Gordon P. Katz is a member of the Litigation Department and focuses his practice on general business, real estate, commercial, employment, media and entertainment, and intellectual property litigation and arbitration.
Mr. Katz has litigated a broad range of cases. Among the clients he has represented are: officers and directors in securities class actions; venture capital firms and corporate officers in breach of fiduciary duty suits; a well-known rock music group in a copyright action involving the group’s early recordings; an anesthesia practice group in an antitrust challenge to the group’s exclusive contract with Massachusetts’ second largest hospital; a publicly held REIT in a suit over the priority of the REIT’s $20 million security interest in health care receivables; and computer software and other companies in trade secret and breach of contract actions against competitors and former employees hired by competitors.
Mr. Katz also has represented national hotel companies in convention contract, management agreement and other suits; travel companies in consumer class actions; financial institutions in asset recovery, workout and lender liability litigation; real estate owners and developers in suits and arbitrations involving partnership agreements and commercial leases; a bankruptcy trustee in an action for wrongful franchise termination; colleges and universities in employment and real estate litigation; and book publishers, motion picture companies and television networks in suits raising antitrust, copyright and First Amendment issues.
Mr. Katz has also assisted clients conduct internal investigations and has represented clients before governmental investigative bodies.
Recent Representative Engagements
- representation of major software developer in connection with multi-million dollar claims brought by health benefits processing customer
- representation of television network in defense of copyright infringement and idea misappropriation claims brought by author alleging to have created concept for television program
- representation of sellers in connection with $15 million claim of breach of warranties and representations arising out of $60 million sale of aircraft engine parts manufacturing business
- representation of national media company in $15 million damages suit brought by shareholders of acquired company for breach of duty of good faith of acquisition agreement's "earn out" provision
- representation of major airline in suit brought by purported national class of skycaps alleging violations of the Massachusetts "tipping" statue and other wage and hour statutes
- representation of Boston-based insurance underwriter in claims for wrongful termination and defamation brought by general agent
- defense of major Boston educational institution against claims of age and disability discrimination by tenured professor
- supervision of internal investigation of alleged wage and hour violations for national employer
- representation of national parking company in arbitration to determine the fair market rent for Boston's largest parking facility, the Government Center Garage
- representation of national hotel company in products liability suit against the maker of defective bathroom lighting fixtures used in resorts and other hotels throughout North America
- defense of national beverage company in copyright infringement actions in New York, Miami and Los Angeles brought by persons claiming to be the authors of jingles or other songs used in client's radio and television advertising campaigns
- defense of television network in copyright claim for unauthorized use of photographs of Elvis Presley
- prosecution of securities fraud claim of venture capital unit of Boston-based financial institution against principal of portfolio company who obtained client's investment in company by misrepresenting background and company's financials
Mr. Katz’s reported cases include:
- Connectu LLC v. Zuckerberg, 522 F.3d 82 (1st Cir. 2008)
- Hiller Cranberry Prods. v. Koplovsky, 165 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 1999)
- In re Mark Bell Furniture Warehouse, Inc., 992 F.2d 7 (1st Cir. 1993)
- Forward v. Thorogood, 985 F.2d 604 (1st Cir. 1993)
- In re Atlantic Financial Management, Inc., 784 F.2d 29 (1st Cir. 1986), cert. denied, 481 U.S. 1072 (1987)
- In re Evangelist, 760 F.2d 27 (1st Cir. 1985)
- Vergara v. The Coca-Cola Company, 2011 WL 744098 (S.D. Fla. 2011)
- McGee v. Cartoon Network, Inc., 2011 WL 722470 (D. Mass. 2011)
- Fireman v. News America Marketing In-Store, Inc., 2009 WL 3080716 (D. Mass. 2009)
- Laughlin v. CGI Technologies & Solutions, Inc., 602 F.Supp.2d 262 (D. Mass. 2009)
- Travers v. JetBlue Airways Corp., 2009 WL 2242391 (D. Mass. 2009)
- Dunn v. Brown, 2007 WL 2828869 (D. Mass 2007)
- Fleet Development Ventures, L.L.C. v. Herman, 2002 U.S. Dist. Lexis 13579 (D. Mass. July 25, 2002)
- Home Prods. Int’l - N. Am. v. Peoplesoft USA, Inc., 201 F.R.D. 42 (D. Mass. 2001)
- Wells v. Dartmouth Bancorp, Inc., 813 F. Supp. 126 (D. N.H. 1993)
- Morgan v. Colonial Gas Company, 772 F. Supp. 693 (D.Mass. 1991)
- Smith v. Winter Place, LLC, 447 Mass. 363, 851 N.E.2d 417 (2006)
- Krasne v. Tedeschi & Grasso, 436 Mass. 103, 762 N.E. 2d 841 (2002)
- Yakubowicz v. Paramount Pictures Corp., 404 Mass. 624, 536 N.E.2d 1067 (1989)
- Beth Israel Hospital Assoc. v. Board of Registration in Medicine, 401 Mass. 172, 515 N.E.2d 574 (1987)
- Nat’l Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Rose, 53 Mass. App. Ct. 910, 760 N.E.2d 791 (2002)
- Pollen v. Aware, Inc., 53 Mass. App. Ct. 823, 762 N.E.2d 900 (2002)
- Carr v. Transgas, Inc., 35 Mass. App. Ct. 581, 623, N.E. 2d 505 (1993)
- St. Louis v. Baystate Medical Center, Inc., 30 Mass. App. Ct. 393, 568 N.E. 2d 1181 (1991)
- Alexander & Alexander, Inc. v. Danahy, 21 Mass. App.Ct. 488, 488 N.E. 2d 22 (1986)
- Arnold v. Flook, 38 Media Law Rptr. 1807 (Mass. Sup. Ct. 2010)
- Bonome v. Kaysen, 32 Media Law Rptr. 1520 (Mass. Sup. Ct. 2004)
- Thomas Vallely For Congress, FEC Advisory Opinion, No. 1985-19
Mr. Katz serves as general counsel to the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau and represents hotels, restaurants and others in the hospitality industry. Mr. Katz has also served as counsel to a number of political campaigns in Massachusetts, and is an associate member of the New England Press Association.
After law school graduation, he served as law clerk for Chief Justice Edward F. Hennessey of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts.