Charles G. Bakaly, Jr., Esq.

Charles G. Bakaly, Jr., Esq. is described by both plaintiff and defense attorneys as an extremely honest, tenacious, and experienced mediator with particular expertise in complex matters. Mr. Bakaly is well known for his uncanny ability to bring parties together with creative solutions to their disputes.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• Bankruptcy and Insolvency
• Business/Commercial
• Catastrophic Personal Injury
• Civil Rights
• Class Actions
• Construction
• Employment
• Entertainment
• Environment
• Healthcare
• Insurance and Bad Faith
• Intellectual Property, Patents & Trademarks
• Product Liability and Mass Torts
• Professional Liability
• Real Estate
• Securities (Trusts and Estates)

Representative Matters

Business Commercial

• Breach of fiduciary duties by family members involving misappropriation of over $30 million of real estate and the establishment of a constructive trust
• Dispute between competitors alleging unfair competition and predatory pricing issues
• Dispute over distribution agreement involving multi million dollar settlement over a flawed hot water dispenser
• Dissolution of $29 million in partnership assets in a highly emotional dispute over three real estate and business developments; the resolution included a sophisticated division of the properties, with tax considerations
• Several breach of contract and fraud cases involving multimillion-dollar settlements

Class Actions

• Actions brought by SEC against individuals alleging massive securities fraud
• Class action by telephone card users claiming violations of credit card statutes
• Class actions involving wage and hour violations for breaks and lunch periods and for not paying promptly upon termination
• Class action against large national retailer involving wage and hour violations and overtime claims by employees who contended they were not exempt as managers resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement
• Class action securities fraud case arising out of a failed acquisition in which plaintiff settled for $122 million (7-day mediation)

Construction

• Landslide liability dispute between HOA and association members for destruction of homes within the association
• Several earthquake damage cases involving private residences and commercial buildings in which the extent of construction repairs was disputed, as well as insurance coverage issues and bad faith allegations
• Several environmental hazard cases over buyer or seller's liability for cleanup
• Several landowner and lessee disputes over liability for construction and cleanup of toxic waste, including issues of insurance coverage and bad faith allegations

Employment

• Age and national origin discrimination cases against a national food company and a large national retailer
• Claim for discharge in retaliation for whistle blowing concerning failure to properly construct a public project
• Claims of racial harassment resulting in multi-million dollar settlement
• Class action against casino for unlawfully maintaining a tip-pool, resulting in million dollar settlement
• Class action involving national origin discrimination in hiring of Hispanic employees in California chain of high-end restaurants
• Disability discrimination action brought by an employee against a large motion picture company
• Disability discrimination for failure to accommodate and retaliation
• Hostile work environment and sexual discrimination claim against a major international airline

Environmental

• Claim by more than 300 plaintiffs alleging discharge of dangerous chemicals into water supply causing various forms of cancer and other serious diseases
• Liability for causing wildfire by improperly inspecting utility lines
• One-hundred-fifty-three plaintiff case against a leading aerospace company due to carcinogenic pollution released by rocket engines, resulting in a $30 million settlement
• Several environmental hazard cases over buyer or seller's liability for cleanup
• Toxic tort case, pending for more than seven years, involving more than 350 individual plaintiffs for polluting water and causing various diseases

Healthcare

• Alleged failures to pay benefits claims including allegations of emotional distress, bad faith, and punitive damages in organ transplant cases
• Failure to diagnose and treat claim against an HMO involving allegations of bad faith and violations of Business and Professional Code §17200
• Multimillion dollar settlement against HMO for failure to pay for medical treatment and failure to authorize care

Intellectual Property

• Copyright infringement claims between motion picture companies
• Dispute between a technology corporation and former key employees who were charged with stealing trade secrets and illegally competing with their former employer
• Multimillion-dollar breach of contract claim for failure to deliver a website for a foreign e-commerce firm, including misrepresentation claims and cross-claims for licensing violations
• Multimillion-dollar trademark and trade dress infringement claim between manufacturers with antitrust cross-claims
• Patent infringement and antitrust case ending in business solution and multi-million dollar payment after eight days of mediation

Personal Injury

• Wrongful death auto accidents
• Crush injury by crane malfunction
• Several wrongful death aviation crash cases
• Two wrongful death cases resulting from boat accident against engine maker and guidance systems maker

Securities

• Class action securities fraud case arising out of company’s fraudulently inflating its earnings, resulting in settlement of $67 million in cash and stock
• Multi-million dollar securities class action regarding misrepresentations affecting stock price of a publicly held company
• Multi-million dollar securities class action regarding Section 10(b)(5) violations in financial services industry (8-day mediation)