Peter L. Haviland, based in Los Angeles, is a trial lawyer who has tried cases in state, federal and bankruptcy courts and arbitral forums throughout the country, and also directed briefing and argued a wide range of appeals. Named one of “America’s Top Black Lawyers” by Black Enterprise Magazine, he is Engagement Partner for E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, and represents ExxonMobil Corporation in mass toxic tort and environmental claims.
MEHRPeter has been noted for a number of high profile cases, including Southern Christian Leadership Conference v. City of Los Angeles (right of the Police Commission to suspend Chief of Police following the Rodney King beating); Garry Shandling v. Brad Grey (breach of fiduciary duty by prominent television artist against former manager); TVT Records v. The Island Def Jam Music Group ($132 million jury verdict for copyright infringement, fraud, and breach of contract); and Lockheed v. Crane (cost recovery in Superfund cleanup).
Other representative actions include the defense of Sempra Energy in Chan et al. v. City of Pomona, et al. (multi-party defense involving claims of City of Pomona employees for toxic tort injuries); UCANN v. Albertsons, et al. (defense of Albertsons in multiple actions alleging violation of privacy rights under federal and state laws governing medical information); Sybersound v. UAV et al. (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) and unfair competition claims arising from alleged criminal copyright infringement); In re Death Row Records (representation of Trustee in reorganization of record label); and In re Tricom (representation of Liquidator of Bancredito Panama in Dominican telecommunications company reorganization). Peter has served as the firm’s Co-Chair of Entertainment and Media Group and as outside general counsel for recorded music companies. He has prosecuted criminal actions on a pro bono basis for the Los Angeles City Attorney’s office, and directed the Los Angeles office’s trial training program.
Peter has served on the boards of directors of a number of professional and service organizations, including the Black Entertainment and Sports Lawyers Association and the Constitutional Rights Foundation. He received his B.A. from Harvard College and his J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he was Associate Editor of the Stanford Law Review and a foreign language area studies fellow, focusing on Portuguese and Brazilian law. He is a former clerk to the Honorable Warren Ferguson of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. He speaks Spanish and Portuguese.
