James L. Goldman

James Goldman has represented clients in trials and appeals in state and federal courts, regulatory proceedings (involving the Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Home Loan Bank Board, California and Arizona State Boards of Accountancy, Federal Trade Commission, California Department of Corporations, NYSE, NASD, and FINRA), arbitrations and mediations. His practice has focused on complex commercial litigation.

Goldman successfully defended an accounting firm in one of the largest securities class actions ever to have been tried, as described in Dillion and Cannon, “Circle of Greed: The Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Lawyer Who Brought Corporate America to its Knees” (Random House 2010). He has also served as defense counsel in securities actions involving American Continental Corp./Lincoln Savings, Occidental Petroleum Corp., Financial Corp. of America, McCulloch Oil Corp., Republic Corp., Columbia Pictures, New World Entertainment, Inc., Live Entertainment, Inc., Carolco Pictures, Inc. Children’s Wonderland, Inc., Aura Systems, Inc., Chantal Pharmaceutical Corp., Destination Films, Inc., Entropin, Inc., Budget Furniture Rentals, Inc., Cannon Film Group, Inc., and Apparel Technologies, Inc. He also has an extensive real estate practice, including litigation concerning foreclosures, work-outs, environmental and conservation issues, purchase/sale agreements, title issues, easements, eminent domain issues, construction contracts for public and private projects, construction defect litigation, leases/landlord-tenant issues, financing transactions, joint ventures/partnerships, and foreclosures/work-outs, professional liability claims (e.g., claims against lawyers, accountants, brokers, asset managers, and construction design professionals.

Goldman has been named to U.S. News Best Lawyers in America® for his real estate practice since 2013, has been regularly selected as a Southern California Super Lawyer®, and was awarded the highest possible Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating, AV® Preeminent™. Goldman has served as President of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, a member of its Executive Board, a member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and a member of the Litigation Sections of the American Bar Association and the State Bar of California. He has also served on the editorial boards of Class Action Reports and Los Angeles Lawyer.