Hon. Amy D. Hogue (Ret.)

Hon. Amy D. Hogue (Ret.) is a former Complex court jurist (L.A. Superior Court) known for her intellect, practical approach and high resolution rate.  Since joining Signature, she has mediated hundreds of cases involving commercial disputes, personal injuries, mass torts, insurance coverage, trademarks, copyrights, sexual assault/abuse, employment and class actions.

She is also honored to be an arbitrator on the AAA and ICDR commercial, international and employment arbitration panels, where her practice is to circulate written tentative rulings and informally resolve discovery and scheduling issues as soon as they arise.

JUDICIAL CAREER

In her 20 years on the bench, Judge Hogue was among the few judges who presided in a Complex litigation court (seven years) and the even fewer judges who sat in the Mosk Courthouse writs and receivers court (which included daily TROs and preliminary injunction motions for 40+ courtrooms) (two years).  She also served as Assistant Presiding Judge of Civil (two years) after presiding in a general jurisdiction civil for seven years.  In 2016, she sat on assignment in Division Three of the Second Appellate District and authored published opinions in tort and defamation cases.

In the Complex court, Judge Hogue handled disputes involving multi-tier insurance coverage, construction defects, real estate, securities, professional negligence, environmental contamination, coordinated mass torts (numerous bellwether trials), wage and hour class actions, and consumer class actions involving a broad range of products, from kombucha to life insurance.

On the bench, Judge Hogue worked to achieved efficiency by closely managing all discovery and motion practice (the same way she now approaches arbitrations, references, and special master assignments). She also authored and spearheaded the L.A. Superior Court’s adoption of three model wage and hour settlement agreements designed to streamline the court’s class action/PAGA settlement approval process.  Attorneys throughout California continue to use the model agreements on a regular basis.

Judge Hogue was honored to be a member of the Judicial Council’s Advisory Committee on Civil Jury Instructions (CACI) and to participate in the authorship of numerous instructions.  She also originated and taught more than 50 MCLE courses to judges and attorneys on diverse topics including product liability, torts, Anti-SLAPP, class actions, employment, PAGA, judicial leadership, evidence, media law, expert witnesses, misclassification of employees, discovery, motions, and jury selection.

PRIVATE PRACTICE

Before her elevation to the bench, Judge Hogue spent 23 years at the same law firm: 12 years as an equity partner at what is now known as Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and 11 years as a partner or associate at its predecessor, Lillick & McHose.

Judge Hogue was lead counsel in nine federal and state court jury trials.  After defending Samsung in a high-profile right of publicity jury trial, she became “famous in the California Bar for a delicate cross-examination of the Wheel of Fortune letter-turner and celebrity Vanna White,” according to The Atlantic Monthly. (TABLOID LAW, THE ATLANTIC).  She also represented plaintiffs and defendants in numerous bench trials and arbitrations and argued dozens of cases in the California Courts of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit.

Judge Hogue was co-Chair of Pillsbury L.A.’s intellectual property group and handled a wide variety of business cases involving contracts, frauds, real estate, securities, partnerships, and corporate governance disputes.  Her practice also included defending employment cases and prosecuting wrongful-termination actions on behalf of high-level executives.  Her client following included banks, real estate developers, manufacturers, automobile manufacturers, insurers, advertisers, and media companies.

As an intellectual property specialist, she prosecuted and defended trademark actions and defended copyright cases involving motion pictures (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Reds, Jaws) television shows (All in the Family, The Bob Newhart Show), and characters (James Bond, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).  She also defended defamation, right of publicity and privacy cases on behalf of the three major networks, local broadcasters, advertisers, and various publishers, including The National Enquirer.

Judge Hogue took on work as a mediator during her last four years of private practice, settling dozens of cases involving copyrights, employment, real estate, personal injury and commercial disputes.

AREAS OF EXTENSIVE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERTISE

Judge Hogue has mediated, litigated and presided over numerous cases in each of the following areas.

• Commercial, Corporate Governance, and Partnership Disputes
• Securities
• Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith (including health insurance, life insurance and complex multi-tier coverage disputes)
• Personal injury, Sexual Assault/Abuse, Product Liability and Mass Tort
• Professional Malpractice (lawyers, doctors, CPAs)
• Intellectual Property
• Employment
• Class Actions (consumer and employment)
• Defamation and Privacy