Andrade | Welcome

WHITE COLLAR LITIGATION & GOVERNMENT INVESTIGATIONS
Our lawyers have extensive experience representing clients in all phases of white collar criminal matters, as well as civil and state and federal regulatory matters with fraud or criminal aspects. We have represented targets and witnesses in Department of Justice Antitrust investigations of price fixing, FDIC actions involving banking and mortgage violations, grand jury investigations of election fraud and political corruption, SEC investigations and prosecutions of securities and investment fraud, and federal investigations of healthcare fraud. We have also handled corporate internal investigations of compliance with Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and product safety regulations.

CATASTROPHIC INJURIES / WRONGFUL DEATH
Compassionate commitment to our clients and their families and forceful advocacy to securing justice sets Andrade Gonzalez apart. Our lawyers are highly-skilled advocates, educated at the best law schools, and hand-picked from the most prestigious law firms. We help our clients navigate the difficult and sensitive issues they face after catastrophic events while pursuing justice. Every client will benefit from the Firm’s client focused approach and extensive tort litigation experience.

Due to a selective process, we cannot take on every catastrophic injury case. If we cannot assist, Andrade Gonzalez LLP is ready to help you find someone who can.

Hernandez family files civil suit over hit-and-run death of Ventura teen

EMPLOYMENT CLASS ACTIONS AND WRONGFUL TERMINATION
Andrade Gonzalez has long been an advocate for fairness and equality in the workplace. In class actions and single plaintiff cases, our attorneys have fought for clients who stood up against unfair working environments, including wrongful and constructive termination, retaliation, unpaid wages, and labor code violations. Our highly-skilled attorneys, who were educated at the best law schools and hand-picked from the most prestigious law firms, are forceful advocates for employees’ rights.

Due to a selective process, we cannot take on every case. If we cannot assist, Andrade Gonzalez LLP is ready to help you find someone who can.

Single Mother Claims Hertz Didn't Pay Her For Hours She Worked

COMMERCIAL LITIGATION
Andrade Gonzalez LLP has the creativity, flexibility, and depth of experience to represent its clients successfully in all types of commercial disputes. From billion dollar antitrust litigation to multimillion-dollar cases involving breach of contract, fraud, unfair business practices, intellectual property rights, and theft of trade secrets, the firm has delivered numerous wins to clients across different industries in hundreds of cases in state and federal courts and before numerous administrative agencies.

COMPLEX TORT LITIGATION
Andrade Gonzalez LLP has handled numerous complex and high-stakes tort litigation matters involving a wide range of products and industries, including injuries from the use of industrial manufacturing equipment, building materials and chemicals, commercial construction sites and scaffolding, and motor vehicles. Our attorneys have defended and managed mass tort cases, and have the expertise, capacity, and relationships to serve as national and regional coordinating counsel. In every case, the firm leverages its creativity, flexibility, and experience in designing a litigation plan that uses narrowly focused discovery and targeted motions to defeat or limit the scope of claims, and create an early pathway toward resolution.

INSURANCE COVERAGE
Andrade Gonzalez LLP attorneys have broad experience representing corporate, governmental, and individual policyholders in complex coverage disputes with their insurance carriers. The firm's Insurance Recovery Practice has recovered millions for its clients from across numerous industries, including aerospace, chemical manufacturing, financial, and healthcare, Superfund site litigation, soil and groundwater contamination, asbestos and other toxic injuries, mass torts, financial dealings of directors and officers, and tort liability for school districts.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
Andrade Gonzalez LLP attorneys have a long history of successfully representing Fortune 100 corporations, public entities, and individuals in intellectual property disputes involving copyright infringement, misappropriation, and counterfeiting. Having served as lead counsel to manufacturers, retailers, software companies, and public entities in intellectual property actions throughout the country, the firm has the skills and experience to protect its clients’ ability to innovate and compete while avoiding the common traps that often make these matters overly expensive to litigate.

EMPLOYMENT LITIGATION
Andrade Gonzalez LLP attorneys have helped Fortune 100 corporations, mid-size companies, and high net worth business owners resolve a wide range of employment disputes, including allegations of wage and hour violations, discrimination, wrongful termination, harassment, retaliation, defamation, OSHA violations, covenants not to compete, theft of trade secrets, and whistleblower actions. In addition to having extensive experience in state and federal courts and in private arbitrations, the firm’s attorneys have also helped clients negotiate sensitive EEOC investigations and executive employment contract issues.

APPEALS AND WRITS
Andrade Gonzalez LLP has successfully briefed, and argued numerous appeals and writs to the California Courts of Appeal, the Ninth Circuit, and both the California and the United States Supreme Court. With extensive experience in helping clients either seek relief from a bad underlying decision or protect that solid trial court result, Andrade Gonzalez LLP is ready to assist with every aspect of the appellate process.

PUBLIC ENTITY LAW
Andrade Gonzalez LLP’s attorneys have established a recognized strength and expertise in the representation of governmental entities, including school districts, and county and city authorities. The firm has provided high quality, results-oriented, and cost-effective representation in a wide scope of practice areas, including handling complex tort litigation, insurance coverage, intellectual property rights, First Amendment, public records act requests, State budget and funding disputes, and the Constitutionality of governmental programs.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
Andrade Gonzalez LLP’s lawyers regularly represent clients in licensing, enforcement, investigative and adversarial proceedings before State and federal governmental agencies, including the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the California Department of Real Estate, the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office, the Occupational Licensing Branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles, California New Motor Vehicle Board, and the California Department of Consumer Affairs.

REAL ESTATE
Andrade Gonzalez attorneys have represented clients in a broad spectrum of real estate related matters, including environmental matters, broker liability (i.e., breach of contract and fiduciary duty), Commercial Landlord Tenant disputes, and commercial purchase and sales agreement litigation.

SEAN ANDRADE graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, simultaneously obtaining a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Business & Public Policy from The Wharton School. He received his bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of California, Irvine.

Mr. Andrade is an experienced litigator who has taken cases from complaint through trial. Approaching every client matter with creativity and flexibility, he has achieved numerous victories in a wide array of commercial litigation cases involving breach of contract, fraud, and piercing the corporate veil and about intellectual property, products liability, employment discrimination, wage and hour claims, franchise law, insurance bad faith, personal injury, real estate disputes, and entertainment litigation. In 2017, he achieved a full defense verdict after a five-week jury trial in a difficult complex tort matter with five plaintiffs seeking $25 million in damages. Daily Journal ranked that result as the Top Defense Verdict. Over the last five years, he has also taken over and won a handful of appeals and writs, and filed amicus briefs in both the California and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Andrade began his legal career at Baker & Hostetler, where he successfully represented many Fortune 100 clients in all types of commercial litigation matters pending in state and federal court and before administrative agencies. Since 2009, Los Angeles Magazine repeatedly recognized Mr. Andrade annually as one of the top young business litigation lawyers. In 2011, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed him to serve on LA County’s Redistricting Commission. From 2003 to 2011, Mr. Andrade served on the National Board of Governors for the Hispanic National Bar Association. During that time, he spent four years on the HNBA’s Executive Committee, serving as Vice President of Programs and National Secretary.

During law school, he served as Senior Editor of the University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor & Employment Law, externed with U.S. District Judge Carlos R. Moreno (Ret.) of the Central District of California, and spent a summer in the Legal Department of General Motors Corp. in Detroit, Michigan. Prior to law school, he worked as the State Policy Analyst and National Paralegal for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF).

HENRY H. GONZALEZ graduated from Harvard Law School, and received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of California, Berkeley with honors. Mr. Gonzalez began his legal career at the Los Angeles offices of Munger, Tolles & Olson, LLP. Mr. Gonzalez’s practice has focused on commercial litigation and white collar criminal matters. These matters involve contract disputes, legal malpractice claims, insurance coverage matters including environmental contamination, securities law violations and electric industry regulatory matters.

Mr. Gonzalez was part of a team that represented Southern California Edison Company in connection with the energy crisis in California, including regulatory proceedings, federal litigation against the California Public Utilities Commission, and defense of several private actions seeking payment.

Mr. Gonzalez also worked on the successful representation of the Allstate Insurance Company after an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office over claims handling following the Northridge earthquake and on successful representations following investigations by the California Attorney General and the Fair Political Practices Commission over campaign contributions.

Mr. Gonzalez has also represented school districts and public organizations in amicus briefs in the Ninth Circuit and California Supreme Court.

STEPHEN V. MASTERSON graduated from George Washington University Law School with honors as a member of the Law Review and received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy, magna cum laude, from Amherst College.

Mr. Masterson is an experienced civil litigator specializing in insurance recovery. He represents policyholders in multiparty complex insurance recovery disputes and has special expertise in mass tort, construction, hospitality, aerospace, antitrust, business interruption, indoor air quality, environmental, directors and officers liability, and title insurance issues. Mr. Masterson has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for his policyholder clients. Mr. Masterson is a well-published authority on insurance and has authored chapters in major legal treatises including, Appleman on Insurance Law Library Edition, Appleman Insurance Law Practice Guide, and Matthew Bender California Insurance Law and Practice.

Mr. Masterson is a past Chair of the Insurance Law Committee of the State Bar of California.

Damian J. Martinez graduated from Columbia University School of Law in 1998. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1994. He graduated from both institutions with honors.

Mr. Martinez is an experienced litigator who has represented clients -- ranging from large multi-national corporations to individual entrepreneurs -- in complex civil litigation matters. In 2017, Mr. Martinez represented a multi-national corporation in a wrongful death trial. Following 12-days of trial, the jury returned a unanimous defense verdict in favor of Mr. Martinez’s client. That verdict was ranked by CVN as the third most impressive verdict of 2017. In 2015, Mr. Martinez was lead attorney for a Fortune 100 company in a malpractice claim against a national law firm. The matter settled pre-complaint on favorable terms. In 2015, Mr. Martinez represented a Los Angeles entrepreneur in a contract dispute. Martinez successfully vacated a default judgment against his client and then filed counter claims. After discovery closed, the case settled on favorable terms, with money being paid to Mr. Martinez’s client.

Mr. Martinez has represented corporate clients in internal investigations. In 2017, Mr. Martinez conducted an internal investigation on behalf of a public company. During the investigation, he interviewed over 15 witnesses in Spanish and reviewed Spanish-language communications. At the conclusion of the investigation, he published his findings to the senior officers of the company. In 2016, he served as lead attorney for a high-tech startup in an internal investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation, Mr. Martinez made recommendations to the senior officers of the company on means to improve corporate policy.

ANDRE Y. BATES graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law where he was named a Milken Foundation Scholar. He received his B.A. from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.

A seasoned litigator and trial attorney with large national law firm experience, Mr. Bates has represented medium to large businesses in complex commercial, labor and employment, and governmental regulation related litigation matters. His extensive commercial experience includes litigating breach of contract, breach of warranty, contract interpretation, piercing the corporate veil, misappropriation of trade secrets, fraud and unfair business practices. Mr. Bates has successfully tried cases to verdict in state and federal district court including obtaining a defense verdict for a large national corporation in the jury trial of a fraud and breach of contract case where plaintiff sought $14 million in compensatory damages. He has also briefed and argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the California Courts of Appeal. In labor and employment, Mr. Bates has substantial experience in class actions, particularly lawsuits involving the increasingly complicated distinction between employees and independent contractors.

Mr. Bates began his legal career at the Los Angeles office of Morgan Lewis, where he successfully represented many Fortune 500 clients in various types of commercial litigation matters pending in state and federal court and before administrative agencies. Most significantly, he was an integral part of the team that represented Merrill Lynch in connection with numerous lawsuits generated from the Orange County Bankruptcy, one of the largest municipal bankruptcies in United States history.

Prior to attending law school, Mr. Bates served as a Surface Warfare Officer in the United States Navy. The highlight of his service was a tour of duty as the Navigation Officer of a guided missile frigate during a deployment where the ship circumnavigated the globe.

ARTURO PADILLA earned both his B.A., cum laude, and his J.D. from the University of California at Los Angeles. While at UCLA Law School, he served as chief managing editor of the UCLA Law Review and editor of the Chicano Latino Law Review.

Mr. Padilla has extensive experience in complex litigation, with an emphasis on personal injury, commercial disputes, product liability, tort defense, toxic tort and environmental litigation matters. He has successfully handled major cases for Fortune 100 and 500 companies involving complex mass torts, toxic and chemical exposures, product liabilities, business and real estate disputes, and the alleged violation of federal and state statutes, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the Clean Air Act, California’s Proposition 65, and the Unfair Business Practices Act. He has a long history with clients in the energy, health care, oil and gas, waste management, biotechnology, agricultural, maritime, and chemical manufacturing industries, but also represents select individual clients in catastrophic personal injury, premises liability, and other torts.

Prior to joining Andrade Gonzalez LLP, Mr. Padilla was Managing Attorney for a leading Los Angeles litigation boutique, Of Counsel to Mintz Levin, and Senior Litigation Associate at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius and Dewey Ballantine.

SONIA SALINAS graduated from Loyola Law School, cum laude, where she was elected to the Order of the Coif, a member and articles editor of the Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review, and a Sayre MacNeil Scholar. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and Law & Society, with honors, from the University of California, Riverside.

Ms. Salinas began her legal career as a law clerk for Magistrate Judge Suzanne H. Segal of the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California. She then joined the Los Angeles offices of Foley & Lardner, LLP where she focused on commercial litigation matters, successfully litigating matters involving contract disputes, fraud claims, intellectual property, trade secrets, non-compete agreements, employment discrimination, consumer banking issues, and a wide variety of unfair business practice claims. She has advised and represented public entities, multi-national corporations and banks, Latin-American companies, hospital systems, healthcare providers, not-for-profit entities, as well as, small businesses and individuals. Ms. Salinas has also represented clients in white collar criminal matters and civil asset forfeiture proceedings.

JOSE R. NUÑO graduated from the University of Southern California, Gould School of Law. Prior to law school, he received a dual bachelor’s degree from USC in Political Science and American Studies & Ethnicity.

While at Gould School of Law, Mr. Nuño served as a judicial extern for the Honorable S. James Otero in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. During his externship with Judge Otero, Mr. Nuño worked on a number of cases, including those involving insurance coverage and white collar crime. During law school, he also served as a law clerk for the Federal Public Defender’s Office and spent a semester focusing on labor and employment disputes under the Fair Labor Standards Act as a member of the Hale Moot Court Honors Program.

Before law school, Mr. Nuño worked for several years at the Community Coalition, a local non-profit that specializes in policy work through community organizing.