Sheppard is in demand among public and private companies, financial institutions, government entities, and senior executives for its trial-ready counsel. At the forefront of the practice are Los Angeles-based Sascha Henry, a go-to advocate for high-stakes consumer class actions and product disputes, including antitrust and false advertising claims; San Diego’s John Brooks, active in business trials, regulatory-adjacent disputes and arbitration; and New York’s Robert Friedman, immersed in corporate litigation and internal investigations, including matters concerning trade secrets, software theft, and securities. The practice’s trial prowess was bolstered in 2025 with the arrivals of Joshua Hess in San Francisco, who works primarily on securities and antitrust litigation, including civil and criminal price-fixing cases; Constantine Z. Pamphilis in Houston, with deep experience in defamation, civil rights, insurance recovery litigation, and appeals; and Josh Rosenberg in Century City, who brings a successful track record in breach of contract, copyright and trademark infringement, and employment disputes.
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Key clients
- California Association of Health Plans
- Cajun Global LLC
- Prospect Medical Holdings
- Axos Bank
- Silvergate Capital Corporation
- FAT Brands
- Oscar Health, Inc.
- Deckers Outdoor Corporation
- The County of Los Angeles
- Telekom Srbija
- The County of Los Angeles Fire Department
- Moxie Partners, Inc.
- Athena Cosmetics, Inc.
- Boston Foundry, Inc.
- Ricola USA, Inc.
- Atticus LLC
Work highlights
Acted on a case of first impression involving a novel issue. The California Senate Bill 510, which became effective January 1, 2022, requires health plans to cover the costs of diagnostic and screening COVID-19 testing, retroactively to March 4, 2020. After the Department of Managed Health Care issued an All Plan Letter setting deadlines for compliance, the California Medical Association sued the Department of Managed Health Care, challenging the law on constitutional ground. We represented the California Association of Health Plans in the lawsuit, and in December 2024, the court found in our client’s favor.
Secured a Georgia Court of Appeals ruling for Cajun Global LLC (d/b/a Church’s Chicken) establishing that attorney-client privilege can attach to communications with an unlicensed attorney where the client reasonably believes the lawyer is authorized to practice, defeating a bid by Royal Texas, LLC to compel production of privileged communications with Cajun Global’s chief legal officer. Affirming the trial court, the appellate court held that corporations need not investigate in-house counsel’s bar status so long as their belief in counsel’s authority is reasonable.
Represented Axos Bank CEO Greg Garrabrants in litigation against a former internal auditor for misappropriating his financial and personal information, securing a jury finding of privacy invasion and California Penal Code §§ 496 and 502 violations that supported an attorneys’ fee award of nearly $1.4m despite only nominal damages sought. The judgment was later reversed on appeal and remanded, but the matter resolved on the eve of retrial with a favorable settlement and an apology letter to Mr. Garrabrants.
Practice head
John Brooks; Robert Friedman; Marisa Miller
Other key lawyers
Mohammad Keshavarzi; Kent Raygor; Polly Towill; Joshua Hess; Constantine Z. Pamphilis; Josh Rosenberg; Sascha Henry;