977. He received his B.A. in Slavic Studies in 1974 from Vanderbilt University.