Cirstan Fitch

Litigation and Trial

Entertainment and Music

Intellectual Property and Technology

California

Washington D.C.

Central District of California

Loyola Law School

Representative contentious matters:

• Cirstan tackles complex case matters head on, suing a Chinese parent company Taizhou Heri Autoparts Co. Ltd. in the Northern District of Texas, for its participation in minority shareholder oppression, and transfer pricing scheme for delivery of its C.V. axels to the US, while defrauding its US subsidiary Heri Automotive Inc. and its employees and co-owners.
• Balancing simultaneous defense of splinter claims for business and individual liability in a crossclaim under Arizona employment law. She successfully dismantled the fraud claims through Summary Judgment motions, with which the trial court ultimately agreed finding their specious claims to be unsupported in fact or in law.
• Regularly representing workplace injury and personal injury matters, including a LAX / LAWA tarmac workplace injury TBI that was awarded $3,100,000 (including costs and fees) by jury, after a 14-day trial against insurer Swissport USA, Inc.
• Managed a product liability case involving multiple cases of seatbelt malfunction against Takada Corporation. Complex litigation/mass torts exposure & NHTSA regulation resulting in a $1,100,000 settlement for the Plaintiff on the eve of trial.
• Awarded $306,000, after a bench trial full judgment for the victim of embezzlement scheme as against INFLOWSTYLE Apparel Co. and its co-owner.
• Awarded $360,000 plus a grant of all of a creator’s IP in a case matter of producer departing his production company Henry Island Productions LLC., and their attempts at clouding title to his own works within a first-look deal with his broadcast network (ITV).
• Executed a three-year, tri-weekly wiretap warrant born of congressional hearings stemming from an injunctive order & warrant with an unregulated precious metals trading company Goldline Inc.. Responsible for reporting findings to the court via daily memorandums in coordination with advisor and court appointed monitor Anthony Pacheco. Evaluated individual victim’s claims and oversaw repayment from established victim’s compensation fund.
• Worked to assist INSYS Therapeutics Inc. opioid defense, negotiating non-prosecution agreements with DOJ & assisting the investigation by the Department of HHS, Office of the Inspector General. Resulting in a best scenario settlement for the clients.
• Worked in a defensive posture defending a national dry cleaning chemical manufacturer R. R. Street & Co. Inc in a potential whistleblower claims made by an exiting executive who had brought employment claims adverse to the company.
• Developed case theory on multiple commercial fraud actions including building ANOVA statistical models to analyze and defend RICO charges related to preferential pricing on long-term international contracts.
• Investigated violations of USD LIBOR and group treasury banking across three markets; London Inter Bank Offer Rate, Singapore Inter Bank Offer Rate and Hong Kong Inter Bank Offer Rate. (LIBOR/SIBOR/HIBOR). Identified key information that the bank (UBS) ultimately exchanged for over $700 million dollars in fines extinguished by settlement. Responsible for decoding multi-lingual broker chats in emerging currency markets worldwide & identifying fraud through the lens of enunciated BBA regulations and protocol.
• Brought the representation of conductor emeritus Gisele Ben Dor to a favorable conclusion relating to her employment with the Santa Barbara Symphony Orchestra.
• Represented coach Sheila Hudson vs. CSULA in her Title IX action, successfully settling to all parties satisfaction.
• Managed a manufacturing defects case for Stelle Audio Couture Inc. consumer electronics dispute regarding pirated IP & grey market goods manufactured in China.
• Quelled a nuisance action against apparel Manufacturer SQN SPORT CORP. after dispersing the fraud claims in the complaint, ultimately resolving the matter the eve before trial.
• Recently filed an action against Warner Bros. Entertainment with Central District of CA for Declaratory Judgment on behalf of a Polish Gaming maker C.I. Games who was peppered with Cease and Desist letters from WBE counsel asking the game maker to change the title of their “Lords of the Fallen” Game, and to remove creative elements from within the game.

Representative non-contentious matters:

• Regularly advocating on behalf of individuals who have not been a party to release agreements, and licensing for musicians whose film and television broadcasts went forward without securing these agreements in advance of premiere/release dates.
• Many representations among a diverse group of Directors and Filmmakers in a variety of non-public and unrelated matters:
  • Director A.J. Eaton, and Songwriter and Composer Marcus Eaton on the project David Crosby, “Remember My Name” documentary (2019).
  • Director & Filmmaker Eric Overton on his feature length documentary “Collodion” (2021).
  • Director & Filmmaker Nick Lee on his feature length documentary “Source” (production).
  • Editor & Filmmaker Yancy Caldwell and his company Stellar Media, and their catalogue of stunning catalogue big mountain skiing and guiding.
• Representation with Mr. Jonathan Levitan of Ms. Eulrike Kantor in mediation over two stolen and resurfaced Warhol works.
• A decade of representation for Exquisite Rugs in the registrations and copyright maintenance as administrator of company Copyrights. Most recently engaged with recent works related to the company’s publishing of their works within the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City’s current exhibits.
• Successfully represented and negotiated an exit for a managing member of a wine maker entity, in paying out its co-founder and accounting for the Goodwill including a proper accounting and his fair share of profits.
• Court of Appeal: Cirstan and her team sprang into action hours after a group of defendants (“the partners”) filed their appeals writ and voluminous exhibits with the Court of Appeal against her client’s interest. Just 24 hours after filing the opposition, the Court of Appeal summarily denied all requests for relief by the partners. As a result, the partners then came to the table to settle the matter, resulting in full reimbursement for the plaintiff, prior to trial.
• Cirstan also manages/has managed proofs of claim in Bankruptcy court in both the Central District of California, receiving and award for her clients of $1.4 million dollars, as well as in the Northern District of Texas, including 2004 examinations ongoing this year.