Jeremy Gray

Jeremy Gray is a partner at Early Sullivan Wright Gizer & McRae LLP.

Jeremy litigates on behalf of Fortune 100 companies and small businesses with an equal commitment to aggressively, but economically, getting to the heart of the dispute and, as needed, either resolving it quickly or fighting through trial and appeal. Jeremy focuses on disputes in the area of employment, real estate and general commercial litigation. Although Jeremy is an accomplished litigator overall, perhaps his most potent skill is preparing, and defending, problematic witnesses in their depositions. Jeremy’s clients have included Forever 21, Inc., the Southern California Gas Company, Universal Studios, MedAssets, Inc., and Microsoft Corporation. He has been selected for inclusion in “The Best Lawyers in America” in 2024 for Commercial Litigation.

Prior to joining the Firm, Jeremy was a partner at Katten Muchin and Zuber Lawler. He received his Juris Doctor in 1990 from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.

Employment

• Represented Forever 21 in a variety of employment lawsuits alleging racial and disability discrimination as well as wage and hour claims.
• Represented SoCalGas in several employment lawsuits, most prominently the Dushman Dushman alleged disability discrimination and specifically that SoCalGas failed to engage in the “interactive process” to find him a suitable position after he suffered an on-the-job injury. Although this is typically a factually intensive inquiry, I prevailed on summary judgment and the decision was upheld by the California Court of Appeal (I briefed and argued the matter at the trial court and on appeal).
• Represented Universal Studios in innumerable employment matters, most prominently the Davis Davis worked as the First Assistant Director on the second Fast and Furious movie (“2 Fast 2 Furious”) directed by John Singleton. After Davis was removed from the production after three months of pre-production and nine days of shooting, he engaged the EEOC which brought its first race discrimination lawsuit against a movie studio. After three years of litigation and 50 depositions, we prevailed at trial in Los Angeles Federal Court (Hon. Gary Fees).
• Represented Microsoft in several employment matters, most prominently a case where the plaintiff alleged reverse discrimination. After I removed the case and filed a motion to dismiss, we were able to maneuver the problematic case into mediation where it settled favorably.

General Commercial Litigation

• Represented MedAssets (a healthcare technology company) in a lawsuit arising out of its agreement to take over all of the billing operations for a major Southern California Medical Center. After the Medical Center terminated the contract and refused to pay millions of dollars owed, MedAssets sued; the Medical Center counterclaimed alleging poor performance. After more than a year of litigation involving nation-wide depositions, I moved for summary judgment on the counterclaim based on language in the parties’ agreement which limited MedAssets liability. The Federal Judge ruled in our favor and barred the Medical Center’s counterclaims. The matter settled favorably soon thereafter.
• Represented a ANTC (a commodities brokerage) in a lawsuit alleging that a prominent accounting firm had driven the brokerage out of business (the accounting firm was represented by Williams and Connolly.) Took over the matter from another firm five months before trial. Developed the winning legal theory, conducted and defended all remaining fact and all expert discovery and positioned the case for an excellent settlement.
• Represented Forever 21 in a variety of disputes with its vendors arising under the California Commercial Code alleging that my client wrongfully rejected goods.

Real Estate

• Represented McDonald’s in a host of real estate disputes, including matters involving covenants prohibiting noxious businesses, alleged breaches of development agreements, and most prominently a dispute over an adjoining property’s construction of a partial building which infringed on an easement owned by the client. After negotiations broke down, I prepared papers seeking a TRO and Preliminary Injunction requiring that the partial building be torn down and/or construction halted. Upon the threat of this litigation the other side voluntarily deconstructed the wall.

Intellectual Property

• Represented a prominent creator of promotional imagery (movie posters) for major motion pictures in litigation with his former business partners after he was wrongfully expelled from the business. The lawsuit involved competing motions for TROs and Preliminary Injunctions. Ultimately, we defeated the other side’s attempt to enjoin our client from operating a new, competing business which motion was based on language in the limited liability partnership agreement. Thereafter the matter settled with our client moving forward with his new business.
• Represented a host of companies in cases involving departing employees and the theft of trade secrets and especially customer lists.

Corporate Control

• Represented the duly elected leaders of the Board of Directors of ALADs (the union representing the Los Angeles County Sheriffs). The matter commenced after an insurrection by dissident board members sought the ouster of our clients. After considerable litigation we ultimately sought, and obtained a preliminary injunction removing the usurpers and restoring the legitimate board members.