Phone: (818) 907-3285
Fax: (818) 981-4764
E-Mail: DGurnick@lewitthackman.com

Practice Areas

Education

University of California, Berkeley
Boalt Hall School of Law
Juris Doctor (1984)

University of California, Los Angeles
Bachelor of Arts, Summa Cum Laude (1978)

  • Phi Beta Kappa

Memberships

  • Admitted in California; District of Columbia; U.S. Central District of California; Ninth U.S. Circuit; Court of Appeals for Federal Circuit, U.S. Supreme Court
  • American Bar Association
      - Forum Committee on Franchising
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
  • San Fernando Valley Bar Association
      - Member, Board of Trustees

Awards

  • Named Top 25 Attorney by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal
  • Selected multiple years as a "Super Lawyer" by the Los Angeles Magazine

Past Professional Service

  • Adjunct Professor of Law, University of La Verne College of Law
  • San Fernando Valley Bar Association
       - President
       - Chair, Business Law Section
       - Chair, Litigation Section
  • Los Angeles County Bar Association
       - Trustee
  • President, Valley Community Legal Foundation
  • Editorial Staff, ABA Franchise Law Journal
  • Volunteer Judge Pro Tem, Los Angeles Municipal Court

David Gurnick is a certified specialist in franchise and distribution law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. His practice emphasizes franchising and distribution, licensing, trademarks and copyrights, trade secrets, e-commerce, antitrust and competition matters, and related litigation. Mr. Gurnick received his Bachelor's Degree in 1981 from UCLA where he graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree in 1984 from Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley. During law school David served as Judicial Extern to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Gurnick represents clients in all aspects of franchising and has testified as a franchise law expert. He is co-author of California Franchise Law Jury Instructions, published by Matthew Bender. He is also the author of Franchising Depositions, a text on taking and defending depositions in franchising cases, and numerous articles on franchising law. He has served as an adjunct professor of law, teaching semester courses in franchising, as well as a panelist at the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising, the International Franchise Association Annual Legal Symposium, and California Continuing Education of the Bar. He served on the editorial board of the American Bar Association Franchise Law Journal, and on the Franchise Law Committee of the State Bar of California.

Mr. Gurnick's practice also encompasses distribution and licensing, protection of trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, technology and e-commerce, antitrust and competition matters, insurance, and related litigation. Mr. Gurnick has been President of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Chair of the Association's Business Law Section, Chair of the Association's Litigation Section, a trustee of the University of West Los Angeles College of Law, President of the Valley Community Legal Foundation, and a trustee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Mr. Gurnick is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and Ninth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. He is a member of the Bar in California and the District of Columbia.

Publications

  • Author, “Caveat Franchisor”
       - Los Angeles Daily Journal, March 14, 2007
  • Co-Author, “A Crack in Arbitration Contracts”
       - Los Angeles Daily Journal, January 19, 2007
  • Co-Author, From the Mouths of Babes: Deposing Children in Civil Suits
       - Los Angeles Daily Journal, July 2006
  • Co-Author, “Avoiding the Franchise Surprise in IP Licensing Agreements”
       - ABA Intellectual Property Law Newsletter, Winter 2005
  • Author, Federal and California Franchise Regulation: An Era Of Change
       - Business Law Update, A Publication of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Business & Corporations Law Section, Fall 2005
  • Author, Pet Businesses: Not Just All Mom and Pop
       - San Fernando Valley Business Journal, May 2005
  • Author, Avoiding Accidental Franchises
       - Business Law Update, A Publication of the Los Angeles County Bar Association Business & Corporations Law Section, Summer 2004
  • Co-Author, “Be Prepared – Managing Catastrophic Risks in Franchise Systems”
       - ABA Franchise Law Journal, Winter 2002
  • “Franchising Depositions” (550 page treatise on depositions in franchising litigation)
       - Juris Pub., 2002
  • “Case History of American Business Franchise”
       - Oklahoma City Law Review, 1999
  • “Franchise Law”
       - ABA “Compleat” Lawyer, 1997
  • “Getting and Using Insurance to Defend Claims”
       - ABA Franchise Law Journal, 1996
  • “Intellectual Property in Franchising: Today’s Domestic Issues”
       - Oklahoma City Law Review, 1995
  • “Accountant’s Role in Assisting Franchisors”
       - CPA Journal, 1992
  • “Nuts and Bolts of Trademark Registration”
       - ABA Franchise Law Journal, 1991
  • Co-Author, “Franchise Law Jury Instructions”
       - Matthew Bender, 1989
  • “Introduction to Copyright for Business Practitioners”
       - Daily Journal Report, 1988
  • Co-Author, “Minimizing Vicarious Liability of Franchisors for Acts of Franchisees”
       - ABA Franchise Law Journal, 1987

 

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