Adam J. Thurston is an accomplished courtroom advocate, having successfully tried cases to judgment in both federal and state courts throughout California and in New York. His practice is focused on intellectual property, entertainment, environmental and complex business litigation.
Adam has extensive alternative dispute resolution experience and has prosecuted and defended claims to final award in domestic and international arbitration proceedings. He is also a seasoned appellate advocate, representing clients in both the federal and state appellate courts.
Adam’s intellectual property practice includes trademark and copyright litigation. His trademark practice covers a broad spectrum of industries, ranging from consumer products, software and apparel to professional services and commercial products.
He also litigates matters of copyright infringement, stolen idea, and profit participations, and counsels public figure clients in civil litigation.
His commercial litigation practice focuses on complex business disputes, consumer class actions, privacy and data security, international trade, securities and environmental litigation across a variety of industries, including manufacturing, consumer products and technology. Adam’s technology practice focuses on software and data security.
Adam’s environmental litigation practice includes defending private businesses and developers from litigation challenges to construction of new facilities under federal and state environmental statutes. He is also experienced in private nuisance litigation and claims brought under California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986.
Experience :
- In re Wall St. Journal, 199 Cal. App. 4th 1186, 132 Cal. Rptr. 3d 202 (2011) (defending national newspaper publisher’s right to publish legal notices in local markets)
- Panavision International, LP v. Streamline Circuits Corporation, et al., Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. BC402121 (prosecuted claims for defective circuit board manufacture affecting professional digital movie cameras)
- Michael A. Wilson, et al. v. Alterna, Inc., et al., Los Angeles Superior Court Case No. SC087068 (defended to judgment minority shareholder claims against beauty care company and its majority shareholder following sale of company to venture capital firm)
- Defending a national snack food manufacturer in a class action alleging misbranding and false labeling in the use of the phrase “all natural” in violation of federal and state statutes and regulations.
- Defending a public employee pension fund in a class action challenging premium increases on long term care insurance based upon allegedly false and misleading marketing materials, and breach of fiduciary duty in the management of the program.
- Representing a national restaurant supplier in a data breach action alleging violation of statutory and common law privacy rights.
Adam has extensive experience seeking temporary and preliminary injunctive relief for clients seeking to protect their trademarks and trade dress from infringement. Adam also handles the defense of such claims, both in pretrial litigation and through trial, with particular depth in the area of product configuration and packaging trade dress claims. His entertainment practice focuses on litigation and counseling in the areas of copyright, stolen idea, profit participations in television and feature film products, and counseling public figure clients in false light, defamation, right of publicity, invasion of privacy and Digital Millennium Copyright Act claims.
Adam defends private businesses and developers from litigation challenges seeking to prevent construction of new facilities under federal and state environmental statutes, including the Clean Air Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, the Native American Graves Protection & Repatriation Act, the Administrative Procedure Act, and California Environmental Quality Act. He is also experienced in private nuisance litigation involving environmental pollution such as groundwater contamination. He also has extensive experience defending national retailers and manufacturers against claims brought under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (Proposition 65).
Education :
- Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 1992
- Boston University, B.A., 1988, magna cum laude
Bar Admissions : California
Court Admissions :
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
- U.S. Court of International Trade
- California Supreme Court
Cost
Rate : $$$