Peter J. Most

Mr. Most specializes in the litigation of complex commercial matters. His practice focuses on real estate, commercial fraud, and securities.

Mr. Most’s real estate litigation efforts have included the successful representation of Maguire Properties, the largest commercial office developer in Los Angeles, in a series of separate contract disputes. Certain of the matters are reported at Quick Loan Funding, Inc. v. Maguire Properties – 3121 Michelson LLC, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 5400 (2006); Playa Phase 1 Commercial Land Company v. PVEMTD Commercial, LLC, 2006 Cal. App. LEXIS 4162 (2006); and Anthracite Capital, Inc. v. MP-555 W. Fifth Mezzanine, LLC, 2005 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9179 (S.D. N.Y., May 17, 2005).

Since 2005, Mr. Most has been a member of the team of HBD attorneys representing a number of large U.S. financial institutions in connection with their purchase of Parmalat-related securities. Previously, Mr. Most was a member of the HBD securities litigation team that represented a number of large U.S. financial institutions in litigation against Wall Street banks in connection with their purchases of more than $1 billion of Enron and Enron-related securities, which matters settled successfully on confidential terms.

Mr. Most was also a member of the team of attorneys at HBD representing Rabobank, the third largest Dutch bank, in a $500 million fraud action against the largest Canadian bank related to the sale of certain Enron-related securities. Mr. Most represented the County of Orange in its securities litigation following its Chapter 9 bankruptcy filing. The matters successfully concluded with HBD having recovered nearly $900 million for the County of Orange.

Mr. Most also successfully defended members of the Board of Directors of Idealab, a privately-held California technology “incubator,” in a lawsuit brought by its preferred shareholders seeking dissolution of the company and removal of Mr. Most’s clients from the Board. The matter settled favorably after the trial court dismissed key claims brought in the action, as reported at Kline Hawkes California SBIC L.P, et al. v. Idealab, et al., 117 Cal. App. 4th 183 (2004). In 2007, Mr. Most concluded representation of members of the Board of Directors of Idealab in a separate derivative action, which matter settled favorably.

Prior to joining HBD, Mr. Most was an associate at Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker and at Howrey & Simon.

Professional Affiliations

• American Bar Association, Business Law Section
• Los Angeles County Bar Association
• Judge Pro Tem for Los Angeles Superior Court, 1996-present
• Mediator for Los Angeles County Superior Court, 1999-present