A Manatt team led by Craig de Recat and Emil Petrossian successfully obtained summary judgment for client Gensler, one of the world’s leading architecture and design firms, in a dispute related to the development of the Shore Hotel in Santa Monica, California. The hotel’s owner and developer, Sunshine Enterprises, failed to receive proper approval from the California Coastal Commission before initiating construction of the hotel. After being penalized nearly $16 million by the Coastal Commission—one of the largest enforcement fines in Coastal Commission history—Sunshine filed two successive lawsuits against Gensler and various other defendants involved with the hotel project. In the initial lawsuit, Manatt secured a full dismissal with prejudice on demurrer and subsequently defeated Sunshine’s appeal. Sunshine then filed a second lawsuit, claiming that Gensler was contractually obligated to indemnify Sunshine in the full amount of the penalty imposed by the Coastal Commission.
After nearly two years of litigation, on May 5, 2022, Judge Rupert A. Byrdsong of the Los Angeles County Superior Court granted Gensler’s summary judgment motion in full, securing a major win for Gensler and Manatt.
The Manatt team representing Gensler also included Associate Ivette Zamora and Senior Paralegal Tiffany Olson.