Russell F. Sauer, Jr. retired from the partnership in December 2019. He is the former Chair of the Litigation & Trial Department in Los Angeles and practiced with the firm since 1980. Mr. Sauer was a litigator with an extremely diverse practice. He has extensive experience in the areas of:
- Shareholder derivative litigation and directors and officers defense
- Insolvency litigation
- Sports and entertainment litigation
- White collar criminal matters with civil overtones
- Trade secret and restrictive covenant litigation
- Employment litigation (including wage and hour class actions, wrongful termination, whistle blower, and discrimination actions)
- Other areas of general commercial litigation
He has represented numerous companies and individuals in various types of internal investigations ranging from embezzlement to financial misreporting fraud to the infiltration by organized crime.
Mr. Sauer has tried cases to conclusion before:
- Both state and federal courts
- Numerous federal agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board and the US Department of Labor
- Both domestic and international arbitral bodies including the American Arbitration Association, JAMS, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Switzerland)
He has also successfully argued appeals before both state and federal appellate courts.
At the time of his retirement, Mr. Sauer was a member of the Litigation Section of the American and California Bar Associations, a member of the ABA’s Sports and Entertainment Forum and a graduate of the Sports Law Institute.
He was also a frequent guest lecturer on trial advocacy techniques and sports law at numerous law schools (UCLA Law School, Loyola (Chicago) Law School, Duke Law School).