Gary S. Fergus Attorney

First Admitted: 1980, California

Professional Webpage: https://www.ferguslegalip.com/attorney/gary-s-fergus/

Bar/Professional Activity:

U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit
State Bar of Wisconsin, Member
State Bar of California, Member
American Intellectual Property Law Association
American Bar Association, Member
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals 5th Circuit
U.S. District Court Central District of California
U.S. District Court Northern District of California
Wisconsin
California

Verdicts/Settlements (Case Results):

In re Thorpe Insulation, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Central District of California, Case No. LA07-19271BB (settled after trial for $750 million)
In re J.T. Thorpe, Case No. LA02-14216BB (Bkrptcy. C.D. Cal. 2006)(settled after trial for $250 million)
In re Western Asbestos, 313 B.R. 456 (Bkrptcy N.D. Cal. 2004)(settled after trial for $1.2 billion)
In re Literary Works in Electronic Database Copyright Litigation MDL No. 1379 United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. One of co-lead class counsel in international copyright infringement class action against leading database publishers including the New York Times, Thomson Reuters, and Lexis etc. for infringment of free lance authors works. Action was filed in 2000, was appealed to the 2nd Circuit, certiorari was granted by the United States Supreme Court, the case was remanded to the 2nd Circuit and after 19 years the $18 million dollar settlement was finally paid to class members and the case closed. , 2019
Mandelbrot v. J.T. Thorpe Settlement Trust; Thorpe Insulation Company Asbestos Settlement Trust, Charles B. Renfrew, the Futures Representative Case No. 15-56430 United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on remand Case No. 2:14-cv-03883-VAP United States District Court for the Central District of California. I represented the court appointed Futures Representative in the trial seeking to bar Michael J. Mandelbrot from filing any new claims with the two trusts as well as requiring him to transfer all existing claims as a result of a pattern and practice of submitting unreliable claims. Mandelbrot claimed fraud and breach of fiduciary duty by all fiduciaries. Case was settled during trial with a settlement agreement put on the record in open court immediately before Michael Mandelbrot was scheduled to testify. I negotiated the settlement on behalf of the Trusts and my client. Settlement was appealed to the Ninth Circuit, remanded, additional evidence submitted and the original settlement confirmed by the District Court and appealed to the Ninth Circuit a second time. The second appeal was dismissed by stipulation. The settlement required Michael Mandelbrot to transfer hundreds of claims to other counsel and prohibits him from filing any new claims against four trusts with assets in excess of $1,000,000,000. The four trusts are the Western Asbestos Settlement Trust, the Thorpe Insulation Settlement Trust, the J.T. Thorpe Settlement Trust and the Plant Asbestos Settlement Trust. , 2017

Representative Clients:

Selected to represent Western Asbestos Settlement Trust in test case challenging limits on eligibility for payment by trust that potentially threatens corpus of Trust with over $500,000,000 in assets. Darden v. Western Asbestos Settlement Trust, United States Bankruptcy Court Northern District of California Adv. No. 20-03026. , 2020
Represent the Trustees of the four asbestos Trusts created by the above described representation of the Honorable Charles B. Renfrew (Ret.), Western Asbestos Settlement Trust, J.T. Thorpe Asbestos Settlement Trust, the Thorpe Insulation Company Asbestos Settlement Trust and the Plant Insulation Asbestos Settlement Trust. The current Trustees are John Luikart and Dr. Sandra Hernandez. The retired trustee is Stephen M. Snyder., 2018
John Donahue sculptor who created two 30 foot tall sculptures that were commissioned in 2003 by the City of Berkeley. The Berkeley Big People sit astride Interstate I-80 at the entrance to the City of Berkeley. Long controversial, the City of Berkeley in 2019 voted to remove the Berkeley Big People. Represent Mr. Donahue in connection with his rights under the Visual Artists Rights Act 17. U.S.C. §106 et seq. and the California Art Preservation Act, California Civil Code §987 et. Seq., 2019
2004-2017 Appointed by United States Bankruptcy Court Norther District of California and Central District of California to represent the Honorable Charles B. Renfrew (Ret.) as the Futures Representative for an estimated 50,000 future victims of asbestos related disease in four Chapter 11 proceedings which resulted in the creation of four separate Trusts with combined initial assets of over 3 billion dollars. In re Western Asbestos et al. 2004 WL 1944792 (N.D. Cal. 2004); In re J.T. Thorpe, Inc. United States District Court Central District of California Case No. CV-05-2412 SJO; In re Thorpe Insulation, 677 F.3d 869 (9th Cir. 2012); In re Plant Insulation Company 469 B.R. 843 (Bkr. ND. California 2012). Represented Judge Renfrew as the court appointed Futures Representative to the Trusts created from inception until December 2017.

Pro bono/Community Service:

Represented artist who created The Berkeley Big People two very large and controversial political sculptures commission by the City of Berkeley under a different administration that are visible from Interstate 80. Current administration threatened to destroy the sculptures. Represented the artist in transfer of title of the sculptures back to the artist and delivery of the sculptures by the City of Berkeley to the artist. , 2020
Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Federal Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, 2006 to 2008

Honors/Awards:

Sponsored by the University of Wisconsin Law School, Moot Court Champion, University of Wisconsin School of Law, 1979
AV Peer Rating, Martindale-Hubbell

Educational Background:

Graduated from Stanford University with A.B. with Honors in Economics., 1976
New York University, LLM, cum laude, With Honors, 1981

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

Designing a Mass Tort Case Management System National Law Journal, July, 1986

Industry Groups:

Authors
Alternative Energy Entrepreneurs
Creative Artists
Purchasers and Sellers of Rare Fine Art
Trust Fiduciaries and Beneficiaries

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