Aaron Bloom solves problems.  He is practical, efficient and achieves great results both inside the courtroom and through informal settlements. 

Mr. Bloom handles a variety of litigation matters in the areas of real property, business and contract disputes, entertainment law and intellectual property.  He is also one of the Firm’s resident experts in the fields of electronic discovery, the enforcement of judgments, landlord-tenant law and homeowner association disputes.

Purchase and Sale Non-Disclosures

• Represented an individual who sold his Pacific Palisades home and was sued by the buyers for allegedly failing to make full disclosure regarding the geological condition of the property; a favorable settlement was reached at mediation
• Represented a couple who purchased a Hollywood Hills home and sued the seller for failing to disclose that the house suffered water intrusions when it rained; a favorable settlement was secured at mediation prior to litigation being filed
• Represented an individual who sold her South Pasadena house and was threatened with a lawsuit for alleged non-disclosure of construction work performed at the property by a previous owner without permits and in violation of local building codes and city ordinances; a favorable settlement was negotiated prior to litigation being filed

Options and Rights of First Refusal

• Represented the owners association of a condominium medical office building which sued a hospital company for attempting to sell a large block of condominium units (as part of a larger sale involving four hospitals) without complying with the association’s right of first refusal; the hospital purported to “carve out” the units and gave the association a sham notice for an artificially-inflated price and only days to close escrow;  after a bench trial, the Court upheld the association’s right of first refusal and required that a new notice be issued containing the price and terms established by the Court; the association then acquired the units
• Represented landlords who owned eight single family homes, each of which was subject to poorly drafted purchase options in a fixed term lease that became a periodic tenancy; the landlords gave the tenants notice that the old leases were being terminated and that the tenants could continue to rent their homes only under new, more precise leases; most of the tenants attempted to exercise the purchase option contained in the old leases and litigation ensued; one favorable settlement was reached prior to litigation, two tenants vacated the premises without the need for litigation, four favorable settlements were reached at mediation, and one case was favorably resolved via motion for summary judgment

Landlord-Tenant Disputes

• Represented a commercial landlord in a complicated unlawful detainer action; the landlord and tenant had entered into a promissory note whereby past due rent was amortized along with interest as monthly payments; the tenant then made payments that had no correlation to either the ongoing rental obligations or the note payments, and many of the tenant’s checks bounced; the landlord also issued apparently conflicting balance statements; the landlord contended that the tenant owed approximately $50,000 (total outstanding rent plus attorneys’ fees) and needed to vacate the premises; the tenant contended that it only owed a fraction of that amount and did not have to vacate the premises; a Settlement Agreement and Stipulation for Entry of Judgment was reached just before the start of trial whereby the tenant would pay $47,000 and vacate the premises in two weeks
• Represented a landlord in a constructive eviction lawsuit brought by a tenant who had refused to pay its share of various operating expenses and improvements as part of its rent; the tenant sought hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages; a favorable settlement was secured at mediation, including the tenant dismissing its lawsuit and giving our client a full release in exchange for our client returning a small portion of the tenant’s security deposit
• Represented the long-term, master lessee of a Southern California marina in a lawsuit against the city that owns the marina; the city engaged in bad faith conduct in an effort to get out of the lease, including concocting several spurious notices of default, stonewalling the approval of a sublease to a major subtenant, and even twice amending its municipal code in aid of a meritless claim that our client was operating the premises in violation of local law; a favorable settlement was reached during trial
• Represented a tenant of a large house in Beverly Hills who sustained damage to her personal property, including valuable works of art, due to ongoing pipe leaks and water intrusions; the landlords claimed that the tenant had improperly terminated the lease and had to pay rent for the balance of the fixed term tenancy; a favorable settlement was reached after mediation and prior to filing a lawsuit

Neighbor Disputes

• Represented a Palos Verdes couple who brought suit regarding a property line dispute with their neighbors; the neighbors tore down our clients’ fence, and threatened to tear down our clients’ gazebo, both of which encroached on the neighbors’ property; a temporary restraining order was obtained and a favorable settlement was reached at mediation whereby our clients obtained a permanent, exclusive easement over the disputed area for a nominal amount
• Represented a Beverly Hills couple who lost part of their 25 foot privacy hedge as a result of their neighbor’s careless construction work.  The neighbor refused to compensate our clients for the damage and told them, “So, sue me;” our clients filed suit and a favorable settlement was reached at mediation
• Represented a condominium owner who was sued by his homeowner’s association for allegedly installing bathroom equipment into the building’s common area without the association’s permission; a favorable settlement was negotiated prior to mediation and prior to engaging in any formal discovery

Construction, Construction Defects and Mechanic’s Liens

• Represented a general contractor who adapted an historic building for residential apartment use in litigation against the building’s owners, who continuously made grandiose changes to the project but later refused to pay for them; the subcontractors also filed lawsuits against the owner and the general contractor; a favorable settlement was reached at mediation
• Represented a couple who purchased a home in Lake Sherwood and sued the seller for failing to disclose that the house suffered water intrusions and contained a noisy sump pump that was designed not as a back-up, emergency system, but rather as the property’s main drainage system, whereby outside ground water was intentionally brought into the house before being pumped out; a favorable settlement secured at mediation and prior to litigation being filed
• Represented a flooring company in a complex construction defect case regarding a large house in Bel Air; the flooring company was one of approximately 50 sub-contractors sued by the homeowners and the general contractor; the client was dismissed early in the litigation after writing many letters and meeting with the opposing parties’ experts
• Represented a commercial landlord in a lawsuit brought by a contractor to foreclose on a mechanic’s lien; a favorable settlement was reached prior to a scheduled mediation (and prior to the mediator’s fees becoming non refundable)

• Represented a German entertainment and distribution company in a breach of contract suit brought by an American film production company regarding an output agreement; a favorable resolution was reached at arbitration
• Represented an entertainment company in a federal court lawsuit brought by a record company which alleged that our client had wrongfully used the plaintiff’s music in connection with a television show; a lawsuit was dismissed by the plaintiff after informally demonstrating that the lawsuit lacked merit and threatening Rule 11 sanctions
• Represented a film production company that was sued in federal court for alleged copyright and trademark infringement days before the worldwide release of a theatrical motion picture; the plaintiff immediately sought a temporary restraining order preventing the release of the film; a temporary restraining order was denied and shortly thereafter the plaintiff’s lawsuit was dismissed pursuant to a Rule 12(b)(6) motion
• Represented a children’s entertainment company in a lawsuit against a company that licensed to our client broad worldwide exploitation rights of a well-known animated series; the licensor wrongly terminated the license agreement and attempted to extort higher payments from our client for rights that our client already had under the license agreement; a favorable settlement was reached at mediation
• Represented television producers who purchased two Pablo Picasso paintings from a well-known art dealer; unbeknownst to our clients, the dealer had the paintings on consignment from two different parties, refused to pay either of the consigners and then fled the country; multiple lawsuits ensued regarding who owned title to the paintings; a favorable settlement was reached with both consigners
• Represented television producers in connection with audits of participation statements issued to our clients in connection with a successful television series; a favorable settlement was reached without the need for litigation
• Represented a well-known radio personality’s daughter in a lawsuit against a former friend who was stalking and threatening her; a restraining order was obtained against the defendant

• Represented half of the partners in a business management firm in a business divorce with the other partners after the other partners committed numerous breaches of fiduciary duty and engaged in improper billing practices and gross mismanagement; a favorable settlement was reached at mediation
• Represented a construction company in a breach of contract lawsuit filed by a company which stages newly built homes with furniture and art work in order to assist in the sale; a favorable settlement was reached at mediation
• Represented an employee who was sexually harassed while working for a large automotive company and then fired in retaliation for reporting such behavior to her supervisors;a favorable settlement was negotiated after sending a demand letter to the company on behalf of our client and without the need for litigation
• Represented an individual who made loans to friends who then refused to repay those loans; a favorable settlement reached without the need for litigation

• Enforced a judgment in favor of our client by levying on various storage units containing the judgment debtor’s personal property, including valuable works of art, antiques, and collectibles; the judgment debtor had fled the country and placed the storage units under his mother’s name; court orders and writs of mandate were obtained and the sheriff levied on the storage units; o client then purchased the contents of the storage units at the sheriff’s auction and re-sold the items at private auction
• Enforced a judgment in favor of our client by levying on real property in the name of the judgment debtor’s wife; the judgment debtor had fraudulently transferred all of his real property into his wife’s name shortly after he defaulted on payments to our client pursuant to an agreed-upon payment plan; our client received all monies due under the judgment, including additional amounts for the attorneys’ fees incurred in connection with the enforcement proceedings
• In a pro-bono matter, enforced a series of judgments in favor of a married couple who were the victims of housing discrimination and in favor of the fair housing agency that prosecuted the case by levying on real property owned by the judgment debtor; a favorable settlement agreement was reached whereby the judgment debtor paid 100 percent of the outstanding judgments, all accrued interest and enforcement costs plus additional money for attorney’s fees incurred in connection with the enforcement proceedings; Greenberg Glusker then donated the additional money to the fair housing agency