John litigates a wide array of cases, including business and commercial disputes, class actions, embezzlement recovery, construction defect cases, real estate, and commercial lease issues, personal injury, professional liability, civil rights, false arrest, and other intentional tort litigation.  

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PREVENTING CIVIL TRESPASS AND PRIVATE NUISANCE AT STORES AND SHOPPING CENTERS

• California’s most successful retailers often have uninvited behavior at their doorsteps from signature gatherers, sham charity solicitors, loiterers, beggars, and homeless campers. Unless they are stopped, these groups will take control of store premises, alienate highly valued customers, hurt sales, and consume employee time. Unfortunately, California peace officers rarely if ever remove or arrest trespassers.  
   

• We provide immediate solutions to our clients. I have successfully handled thousands of these issues for California shopping centers and retailers for over 25 years. Although we can resolve the average problem in just a few minutes, we also get immediate injunctive stay-away orders as may be needed. California peace officers will enforce these orders. We train clients how to deal effectively and properly with these problems without the police or the courts in most cases.
   

PROTECTING EMPLOYEES FROM WORKPLACE VIOLENCE

• Employees may also face threats of workplace violence. Employers are under a legal duty to take immediate action to protect their employees, including seeking workplace violence restraining orders.  We are available 24 hours a day at 415.264.5401 to get immediate orders to protect threatened client employees. We have obtained such orders on many hundreds of occasions.

 

Employment

• Partner, Dillingham & Murphy

 

Education

• J.D., Yale University Law School. 

• A.B., University of California, Berkeley. 

• Lowell High School, San Francisco

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Affiliations and Memberships

• Dolphin Swimming and Boating Club

• St. John Armenian Church, Parish Council Advisor

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2020 Professional Appearances

• Panelist on “Uninvited Behavior” Problems at the February 2020 National Retail and Restaurant Defense Association National Conference. Discussed the recurring trespass and nuisance problems retailers face on their doorsteps and in their parking lots, what the police can and cannot do, how to regain control of retail premises, and when to seek civil court orders.  

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Recent Case Successes 

• Obtained Preliminary Injunction against Aggressive Petition Circulator who Harassed Client Customers

• Defeated Certification of a Purported Class Action in an FDCPA and UCL action.

• Obtained Gross Negligence Award Against LLC Manager.

• Anti-SLAPP Dismissal of Business Tort Case Affirmed on Appeal with a Fee Award. 

• Retailer Not Liable for Accident Caused by Drunk Driver Who Did Not Purchase the Alcoholic Beverage.

• Lawyers Not Liable if Clients Fail to Execute Documents.

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