Jesse Contreras

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Jesse Contreras

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Counsel
Insurance
Internet, Software & Technology
Class Action & Complex Litigation

Los Angeles

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310-299-5500
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310-299-5600
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10880 Wilshire Blvd.
19th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90024

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[email protected]
Bar & Court Admissions

  • State Bar of California
  • U.S. Supreme Court
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • U.S. District Court for the Northern, Eastern & Central Districts of California

Professional Affiliations

  • Los Angeles County Bar Association

Community Involvement

  • The Innocence Project

Education

  • Stanford University, J.D.
  • The Colorado College, B.A.

Jesse Contreras is counsel in M&R’s Los Angeles office. A member of the firm’s Commercial & Business Litigation and Appellate Practice Groups, he focuses his practice on business, contractual and ownership disputes, trade secret cases, professional liability and government tort claims. His expertise also includes representing clients in the construction, health care, manufacturing and insurance sectors, at both the trial and appellate levels.

Notably, Jesse successfully litigated on behalf of an engineering consortium in a $100M matter, and has represented medical associations in various regulatory disputes throughout the country. He has also been involved in several high profile insurance regulatory cases, including appellate work that involved a host of constitutional issues, resulting in reported decisions in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. In addition, Jesse works on matters involving public entities, as well as intellectual property and trade secret litigation. In one IP case, he represented retail and apparel clients in ownership disputes and worked to protect their designs.

Pro Bono

Jesse devotes his time on a pro bono basis to the Innocence Project, a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals.

Copyright/Trademark/Trade Secret Litigation: Defended a New Orleans theme park against copyright and trademark claims. Representation included taking and defending key depositions and preparing case for trial, where a complete defense verdict was obtained.
Copyright/Trademark/Trade Secret Litigation: Represented prominent cruise line in an ownership dispute over marketing data maintained by its outside database consultant. The case was tried successfully in federal court with the cruise line winning on all causes of action and all counterclaims defeated.
Insurance Litigation: Represented the owners of a luxury home in Beverly Hills in a breach of contract claim against their insurance carrier and an inverse condemnation claim against the City of Beverly Hills arising from flood damage to their home. Insurance claim involved the resolution of novel Bus & Prof. Code 17200 claims in the client’s favor. Inverse condemnation claim involved the selection and preparation of numerous experts for trial, including geotechnical engineers, contractors, and appraisers. The matter was settled in the client’s favor before trial.
Insurance Regulation: Represented the California Insurance Commissioner on various matters involving California’s efforts to assist Holocaust survivors and their families in obtaining information relating to Holocaust-era insurance policies held by the European affiliates of California-licensed insurers. Representation involved extensive appellate work, resulting in reported decisions in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. Gerling Global Reins. Corp. of Am. v. Low, 240 F.3d 739 (9th Cir. 2001); Gerling Global Reins. Corp. of Am. v. Low, 296 F.3d 832 (9th Cir. 2002); American Ins. Ass’n v. Garamendi, 539 U.S. 396 (2003).
Retail Litigation: Represented one of the founders of a leading, high-end denim manufacturer in a highly contentious corporate divorce. Representation included voluminous and difficult document discovery, selection and oversight of accounting experts, deposition practice, and extensive motion practice concerning discovery and receivership. Also responsible for preparing jury instructions, witnesses, and trial briefs. Obtained a favorable jury verdict following a three-week trial.
Software Litigation: Successfully represented the nation’s largest manufacturer of video graphics processors in a contract dispute with Microsoft. Representation involved analyzing an enormous amount of data in a very short time frame and preparing expert witnesses to testify on complicated, highly technical subjects at arbitration.