McGuireWoods Team Earns Recognition in Los Angeles Daily Journal’s ‘Top Verdicts’

Firm’s Win for Teledyne Under California Anti-SLAPP Law Featured

February 23, 2021

The Los Angeles Daily Journal selected a recent victory by McGuireWoods litigators on behalf of defense contractor Teledyne RISI for its 2020 “Top Verdicts” list. The case was featured in a special supplement published Feb. 3, 2021.

In Martin Baker Aircraft Company LTD v. Teledyne RISI Inc., Martin-Baker Aircraft Co. sued Teledyne in response to a previous breach-of-contract dispute between the companies. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on Oct. 6, 2020, granted Teledyne’s special motion to strike the complaint under California’s anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) statute.

Los Angeles partner Gregory Evans led the successful McGuireWoods team, which included Los Angeles partner Tanya Greene, Century City associate Piper Waldron and Richmond associate Gregory DuBoff.

In the Daily Journal’s “Top Verdicts” issue, Evans said the court’s decision “demonstrates the importance of the anti-SLAPP statute to litigants who have valid claims, in particular the importance of being able to bring those claims before courts without facing subsequent malicious prosecution claims, which as we know are typically vengeful claims brought for the purpose of deterring future litigation.”

“The statute worked as it was intended to work,” he added. “It stopped the litigation immediately.”

A renowned trial lawyer, the Los Angeles Business Journal named Evans a “Leader in Law” and The National Law Journal named him a “Winning Litigator” for his courtroom victories.

The Daily Journal previously featured the case in its Nov. 6, 2020, “Verdicts & Settlements” section.