Luan Tran heads the Firm’s complex arbitration and employment litigation practices.  Luan has substantial domestic and international arbitration experience and successes, both at his prior firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart Oliver & Hedges and with the LTL Firm.  He has participated—and obtained multi-million dollar results—in ICC, AAA, and JAMS arbitrations in England, France, Peru, Sweden, Canada and all over the U.S.  He has also been representing leading private and public entities in all types of employment litigation matters - from individual plaintiff cases to large class actions matters.  The California State University, the largest public university system in the country with over twenty campuses, has been entrusting him to represent it in several employment disputes.  He is also the lead partner serving Sempra Energy as outside employment litigation counsel.  Luan has consistently been recognized by his peers as one of the most promising trial lawyers in California and the U.S.  The Daily Journal recently selected him as among the "Top 20 Under 40" in California. The National Asian Pacific American Bar Association honored him with its "Best Lawyers Under 40" in America award. The Los Angeles Magazine called him a "Super Lawyer's Rising Star" in Southern California several years in a row.   The advisory committee for the State Bar of California, comprising of prominent judges and practitioners, recently selected Luan as a Scholar in the SBC’s inaugural one-year Leadership Academy Program.  Luan has the rare distinction of holding three law degrees, including one from Harvard Law School.   

Representative Matters

• Defeated class certification in wage & hour class action lawsuit filed against a leading manufacturing and recycling company.
• Currently serving as lead defense counsel on several wage & hour class action matters.
• Obtained complete defense verdict in a two-month RICO trial in the complex department of the Orange County Superior Court in which plaintiff was seeking nearly $10 million.  This was one of the few civil RICO cases tried to verdict in this country.
• Obtained a judgment of over $4 million in a fraudulent conveyance action on behalf of the Elvis Presley Estates.
• Argued and won a fraudulent conveyance matter before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Obtained a $3 million award in a joint venture/fraud dispute.
• Obtained $1.2 million settlement in Ponzi-scheme case against international bank.
• Obtained a $2.7 million victory before the Court of Appeal in connection with the 1998 landslide in Orange County.
• Obtained $1.6 million award in shareholder's dispute.
• Obtained $1.4 million settlement on eve of trial in a real estate fraud case.
• Obtained $300,000 jury verdict in fraud case before Orange County Superior Court and partial ownership of a television company operating an Asian-language channel broadcasted on DirectTV.
• Obtained complete defense verdict in wrongful termination case before Los Angeles Superior Court.
• Retained as outside employment counsel by California State University in alleged wrongful termination and discrimination matters.
• Obtained $8 million award in international arbitration in London, England in dispute over construction and operations of imaging satellite.
• Obtained favorable settlement in international arbitration involving the construction of a semi-conductor facility in the South of France.
• Obtained over $1.5 million against a leading Internet company on behalf of a leading entertainment conglomerate.
• Obtained summary dismissal, via a F.R.C.P 12(b)(6) motion, of a $10 million trade secret lawsuit filed against a Canadian software company.
• Successfully represented leading talent agency in trade secret, employment, and business disputes.

Activities

Luan is active in the community. He is currently a Board member with the Center for Asian Americans United for Self Empowerment (promoting Asian American political awareness and self-empowerment) and VietAct (combating human trafficking in Southeast Asia).  Luan also served as the Vice-Chair of the National Conference of Vietnamese-American Attorneys. In late 2009, Luan served as the moderator for a panel of leading international arbitration specialists at the NAPABA’s National Convention in Boston.   He previously co-organized the international arbitration conference at Stanford Law School.  He has also volunteered to serve as a Judge Pro Tem for the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Publications

• "Securities Litigation On The Rise," Litigation Report (1999).
• "ABA Recognizes Reasonable Expectation of Privacy In Attorney-Client Email," Litigation Report (2000).
• "California Court of Appeal Holds That Parties Cannot Contractually Expand Scope Of Judicial Review of Arbitration Awards," Litigation Report (2001).
• "Enforcing International Arbitration Awards: A Worldwide Comparative Analysis," Stanford Law School Conference On International Arbitration (2002).