Litigation
The firm represented an entertainment company in an action brought by two long time, self-proclaimed animal rights activists in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The activists had a long history of litigating against public entities and private arenas where the circus performs. They claim civil rights violations and typically their litigation efforts end in private settlements. However, in this instance when the activists directly sued the circus, the firm was successful in severely cutting out plaintiffs’ claims through dispositive motions, so that only two claims went to trial. Plaintiffs alleged their efforts to videotape circus activities were interfered with. The circus argued that there was no interference and that much of plaintiffs’ videotaping efforts were directed to an area that had previously been adjudicated to be a “non-public forum” where plaintiffs did not have permission to videotape. After nearly two weeks of trial, the matter was submitted to the jury, which returned (in just over an hour) a unanimous verdict in favor of the circus.