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Bradford Hughes is an accomplished trial lawyer who also counsels commercial and transportation businesses on the management and avoidance of risk.

Brad has been named a Top 100 Lawyer in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal and is counted on by Fortune 500 companies, closely held businesses, emerging upstarts, and individuals facing litigation. Outside of the courtroom, Brad is devoted to meeting the needs of growing and established businesses facing complex challenges.

Named a 2023 Business of Law Visionary by the Los Angeles Times, Brad collaborates with clients to achieve profit-maximizing results, including artful management of client time, resources, and human capital, resulting in client saving/recovery of tens of millions of dollars. Brad has experience handling matters in intellectual property, cyber litigation, contractual disputes involving trade secrets/non-solicitation/non-competes, real estate disputes, and fiduciary/shareholder matters. Brad also defends class action lawsuits including those arising out of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and many others.

Brad leads Clark Hill’s Transportation practice and manages emergency accident response teams nationwide. Bringing proficiency with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations, he defends clients in catastrophic accidents, including wrongful death, traumatic brain injury, quadriplegic and paraplegic matters.

Education

B.A., University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, 2003
J.D., University of San Diego School of Law, San Diego, California, 2006

Recognitions

2023 Top 100 Lawyers in Los Angeles – Los Angeles Business Journal

Selected to the Southern California Rising Stars list from 2014-2021

2020 Leaders in the Law Nominee – Los Angeles Business Journal

Super Lawyers Rising Stars Southern California 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020 Top 100

AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell

Litigation Management Institute (LMI) Certified Legal Management Professional, 2015

Named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as a Leader of Influence: Litigator and Trial Lawyer (2023)

Memberships

Defense Research Institute – Trucking Law Committee (Vice-Chairman)

American Bar Association – Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee (Vice-Chair)

Trucking Industry Defense Association

Transportation Lawyers Association

California Moving & Storage Association

Los Angeles County Bar Association

Association of Southern California Defense Counsel

CLM Claims College – School of Transportation, Faculty

State Bar Licenses

California, District of Columbia

Court Admissions

U.S. District Ct., C.D. of California
U.S. District Ct., S.D. of California
U.S. District Ct., E.D. of California
U.S. District Ct., N.D. of California
U.S. Court of Appeals, 4th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court

Recent Experience

Wells Fargo v. Baker (2012) 204 Cal.App.4th 1063

Bradford represented Wells Fargo Bank, NA who sued California residents pursuant to California’s Sister State and Foreign Money-Judgments Act. The California residents filed a Motion to Vacate the judgment on the grounds that Wells Fargo improperly availed itself of Iowa’s long-arm statute as the bank was not a “resident of Iowa” and thus could not utilize the long-arm statute for service of process. The superior court granted the motion and vacated the judgment. The Court of Appeal reversed and remanded, holding that the requirement that foreign corporations hold a certificate of authority to qualify as a “resident of Iowa,” as it pertained to national banks, was preempted by the National Bank Act because it infringed upon the power of a national bank to sue as fully as natural persons. The Court ordered that Judgment be entered in favor of Wells Fargo for $998,111.15.

Pun & McGeady, et al. v. Marcum LLP – Court of Appeals of California, Fourth District, Division Three – 2019 WL 2284727

Bradford represented Marcum LLP at trial, and on appeal, against a complaint filed by Ken Pun and Pun & McGeady, LLP (Plaintiffs) regarding a 71-page purchase agreement by which Marcum sold to plaintiffs’ various assets and rights. The purchase agreement contained several noncompetition provisions, which Plaintiffs sought to rescind. Following a bench trial, the trial court determined the noncompetition provisions were unenforceable but severable, and consequently the court enforced the remainder of the purchase agreement. The court awarded Marcum royalties under the purchase agreement along with the attorneys’ fees and costs that had been incurred in the litigation over the purchase agreement in the total sum of $734,836. In a unanimous decision, the Court of Appeal affirmed the ruling of the trial court and concluded that the invalid provisions of the purchase agreement were properly severed, and Plaintiffs did not have standing to sue for unfair competition.

  • Successfully defended dispute regarding breaches of fiduciary duty in a closely owned business arising out of complex debt structuring disagreement.
  • Successfully advised clients through COVID-19.
  • Defended start up business against claims of breach of contract and misappropriation of trade secrets.
  • Prosecuted breach of contract case against professional services provider resulting in more than $2,500,000 recovered for client.
  • Prosecuted UCC-secured rights on behalf of creditor recovering more than $1,000,000 in assets.
  • Successfully defended a debt-collector against claims of defamation and misappropriation of consumer accounts involving numerous debt-collection entities and Federally chartered credit union.
  • Obtained defense verdict in TCPA case involving dispute over use of an auto-dialer to collect consumer debt.
  • Successfully resolved FDCPA class action in pre-litigation settlement hearing.
  • Advised clients on restructuring of labor classification and avoidance of potential Private Attorney General Act claim.
  • Successfully defended numerous wrongful death cases involving passenger vehicles, motorcycles, pedestrians, buses, and warehousemen.
  • Defended traumatic brain injury and mild traumatic brain injury cases involving OSHA-involved disputes, commercial motor vehicles and loading dock accidents.
  • Defended motor carriers in catastrophic personal injury actions, including permanent disability, amputee, and paraplegic matters.
  • Successfully prosecuted subrogation matters involving workers’ compensation liens, property damage, and contribution recovery.
  • Counseled clients on credit structuring and bankruptcy matters, including presentation of creditors in Chapters 7, 11 and 13 proceedings, including before the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Court of Appeal.
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