Amnon Z. Siegel

Amnon Z. Siegel

Partner

Partner

Biography

Amnon is a trial lawyer. He has achieved significant victories for plaintiffs and defendants in jury trials, bench trials, and binding arbitrations. He has recovered more than $500 million for plaintiffs and helped his defense clients avoid substantial liability. In 2017, Amnon won a $256 million jury verdict in Orange County Superior Court against Nissan, one of the Top 10 verdicts in the country. In 2019, he won a $16 million jury verdict against Toyota. In 2023, he secured a nine-figure settlement after a six-week jury trial when a juror question during deliberations telegraphed a victory (and an impending second phase on punitive damages) for his plaintiff client.

Amnon’s defense victories at trial are equally impressive, including a unanimous jury verdict for a commercial bank, which was selected as a Top 10 defense verdict in California, and wins in binding arbitrations before retired judges. In defense of a commercial landlord-tenant case for Prime Healthcare, he successfully argued that, despite his client’s failure to provide plaintiff the requisite notice and opportunity to cure, plaintiff had not proven its damages. After a six-week bench trial, the court agreed with Amnon, rejecting plaintiff’s multi-million-dollar expert damages report and awarding only $5,000 in nominal damages. He also successfully defended D.A.R.E. America when it was sued by its largest franchisee in binding arbitration. D.A.R.E. America prevailed, and as a result, the franchisee is no longer part of the D.A.R.E. America family. Amnon has also prevailed at various stages of litigation in defense of trade secret misappropriation, breach of fiduciary duty, and violation of non-competition/non-solicitation cases.

In 2018, the Daily Journal recognized Amnon among the “Top 40 Under 40” attorneys in the State of California. The Los Angeles Business Journal has selected him among the Leaders of Influence: Litigators and Trial Attorneys 2020–2021, 2023-2024.

Amnon’s litigation experience includes a variety of matters in different industries, including financial services, technology, real estate, consumer products, automotive, government, and insurance. He has represented developers, landlords and tenants, franchisors and franchisees, lenders and borrowers, employers and executives, private equity and their portfolio companies, governmental agencies, receivers and trustees, technology companies, and institutional policyholders.

Prior to joining Miller Barondess, Amnon worked in the litigation department at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP’s Los Angeles office. He graduated from the New York University School of Law and received his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley.

Notable Representations

First-chair trial victories:

  • Represented Prime Healthcare in a six-week bench trial regarding a commercial landlord-tenant dispute. Prime Healthcare had evicted the plaintiff-tenant four months into a 15-year lease without the proper notice and opportunity to cure.  Through its University of Chicago-economics PhD-educated damages expert, plaintiff presented a multi-million-dollar lost profits damages model. Amnon ripped apart plaintiff’s expert on cross-examination, forcing him to revise his report twice pre-trial. At trial, the Court awarded plaintiff only $5,000 in nominal damages, agreeing with Amnon that plaintiff had failed to prove its entitlement to any damages. Amnon’s cross-examination of the expert was cited extensively in the Court’s detailed statement of decision. This was a resounding victory for Prime Healthcare, as the nominal $5,000 damages award was dwarfed by Prime’s pre-trial statutory settlement offer.
  • Represented 1.1 million Prius owners in a federal court class action against Toyota for concealing a safety defect that caused engines to shut down while driving or go into limited operation mode. The plaintiffs defeated Toyota’s motion to dismiss. After 17 months of negotiations and mediation, a settlement was reached that benefited the Prius owners.
  • $256 million jury verdict for fraud and punitive damages on behalf of an automobile dealership group against Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation.
  • $4.3 million judgment on a jury verdict against an AIG policyholder for gross negligence and an award of attorney fees.
  • $15.8 million unanimous jury verdict for a large Southern California Toyota dealership group against Toyota Motor Sales.
  • Defense victory in binding arbitration for D.A.R.E. America in a dispute with its largest franchisee, including an award of attorneys’ fees.
  • Defense victory in binding arbitration for former executives who left their asset management company to start a competing business and were being sued for breach of fiduciary duty, breach of contract, and violation of various restrictive covenants.

Other successes:

  • Dismissal of several substantial cases involving individuals who left their former employers to start competing businesses in marketing, IT consulting, asset management, and financial services based on allegations of trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, and violation of non-competition and non-solicitation covenants.
  • $120 million settlement on behalf of the County of Los Angeles against SoCalGas stemming from the largest release of methane in U.S. history at the Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Storage Facility in Porter Ranch.
  • Unanimous jury verdict on behalf of East West Bank in a multimillion-dollar lender liability action; also obtained a $2.5 million award for attorneys’ fees, expert fees, and costs.
  • Won a substantial award in binding arbitration (FINRA) on behalf of an investment bank against its former Managing Director for breach of fiduciary duty, trade secret misappropriation, and breach of contract.
  • Won summary judgment on behalf of the County of Los Angeles and the County Board of Supervisors in a taxpayer lawsuit involving hundreds of millions of dollars in a public spending program.
  • Secured dismissal of trade secret misappropriation and unfair business practices claims on summary judgment on behalf of a technology company and its employees against a direct competitor and employees’ former employer.
  • Successfully defended Questcor Pharmaceuticals (now part of Mallinckrodt plc) in a several hundred-million-dollar royalty agreement dispute.
  • Represented the estate of Tupac Shakur against Morgan Creek Productions over the rights to a biopic based on Tupac Shakur’s life.
  • Secured a successful settlement on behalf of the children’s band The Imagination Movers against their former management company.
  • Represented Stone Temple Pilots in the band’s successful removal of their former lead singer, Scott Weiland.
  • Represented the estate of Marilyn Monroe in right of publicity, copyright, and fair use litigation.
Honors and Awards
  • Los Angeles Business Journal
    Leaders of Influence: Litigators and Trial Attorneys (2020-2021, 2023-2024)
    Leaders of Influence: Thriving in Their 40’s (2022)
  • Southern California Super Lawyers® (2020-2024); Rising Stars® (2007, 2013-2018)
  • Daily Journal “Top 40 Under 40” Attorneys in California (2018)
Professional Activities
  • Serves on the Mediation Panel for the U.S. District Court, Central District of California
  • Member, Association of Business Trial Lawyers (ABTL), Los Angeles Chapter
  • Member, Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • Member of the Education Cabinet (the Board), Pressman Academy of Temple Beth Am (private Jewish day school in Los Angeles)
  • Former Member, Bet Tzedek Justice Ball Planning Committee
  • Wiley M. Manuel Pro Bono Award Recipient, State Bar of California
  • Certified Youth Soccer Coach and Referee, American Youth Soccer Organization