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Sep. 15, 2021

E. Martin Estrada

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Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP

Estrada said he hadn’t been much of a professional boxing fan, but he schooled himself quickly when called on in late June to defend the promoter of champion fighter Manny Pacquiao’s late August fight with Errol Spence Jr. Another sports manager attempted to stop the fight. Paradigm Sports Management LLC v. Pacquiao, 30-2021-01207553 (O.C. Super. Ct., filed June 25, 2021).

Estrada convinced the court to allow his client to intervene in the lawsuit to defend its rights. Shortly after, on Aug. 6, following expedited briefing, the court issued a final order denying an injunction that would have KO’d the fight.

“That was a lot of work in a short period, and I enjoyed how a preliminary injunction motion is exciting like a trial, with lots of money at stake and a weighty impact on people’s careers,” said Estrada, who has also represented boxer Deontay Wilder.

In 2019, Estrada won summary judgment for a power company against four bellwether plaintiff households that claimed a Redondo Beach electrical substation emitted harmful stray electrical currents. Richmond v. Southern California Edison, BC497689 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 19, 2012).

This year, after Estrada obtained costs and fees against the bellwether plaintiffs in the six figures, he convinced more than 80 other non-bellwether plaintiffs to dismiss their claims. “We showed the claims were meritless, and once they saw how much they’d have to pay if they continued to pursue these claims, they folded,” he said.

His pro bono docket includes a case in which he and co-counsel at the Mexican American Legal Education and Defense Fund Inc. obtained a landmark order from a New Mexico state court on behalf of Latino and Native American children and parents. It found violations of students’ constitutional right to education and mandated reforms to the state’s educational system. Martinez v. The State of New Mexico, D-101-CV-2014-02224 (Santa Fe Co. 1st Judicial Dist. Ct., filed April 1, 2014).

“This was a first-of-its-kind judicial acknowledgment of the right to a fair and adequate education in a state that is at or near the bottom of national rankings on how well states educate their children,” Estrada said. “Now we’re in watchdog mode over the reforms being made.” He and co-counsel obtained further discovery orders after successfully opposing New Mexico’s effort to dismiss the matter last year.

“We are grateful that the court is exercising continued jurisdiction to enforce the landmark ruling,” Estrada said.

- John Roemer

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