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Stephen Kaus is a partner at Cooper, White & Cooper LLP. Mr. Kaus has a broad practice in litigation, having tried approximately 50 matters to verdict. Chair of the firm's Litigation Department, he handles complex civil and criminal matters, including class actions and multi-district litigation. As examples, Mr. Kaus has represented clients recently in cases involving alleged business fraud, intellectual property issues, employment law, construction law, anti-trust law, property law, receivership, bankruptcy and taxation. A substantial portion of his practice involves representation of professionals, including partnership, corporate and professional liability issues. He previously was co-chair of Cooper's Labor & Employment Practice Group. In 2008, Mr. Kaus successfully concluded a five year battle to prevent the California Secretary of State from revoking a client's notary commission. In late 2007, he settled two matters in which he represented cable telvision entities in disputes with franchising authorities, and major litigation with the City of Oakland on behalf of the developer of a large multi-use project in Oakland's Chinatown. In March 2006, a Superior Court Judge in Rancho Cucamonga ended a receivership obtained in 2001 by a team of Cooper attorneys led by Mr. Kaus that resulted in a recovery of over $50 million for CWC's clients (see In re Master Home Furniture Company Ltd., 261 B.R. 671 (Bank. Ct. C.D. CA. 2001). In other matters, Mr. Kaus headed a successful defense in a False Claims Act (qui tam) case on summary judgment in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (United States ex rel. Paranich v. Sorgnard, et al, 286 F. Supp.2d 445 (M.D. PA, 2003) and successfully defended the judgment on appeal in the Third Circuit (396 F.3d 326 (3rd Cir.2005). He also successfully defended a judgment over control of a Siikh temple against a charge that it constituted an unconstitutional state action concerning religion (Singh v. Singh (2004) 114 Cal. App.4th 1264). Other published cases include Perdue v. Crocker Bank, 38 Cal.3d 913 (1985) (bank service charge class action), Bank of America v. Cory(1985) 164 Cal.App.3d 66 (escheat violation by unauthorized service charge), Garcia v. Williams, 704 F.Supp. 984 (N.D. CA. 1988) (wrongful termination), Edwards v. Centex Real Estate Corp. et al(1997) 53 Cal.App.4th 15 (litigation privilege), United States v. Nicoladze, 752 F.2d 1429 (9th Cir. 1985) (criminal guilty verdict set aside for jury misconduct), Young v. County of Marin (1987) 195 Cal.App.3d 863 (termination of county public defender; right to counsel) and Hyde & Drath v. Baker, 24 F.3d 1162 (9th Cir. 1994) (successful RICO defense, sanctions for discovery abuse). During 1990-1993, Mr. Kaus represented an attorney defendant in the Lincoln Savings multi-district class action litigation in Tucson, Arizona. Mr. Kaus served as an adjunct professor in federal practice at the University of San Francisco from 1992 through 1996. He was an instructor in trial practice at Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley from 1980 to 1984 and at Cardozo College of Law in New York in 1988. Mr. Kaus is an active lecturer in litigation and employment law-related continuing legal education programs presented by the California Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) and The Rutter Group, most recently participating in a CEB program on the law of electronic discovery. Mr. Kaus has written and edited materials for CEB and The Rutter Group and contributes occasional columns on litigation and media issues to the Los Angeles Daily Journal and the San Francisco Daily Journal. He has served as court appointed mediator and discovery referee in state and federal court and as Judge Pro Tem of the Marin County Superior Court by stipulation of parties. | 