Julian Pardo de Zela's Representative Experience Practice Area: Catastrophic/Personal Injury, Construction, Premises Liability Key Issues: Personal Injury; Subcontractor; C.C.P. 583.210; C.C.P. 583.250 Venue: San Francisco County Superior Court Client Type: Defendant Subcontractor Description: Defended a subcontractor in a personal injury action whereby the plaintiff alleged catastrophic injury arising from the negligent maintenance and repair of a public intersection. Result: Successfully obtained a dismissal for the subcontractor due to the plaintiff s failure to timely serve the summons and complaint within three years of filing of original complaint. Key Issues: Malicious Prosecution; Legal Malpractice Client Type: Defendant Law Firm Description: Represented an attorney sued for malicious prosecution. Result: Successfully appealed the court's order denying the Firm's special motion to strike, pursuant to C.C.P. section 42516. Key Issues: Legal Malpractice; Breach of Fiduciary Duty
Client Type: Defendant Law Firm Description: Represented an attorney sued for legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty. Result: Successfully brought a special motion to strike, thereby disposing of four other causes of action against our client. Key Issues: Malicious Prosecution; Legal Malpractice Client Type: Defendant Law Firm Description: Successfully appealed an order denying a purchaser and a law firm's special motion to strike a complaint for malicious prosecution in a case alleging fraud and breach of contract in a property sale. Result: Attorney's fees of $30K+ were awarded to our clients. Practice Area: Appellate Key Issues: HIV; Denial of Transplant Venue: Administrative Hearing Client Type: HIV Claimant Description: Represented an HIV Medi-Cal claimant in a successful appeal of Medi-Cal's denial of a lung transplant due to the claimant's HIV status. Result: Denial of the claim was reversed by an Administrative Law Judge, who ordered Medi-Cal to provide the lung transplant. Practice Area: Employment, Entertainment Key Issues: Validity of Employment Contract Venue: Arbitration Client Type: LLC Description: Represented a Limited Liability Corporation in an arbitration to determine the scope and validity of employment contracts involving a critically acclaimed motion picture.
Result: An Arbitrator awarded the LLC with the rights to the copyrighted film. Practice Area: Construction Key Issues: Personal Injury; General Contractor's Affirmative Conduct Venue: San Francisco County Superior Court Client Type: Defendant General Contractor Description: Defended a general contractor in a personal injury action whereby the plaintiff employee of the subcontractor alleged that the injuries sustained were due to the general contractor's affirmative conduct. Result: Successfully obtained complete summary judgment on behalf of the general contractor. The court also awarded recovery of taxable costs to defendant to be paid by plaintiff. Practice Area: Catastrophic/Personal Injury, Construction, Premises Liability Key Issues: Personal Injury; Privette; General Contractor's Affirmative Conduct Client Type: Defendant Google Inc. Description: Defended Google Inc. in a personal injury action whereby plaintiff alleged injury arising from the negligent maintenance and repair of an elevator on the owner's premises. Result: Successfully obtained summary judgment on plaintiff's first cause of action for premises liability (negligence), and second cause of action for negligence (under heightened duty of care owed by a common carrier). The trial court found that under the Privette case, Google had not affirmatively contributed to plaintiff's injury, thereby disposing of the first cause of action. The trial court further concluded Google was not operating as a common carrier because the premises was not open to the general public and Google was not receiving a reward for its use. Practice Area: Catastrophic/Personal Injury, Premises Liability Key Issues: Premises Liability; Respondeat Superior; Vehicular Negligence Description: Defended a ranch owner from a multi-million dollar wrongful death action arising from an alleged employee s collision with a motorcyclist during the purported scope of the worker s employment. Result: Successfully obtained summary judgment for the ranch owner. The court concluded that the worker,
even if deemed an employee of the ranch owner, was not operating his vehicle within the scope of his employment, thereby precluding liability under a respondeat superior theory. Practice Area: Premises Liability Key Issues: Wrongful death Venue: Monterey County Superior Court Client Type: Defendants Property Manager Description: Defended a property management company, as well as a municipality, in a wrongful death action arising from an alleged dangerous condition on a premises owned or operated by the defendants. Result: Successfully obtained summary judgment for the property management company and municipality. The trial court concluded there was not sufficient evidence to support a connection between the alleged dangerous condition and the injury suffered by the decedent. Practice Area: Catastrophic/Personal Injury, Premises Liability Key Issues: Negligence; "completed and accepted"; construction; contractor Client Type: Defendant, Construction Description: Defended a contractor in a personal injury action involving a vehicle that collided with a guardrail improperly installed on a California State Highway, resulting in catastrophic injuries to the vehicle's passengers. Result: Successfully obtained summary judgment for one of the contractor's alleged to have improperly installed the guardrail. Under the "completed and accepted" work doctrine, a contractor is insulated from liability where its work has been performed pursuant to plans and specifications of a third party, and that work has been accepted by the owner of the project. Practice Area: Catastrophic/Personal Injury, Construction Key Issues: Personal Injury; General Contractor's Affirmative Conduct Client Type: Defendant General Contractor Description: Defended a general contractor in a personal injury action whereby the plaintiff employee of the subcontractor alleged that injuries sustained were due to the general contractor's affirmative conduct. Result: Successfully obtained complete summary judgment on behalf of the general contractor under the Privette v. Superior Court line of cases.