Nathan J. Novak is a partner at Cole Pedroza LLP. Nathan has tried and handled a diverse portfolio of civil litigation in federal and state courts and before arbitrators and administrative tribunals throughout the United States.
Nathan handles all aspects of civil litigation, including trial, arbitration, mediation, and civil writs and appeals. He has handled a wide range of matters, including complex commercial and business litigation, professional liability litigation, employment litigation, disputes between partners or shareholders, real estate litigation, healthcare litigation, insurance coverage litigation, and class actions.
A Certified Fraud Examiner, Nathan combines his financial and accounting proficiency with his litigation experience and leverages those skills particularly on cases involving sophisticated finance, accounting, or tax issues. Nathan has also served as an adviser and resource to corporate clients on issues related to Nathan’s financial expertise.
Nathan’s representative trials and matters include:
- Mark Dyne v. PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Defended Big Four accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in a nearly five-year-long litigation arising out of alleged professional negligence (malpractice) on the part of PwC accountants and tax advisers. Plaintiff, a ground-floor investor in Skype, alleged that PwC personnel were negligent in advising Plaintiff regarding structure and tax implications of a complicated international investment vehicle and that said negligence caused Plaintiff to pay ordinary income tax rates rather than capital gains rates on gain from the investment. Nathan served as second-chair trial counsel. After a 16-day jury trial in Los Angeles Superior Court, the jury returned a defense verdict after deliberating just two hours.
- Karen Sun v. U.S. Bank Equipment Finance. Defended subsidiary of U.S. Bank in contract dispute and gender discrimination and harassment suit brought by one of its former salespeople. Plaintiff alleged that she was sexually harassed and discriminated against with regard to salary and incentive compensation on the basis of gender and alleged harassment by her direct supervisor, and that she was denied incentive compensation for a deal she closed prior to leaving the company. Nathan served as second-chair trial counsel. After a seven-day trial, the court rendered a defense verdict on all tort claims.
- DHL. Served as counsel for international express mail and freight shipper DHL in dozens of actions. Defended DHL in class actions alleging that sale of DHL’s “Shipment Value Protection” (SVP) constituted the unlawful and unlicensed sale of insurance. In Wayne v. DHL Worldwide Express, won summary judgment on grounds that SVP was not insurance as a matter of law, which was later affirmed in the Court of Appeal. Defended DHL in approximately 15 actions filed in various jurisdictions across the United States by DHL’s “resellers”—small and medium-sized freight and express mail forwarders who shipped their customers’ packages through the DHL network—when those resellers’ agreements with DHL were terminated as a result of DHL’s cessation of domestic freight and express services in 2008. Resellers throughout the United States alleged claims under contract, tort, and franchise law.
Nathan graduated Creighton University with a B.S.B.A. in Finance and in Accounting summa cum laude and graduated Georgetown University Law Center cum laude. While at Georgetown, Nathan was a member of the Appellate Litigation Clinic and the Journal of Law and Public Policy.
Prior to joining Cole Pedroza, Nathan was Of Counsel at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where he was a member of its Complex Litigation & Dispute Resolution group for nearly 16 years.
Nathan is a Certified Fraud Examiner and has since 2017 served on the Board of Directors of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. His publications include “Five Tips for Defending an Accounting Malpractice Claim” (Law360, May 14, 2018); “How Lenders Can Minimize Risks of Borrowing Base Fraud” (Law360, March 21, 2017); and “The Key To Educating Employees On The Effects Of Fraud” (Law360, July 19, 2016). He was a contributing co-author to Plugged In: Guidebook to Software and the Law (2020).