For the last 42 years, Terry has tried class actions to completion as well as jury and bench trials in federal and state courts throughout the nation and its territories, and has defended hundreds of securities industry arbitrations nationwide. He has cultivated and maintained a broad litigation practice that runs from business disputes through professional malpractice and personal injury defense.
Terry Ross
Terry Ross information
- J.D., University of Southern California (1973)
- B.A., Stanford University (1970)
- California (1973)
- All United States District Courts in California
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- Pro hac vice in various federal circuits and U.S. territories
- Supreme Court of the United States
Recent Representative Results
- Successful defense on a $493 Million Claim in a 37-day AAA Securities Arbitration; in addition, client recovered $2 Million in attorneys’ fees from Claimants.
- FINRA Arbitration dismissal of $12 Million Claim.
- Defense of Engineering Firm in a $100,000,000 5-week Jury Trial in Denver resulting in a Plaintiff’s verdict of $1.
- Defense Judgment for community bank on $22 Million Claim After 29-day Bench Trial And Judgment in Favor of bank on its $650,000 Counterclaim.
- Summary Judgment against a $30 Million Wrongful Foreclosure Claim in Federal Court, affirmed by Ninth Circuit.
- Securities Class Action Tried to Verdict.
Published Cases
- Dale Burns v. Prudential Securities, Inc., 145 Ohio App. 3d 424 (2001) (in a securities case alleging unauthorized trading by 250 putative class members, defendant appealed a trial court order certifying the plaintiff class; court of appeal affirmed the order granting class certification).
- Steven Clark v. Prudential Securities, 44 Cal. App. 4th 1498 (1995), (court reversed trial court order denying securities brokerage firm’s motion to compel arbitration), rev. granted, 50 Cal. Rptr. 2d 74 (1996), rev. dismissed, 56 Cal. Rptr. 2d 49 (1996)
- Jean Schmitz v. Carlos Zilveti, Nicholas S. Meris, and Prudential-Bache Securities, Inc., 20 F.3d 1043 (9th Cir. 1994) (district court denied plaintiff’s motion to vacate arbitration award and confirmed defense award to judgment; Ninth Circuit reversed based on apparent arbitrator bias)
- Jepson, Inc. v. Makita Corp., 34 F.3d 1321 (7th Cir. 1994) (Seventh Circuit affirmed district court’s order dismissing complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 9(b) for failure to plead predicate acts of mail fraud and wire fraud with specificity).
- Shearson Lehman Brothers, Inc. v. M&L Investments, 10 F.3d 1510 (10th Cir. 1993) (Tenth Circuit reversed trial court’s order dismissing broker-dealer’s breach of contract claim, finding that broker’s violation of Regulation T did not provide customer with an affirmative defense on a claim that he failed to maintain adequate collateral for securities positions).
- Marshall Mars v. Wedbush Morgan Securities, Inc., 231 Cal. App. 3d 1608 (1991) (court of appeal affirmed trial court’s order granting summary judgment to the defense, finding that a clearing broker is not responsible for the actions of the introducing broker-dealer).
- Eluid Torres v. Johnson Lines, 932 F.2d 748 (9th Cir. 1991) (Ninth Circuit affirmed district court’s judgment in favor of the defendant because severely injured longshoreman failed to establish that vessel breached its duty of care, failed to establish that exclusion of expert testimony was error, and failed to establish prejudice in connection with the erroneous admission of evidence in light of a curative jury instruction).
- Bernard Lewis v. Prudential-Bache Securities, 179 Cal. App. 3d (1986) (court affirmed trial court order enforcing mandatory arbitration of putative plaintiff class action).
- Unioil, Inc. v. E.F. Hutton & Co., 809 F.2d 548 (9th Cir. 1986) (Ninth Circuit affirmed order imposing $294,000 in Rule 11 sanctions against plaintiff’s counsel as a result of plaintiff’s failure to conduct a reasonable inquiry before initiating suit).
- Bradley Eaton v. Connolly-Pacific, Inc., 134 Cal. App. 3d 825 (1982) (Court of appeal affirmed trial court’s order dismissing plaintiff’s complaint on the ground that plaintiff was not a seaman as defined by the Jones Act, 46 U.S.C. § 668).
- Lecturer at California State University, Long Beach (topics: Legal and Regulatory Environment of Business; Ethics)
- Fellow, Litigation Counsel of America
- Selected to Southern California Best Lawyers in America© List (Employment and Securities/Capital Markets Law) (2020)
- Listed in Best Lawyers of America©
- Selected to Southern California Super Lawyers List (Thomson Reuters) (a designation limited to 5% of attorneys in a geographic region)
- National Futures Association Arbitrator
- AV® Preeminent™ peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell (highest level of professional excellence)
- Managing Shareholder of Keesal, Young & Logan (1988–2014)
Terry Ross articles
