Hon. Amy D. Hogue (Ret.)

Hon. Amy D. Hogue (Ret.) is a distinguished former complex court jurist known for her practical approach, friendly demeanor, and insightful legal analyses. She had extensive experience as a private mediator prior to her judicial appointment and routinely settled cases throughout her judicial career and at Signature Resolution.

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 Lillick & McHose. In her last few years at Pillsbury, Judge Hogue successfully mediated settlements in over 40 cases.

In private practice, Judge Hogue was lead counsel in numerous federal and state court jury trials. She also represented plaintiffs and defendants in bench trials and arbitrations and argued more than 20 cases in the California Courts of Appeals, the California Supreme Court, and the Ninth Circuit.

Judge Hogue prosecuted and defended a wide variety of commercial cases involving contracts, frauds, lender liability, intellectual property, real estate, partnerships, and corporate governance disputes for clients in the banking, real estate, manufacturing, advertising, and media businesses. She also prosecuted wrongful-termination actions for high-level executives and defended numerous employment cases.

Judge Hogue also defended television networks and publishers in scores of defamation, right of publicity, and invasion-of-privacy actions. She handled copyright infringement 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). As described by The Atlantic Monthly, Judge Hogue is “famous in the California Bar for a delicate cross-examination of the Wheel of Fortune letter-turner and celebrity Vanna White.” (Tabloid Law, The Atlantic).

In her 20 years on the bench, Judge Hogue presided for seven years in a complex civil litigation court, two years in writs and receivers, and several years in a general jurisdiction civil court. She also sat on assignment in Division Three of the Second Appellate District for six months and served two years as Assistant Supervising Judge of Civil of the L.A. Superior Court.

As a complex litigation jurist, Judge Hogue presided over and closely managed pre-trial proceedings in class actions, complex business cases, and coordinated mass torts to maximize efficiency by making herself immediately accessible to solve problems and facilitate the attorneys’ progress.

Just before leaving the bench, Judge Hogue spearheaded the L.A. Superior Court’s adoption of three model wage and hour settlement agreements, now posted on THE SUPERIOR COURT WEBSITE.

Judge Hogue drafted the model agreements and then assembled and Co-chaired the 2022 Ad Hoc Wage and Hour Committee of 16 plaintiff and defense practitioners who approved the drafts with minor changes. Lawyers, judges, and mediators throughout California are using the model agreements as a tool to simplify settlement negotiations, reduce wordsmithing, and streamline the courts’ settlement approval process.

Judge Hogue’s expertise on a wide range of legal issues was enhanced by her four-year stint on the Judicial Council’s Advisory Committee on Civil Jury Instructions (CACI). She also chaired the L.A. Superior Court’s Media Committee for 15 years and served on its Judicial Education Civil Subcommittee, teaching more than 50 courses to judges and attorneys on diverse topics including Anti-SLAPP, class actions, employment, PAGA, judicial leadership, product liability, torts, evidence, media, expert witnesses, misclassification of employees, discovery, motions, and jury selection.

Judge Hogue’s depth of expertise includes the following practice areas:

Special Master and Case Management Services
As a complex litigation judge, Judge Hogue offered “concierge” service to the attorneys, always available on short notice to help guide them through difficult discovery and case management issues. Judge Hogue routinely used informal conferences to help formulate multi-phase case management plans, avoid unnecessary motion practice, and resolve discovery disputes. As a private neutral, Judge Hogue offers the same services either as Referee or Special Master.

Consumer Class Actions
As a complex litigation judge, Judge Hogue managed thousands of consumer class actions involving a broad range of products, from kombucha to life insurance.

Wage and Hour Class Actions and PAGA
Judge Hogue has approved settlements of thousands of employment class actions, including the contested $100 million settlement in Marko v. DoorDash (BC659841). Judge Hogue was the driving force behind the L.A. Superior Court’s 2022 adoption of three model wage and hour settlement agreements and model class notices, now used throughout the state.

Product Liability and Mass Torts
Judge Hogue oversaw numerous jury trials involving personal injuries and allegedly defective products such as asbestos, medical implants, and chemicals. She has extensive experience in motions brought under Sargon Enterprises, Inc. v. University of Southern California.

Employment
In private practice, Judge Hogue prosecuted and defended employee claims of discrimination and wrongful termination. As an independent calendar judge, she presided over scores of employment disputes and settled many of them as a voluntary or mandatory settlement judge.

Construction, Real Estate Disputes, and Landlord/Tenant
Judge Hogue managed construction disputes and construction defect cases such as Wilshire Vermont Housing Partners, LP v. Taisei Construction Corporation BC504178. She has also handled disputes involving landlords and tenants, neighbors, and title to real property.

Copyrights, Trademarks, Trade Secrets and Entertainment Cases
In private practice, Judge Hogue was lead counsel in copyright infringement trials involving music, television series, and motion pictures.  Her practice included other intellectual property disputes in the entertainment, advertising, and publishing industries and trademark infringement and trade secrets cases for clients in the manufacturing, financial and biotech industries.

On the bench, Judge Hogue adjudicated high-profile entertainment industry matters including a bench trial adjudicating rights to the successful motion picture 300 (Nunnari v. Cecchi Gori, BC390245) and a dispute over royalties owed to the creators of the television show, Home Improvement (Wind Dancer Production Group v. Walt Disney Pictures BC501953).

Defamation, Invasion of Privacy, Rights of Publicity, and Anti-SLAPP
Judge Hogue is a recognized expert on defamation, rights of publicity, and invasion-of-privacy actions, having handled scores of these cases in private practice, many involving celebrities. Judge Hogue has shared her expertise by teaching at least a dozen courses on defamation and Anti-SLAPP to judges and attorneys and authoring a published appellate decision addressing the scope of discovery for an Anti-SLAPP motion against an anonymous plaintiff, John Doe 2 v. Superior Court (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th 1300.

Environmental
Judge Hogue presided over personal injury cases involving chemical and petroleum contamination of air, soil, and water including petroleum tank farm leakage, PCBs, electricity, and toxic fumes from an industrial chemical fire.

In the complex litigation court and as a writs and receivers judge, she analyzed and decided CEQA and Coastal Act matters.

Healthcare
Judge Hogue managed and adjudicated numerous healthcare industry disputes including provider reimbursement claims against HMOs, bad faith actions against healthcare insurers, and consumer class actions against residential care providers and healthcare insurers.

Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith
Judge Hogue has experience adjudicating complicated multi-level insurance coverage disputes, interpreting the language in primary, excess, and umbrella policies in Riddell v. Ace American Insurance Co. BC482698 (helmet manufacturer’s coverage case for defense and indemnity of NFL football players’ head injuries) and Montrose Chemical Corporation v. Canadian Universal Insurance Co. BC005158 (chemical company’s coverage action for DDT contamination).  She has also presided over class actions involving life insurance and challenges to insurance rate increases.

Professional Malpractice
Judge Hogue presided over medical and legal malpractice trials and adjudicated physicians’ petitions for writs of mandate against the Medical Board. She also adjudicated complex issues of attorney-client privilege in legal malpractice actions and rendered decisions in cases against accountants, appraisers, lawyers, and other professionals arising out of Ponzi schemes.

Sexual Assault Claims
Judge Hogue presided over sexual abuse cases including hundreds of actions against a UCLA gynecologist and a jury trial involving one of many victims of a Sears employee’s surreptitious videotaping of women’s restrooms and changing rooms.

On assignment at the Court of Appeal, Judge Hogue authored a published appellate decision affirming a $14 million judgment against a West Hollywood nightclub and finding, as a matter of law, that security officers on the premises owed a duty of reasonable care to prevent the sexual assault of a patron in a restroom. (Janice H. v. 696 N. Robertson, LLC (2016) 1 Cal.App.5th 586).

Securities, Corporate Governance, and Partnership Disputes
In private practice and on the bench, Judge Hogue obtained experience in securities class action cases, corporate governance, and partnership disputes.

Title Nine
As a writs and receivers judge, Judge Hogue presided over several challenges to academic expulsions for sexual misconduct, such as a Trojan kicker’s effort to overturn his expulsion from the University of Southern California for domestic violence, Boermeister v. Carry et al.(BS170473), currently before California Supreme Court.