Wendy Thomas is one of TT&E’s founding partners and practices out of our Los Angeles office. She concentrates her practice on professional liability, shareholder disputes and derivative litigation, securities, white-collar, and business litigation. She has first-chaired more than fifteen trials to conclusion since her admission to practice law in 2005 and has also participated in numerous commercial arbitrations.

Prior to entering private practice, Wendy worked as a federal prosecutor at the United States Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of California, specializing in white-collar, environmental, and immigration crimes, where she handled a variety of cases through every phase of prosecution, including grand jury, motion practice, trial, sentencing, and appeal. As a federal prosecutor, she prosecuted 300 cases in the Northern District of California.

Representative Cases

  • Acted as first-chair in a three-week jury trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court defending a registered investment advisor against financial elder abuse and breach of fiduciary duty claims and obtained a favorable settlement during jury deliberations – less than 10% of the damages sought by plaintiffs, which was better than any prior settlement offer extended to the plaintiffs.
  • Won a motion for summary adjudication defending an insurance agency and financial advisor thereby eliminating 95% of the $20 million in damages claimed by plaintiffs.
  • Won summary judgment in favor of insurance agents in seven-figure insurance coverage case that alleged professional negligence and fraud causes of action against insurance agents, securing dismissal of clients from lawsuit.
  • Secured dismissal of lawsuit after filing motion for summary judgment in seven-figure legal malpractice case involving underlying bankruptcy litigation with no money paid by client to secure dismissal.
  • Secured dismissal of lawsuit after filing motion for summary judgment defending CEO of health care company with no money paid by client to secure dismissal.
  • Conducted jury trial in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Wilshire Boulevard high-rise property dispute related to flooding damage, environmental contamination, and remediation.
  • Won arbitration involving shareholder dispute of closely held corporation by successfully petitioning to restore shareholder rights of an individual shareholder and secured multimillion-dollar settlement for shareholder.
  • Obtained dismissal of fraud action representing national sports retailer and its former management in case involving asset-backed lender foreclosing on company’s assets pursuant to Article 9 UCC sale with no money paid by client to secure dismissal.
  • Obtained dismissal of lawsuit defending pharmaceutical company against allegations by shareholder alleging right to consulting compensation with no money paid by the client to secure dismissal.
  • Defended former officers and directors of dye-sublimation technology company in corporate waste, fraud, and breach of fiduciary duty suit alleging direct and derivative claims related to blocked sale of the company to strategic partner and issuance of convertible notes allegedly without the board’s knowledge or approval and secured favorable settlement – less than 5% of damages sought by plaintiffs.
  • Defended officers and directors of manufacturing corporation in suit alleging hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in case involving direct and derivative claims related to assets of company being assigned for benefit of creditors.
  • Won early motion to dismiss in case against financial management firm alleging negligence and unauthorized practice of law.
  • Secured dismissal of lawsuit defending insurance agent after filing motion for summary judgment with no money paid by client to secure dismissal.
  • Negotiated settlement of TCPA class action for defendant that was less than one percent of amount initially demanded by plaintiffs
  • Defended management of billion-dollar medical device and life science company in derivative breach of fiduciary duty action that also had parallel federal criminal proceeding.
  • Defended management, officers, and directors of hydroponics company in multiple shareholder derivative and class action lawsuits involving allegations of mismanagement, insider transactions, disputes over corporate governance, and challenges to the issuance of company’s shares.
  • Defended software developer in breach of contract, tortious interference, negligence, and fraud case regarding iOS, Android, and backend software development services provided on application development project.
  • Defended publicly-traded company against alter ego and fraudulent conveyance claims brought in breach of lease case and obtained favorable settlement – less than 5% of damages initially sought by plaintiff, which was lower amount than had been offered at inception of litigation.
  • Defended a publicly-traded company against misappropriation of trade secrets and corporate raiding claims brought by multinational conglomerate related to call-center activities in the Philippines and obtained complete dismissal with prejudice and full release of client with no money paid by client after almost four years of litigation.
  • Secured dismissal of federal lawsuit filed against law firm at pleadings stage with no money paid by client or carrier.
  • Defended insurance agency in case involving $50 million in premium financed life insurance.
  • Defended law firm against tortious interference, misappropriation of trade secrets, and quantum meruit claims and secured seven-figure settlement for client.
  • Secured dismissal of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty action against wealth management company with no money paid by client.
  • Defended law firm against multimillion-dollar legal malpractice claims arising from alleged conflict of interest and discovery violations following construction defect trial.
  • Defended third-party administrator of defined benefit plan in case involving cybersecurity breach.
  • Defended award of tens of millions of dollars in attorney’s fees that resulted from over 60 class action lawsuits brought pursuant to Truth in Lending Act against various financial institutions.