Charles M. Coate
Charles M. Coate brings two decades of litigation experience to the firm. He began practicing law in 1989 and has focused on business, entertainment and intellectual property litigation since 1991. As a litigator, Mr. Coate has represented or been retained by St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Company, American Airlines, Millennium Films, Inc., ICB Entertainment Finance in addition to numerous motion picture producers, distributors and financiers from all over the world. Over the years he has litigated or resolved disputes involving Mexicana Airlines, Twentieth Century Fox, MGM, Miramax Film Corporation, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Al Pacino, as well as award winning films such as “Catch Me If You Can”, “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Crash”, among others. An increasing part of his practice involves both domestic and international arbitration matters, in addition to litigating real estate, advertising and employment disputes.
Mr. Coate is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeal For the Fourth and Ninth Circuits and the Courts of The State of California. He is also a long-standing member of the Entertainment Sections of the Beverly Hills and Los Angeles County Bar Associations and has lectured at the South By Southwest Film Festival and before the Beverly Hills Bar Association on entertainment litigation issues. Mr. Coate is married, has two children and lives in Manhattan Beach, California.