Page 97 - ACTL Journal_Sum24

A family of lawyers, and a family of Fellows, brimming with a bit of Irish Blarney – who knows, perhaps it is that Irish spark that lit the fire that made them all exceptional trial lawyers. But is this father and two sons combination the only three Fellows with this close familial relationship?
The patriarch is John P. McNicholas (’85) – the founding partner of the multigenerational firm of McNicholas & McNicholas LLP -- who practices in Los Angeles with his two sons, Matthew S. McNicholas (’13) and Patrick McNicholas (’10). John was the first lawyer in this Irish immigrant family, but three of his seven children are lawyers, along with several daughters-in-law. The courtroom is just a delight for John, which was the apparent incentive for so many of his progeny to follow him into the world of trial law.
John started with defense work, but his practice shifted to plaintiff’s personal injury and employment law matters. He claims more than 176 jury verdicts in a variety of cases. One of those was a case Fellow Charles M. Stern referred to him. John was asked to represent Ronald Isley, a member of the Isley Brothers, in a “subconscious” copyright infringement lawsuit against Michael Bolton. The Isley Brothers were the country’s most well-known rhythm and blues groups in the 1960’s and 70’s. The jury ordered Sony Music to pay his clients nearly $5.5 million dollars for the theft of the Isleys’ 1964 pop hit “Love Is a Wonderful Thing.” (See Three Boys Music Corp. v. Bolton, 212 3d 477 (9th Cir. 2000)). The trial must have been exciting to watch, with Fellow John repre- senting the plaintiff, Fellow Robert G. Sugarman represent- ing the defendants, and Fellow Louis Petrich joining the ap- peal on behalf of amici.
Another memorable case took John to Rome on twenty-three separate trips to meet with his client (Pope John Paul II and the Vatican Library). That case involved a dispute over
a licensing agreement between the Vatican Library and a California businesswoman for seven drawings from Renais- sance master Sandro Botticelli that illustrated Dante’s Divine Comedy. The case was settled before trial but generated much concern in American museum officials who worried that a negative result could cause foreign art lenders to be wary of loaning works of art to any entity in the United States.
John may be one of the last Fellows who has war stories about College founder Emil Gumpert, as he tried a lot of cases before Judge Gumpert. He says that the Judge would generally begin with a conference to see if he could get the case settled. On one particular matter, Gumpert looked at him and told him to go get another $10,000 to settle the claim. Those were the days before cell phones, so John left and called his client, got the $10,000 needed, and feel- ing pretty good about himself, went back to chambers.
As soon as he appeared, Judge Gumpert asked whether he had been successful, and John replied: “I got it – I told my client the judge was an old S---O---B---.” Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. John meant it affectionately, but Judge Gumpert didn’t take it that way. So John just sat there while the Judge read him the riot act. John said he didn’t bother with an apology, just went straight to groveling.
John’s co-defense counsel started laughing at him, which John couldn’t hear, but Judge Gumpert could. At that point, the Judge stood up, took a step, put his arm around John and said: “You know, you’re a good lawyer.”
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