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Gregory Hinojosa Evans is a partner in Milbank's Litigation Department. Greg's experience includes trials and litigation for numerous branded, Fortune 500 companies including Steinway Musical Instruments, Nike, Vodafone, 3M, The Sherwin Williams Company and Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. Greg's litigation and trial experience includes business contracts, unfair competition, trade secret, tort, corporate governance, stock-option vesting, fraud, consumer class action, land use, anti-trust, environmental, RICO, civil rights and other business litigation cases. As an experienced trial attorney, Mr. Evans was recently named to the Board of Governors for the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.
The American Lawyer (click to view) named Mr. Evans as one of America's top 45 lawyers under the age of 45 and he was recently published by them as a "Star Lateral of the Year". Los Angeles Magazine recently selected him as one of Southern California's best lawyers. In January 2005, the Daily Journal (click to view) published, statewide, an extensive profile of Greg and his practice.
Greg has demonstrated, time and again, that he is capable of communicating effectively with judges and juries of all backgrounds. In the past two years alone, Greg has obtained either jury verdicts or defense judgments in a RICO case filed as a class action (Sacramento Superior Court), a breach of contract and fraud case filed by multiple parties (San Francisco Superior Court), 2 separate stock option vesting cases (Orange County, California), and a contract indemnity case (US District Court, Seattle). Although some of these cases were appealed, they have all been affirmed. In January of 2005, the Washington State Supreme Court affirmed a lower court decision to enforce business arbitration agreements. This closely watched case was supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and opposed by several consumer and labor groups. Greg also recently completed an international arbitration and mediation in London leading to full recovery for his client, Vodafone. In this same time period Greg obtained permanent trade secret injunctions in San Francisco and in the British High Court for England and Wales.
Greg is experienced in trials and litigation which present racial, economic, social, community and other sensitive issues as a part of the underlying case. Many of Greg's cases generate government or media interest and he is trained and experienced to handle the political and media facets to higher profile litigation. When helpful to a client's case, and when requested, Greg has appeared on various news shows and in newspapers including NPR, CNN, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Tavis Smiley Show, CBS News, CBS 60 Minutes, NBC News and other local media. Greg has testified and prepared clients for testimony before U.S. congressional committees, federal regulatory agencies, and before many state and local bodies.
The following are some of his more notable engagements:
Vodafone Group PLC. As primary U.S. outside litigation counsel for Vodafone Group PLC and its Global Platform and Internet Services Group, Mr. Evans obtained several defense verdicts and bench trial judgments for Vodafone in cases involving Vodafone's CEO, trade secrets, technology-related contract disputes, and stock option vesting issues. (Vodafone is the world's largest mobile telecommunications network company.)
3M Corporation. In a class-certified action entitled Common Cause v. 3M Corporation, a case alleging that certain 3M products exposed consumers and handlers of certain products to an increased risk of cancer, Mr. Evans obtained a defense judgment for 3M in the Los Angeles Superior Court.
The Sherwin-Williams Company. Throughout California, Mr. Evans has successfully obtained numerous dismissals of complaints against Sherwin Williams, the largest paint manufacturer in the world, for alleged environmental and health-related damages in fabricating plants and in various communities.
The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company (BNSF). Since 1990, Mr. Evans has successfully represented BNSF in both jury and bench trials. As BNSF's California counsel, he coordinated and directed its emergency response to the Cajon Pass Derailment, one of the largest freight train accidents in U.S. history. As a leader of defense activities, Greg successfully represented the company and its highest officers through grand jury proceedings (without indictment), NTSB proceedings, and California Public Utilities Commission investigations. Greg also defeated each of the class-action lawsuits alleging toxic tort and environmental harms from the Cajon Pass incident. Mr. Evans also defeated an unrelated class-action seeking to prevent expansion and a merger of the Atchison Topeka and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway companies. Representing BNSF and Amtrak in California, he also obtained jury defense verdicts in the Los Angeles Superior Court in a premises liability and tort action.
California Highway Patrol. In the high profile Rodney King police abuse cases (People v. Stacey Koon et al.), Greg represented the California Highway Patrol and Melanie Singer, the first peace officer on the scene of the now infamous beating. While other peace officers were convicted of crimes and sued civilly, Mr. Evans' client was never charged criminally and he obtained for her summary judgment in Rodney Glynn King et al v. State of California, Los Angeles Police Department, Melanie Singer et al., the Federal Civil Rights case filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of California.
Mr. Evans is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before the U.S. courts of appeals for the Seventh and Ninth circuits, all U.S. district courts in California, the Washington Supreme Court, and the California Supreme Court.
Greg is an active participant in community affairs. Greg is a Board Member of the Public Counsel Law Center, as well as the YMCA of San Francisco. He is also a member of La Raza Lawyers and a member of the Board of Governors for the Association of Business Trial Lawyers. Greg is President of the Board of Directors of Angel's Flight, a center for runaway and homeless youth, and he is on the Board of Trustees for Catholic Charities of Los Angeles. Greg served as a VISTA Volunteer at Larkin Street Youth Center in San Francisco.
Before joining Milbank, Greg completed a Fellowship with the U.S. Department of Justice and served as Deputy Counsel to the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington. For his pro bono services to the poor, Greg was honored by the State Bar of California and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund for his work as pro bono counsel in housing discrimination litigation. Greg has several published articles on public policy, legislation and society.
Greg received his J.D. from the University of Notre Dame, School of Law in 1989 and was a Thos J. White Scholar. He received his M.S.W. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1986 and his B.S. in Public Affairs from the University of Southern California in 1984.
Greg is a member of the State Bar of California and is on the Board of Directors for the YMCA of San Francisco, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. as well as the Board of Directors for the Los Angeles County Bar Foundation. He is on the Board of Trustees for the Catholic Charities of Los Angeles and is a member of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. Greg is fluent in Spanish. |
