Trunkes, Virginia K.

George S. Trevor has focused his practice for the past twenty years on the representation of investors in securities class actions and arbitrations. He also represents plaintiffs in complex business litigation particularly cases involving accounting issues.

Prior to joining Pearson Simon Warshaw & Penny, LLP as Of Counsel he was the managing partner of Trevor Weixel LLP and practiced securities litigation for eleven years with the firm of Gold Bennett Cera & Sidener in San Francisco.

Among Mr. Trevor’s significant cases was a class action brought on behalf of former employees of Eel River Sawmills, Inc. On the eve of trial, Mr. Trevor was instrumental in obtaining a $5 million settlement for a class of approximately 400 sawmill workers who had lost significant amounts promised to them under the company’s Employee Stock Ownership Plan. The settlement was approved by the Humboldt County Superior Court on August 30, 2006 without a single objection from class members.

Mr. Trevor was lead trial counsel in a multi-claimant securities arbitration against Spelman & Co. tried in New Orleans in 2007 -2008. That case was brought on behalf of over forty investors in an Australian Internet company. After over twenty days of hearing and immediately prior to the issuance of a decision, Mr. Trevor negotiated substantial settlements on behalf of the six remaining claimants. Since 2000, Mr. Trevor has tried to an award over 15 securities arbitrations.

In 2003 Mr. Trevor obtained a reversal on appeal of a federal district court’s denial of remand to the California Superior Court in a case involving the sale by twelve large brokerage firms of a fixed income investment product known as a “callable CDs.” In a reported decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals the court held the claims made under California law were not pre-empted by the federal securities laws. This important decision preserved the rights of investors to seek relief in state court instead of being forced into federal court. That decision, Lippitt v. Raymond James et al., is reported at 340 F.3d 1033 (9th Cir. 2003).

In August of 2003, Mr. Trevor obtained a dismissal of a suit filed in federal district court on the grounds that an international arbitration clause required the dispute to be heard in Vancouver, British Columbia. That decision, Boston Telecommunications Group, Inc. v. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu et al., is reported at 278 F.Supp. 2d 1041 (N.D.Cal. 2003). The Ninth Circuit affirmed that dismissal in November 2007.

Mr. Trevor’s important cases while at Gold Bennett included an action brought on behalf of the former shareholders of the Pacific Lumber Company. In 1985 Charles Hurwitz, through his holding company Maxxam, Inc. and assisted by Michael Milken of Drexel Burnham Lambert, had launched a hostile takeover of Pacific Lumber. Eventually, Hurwitz succeeded in forcing a shareholder buyout at $40 per share. Mr. Trevor and other attorneys fought Hurwitz, Milken, Ivan Boesky and others, asserting that the buyout was obtained through the dissemination of fraudulent offering materials to shareholders and Milken and Boesky’s insider trading. On the eve of trial, Hurwitz agreed to a $52 million settlement. Combined with settlements obtained from Milken, Drexel, Boesky and others, the Pacific Lumber shareholders received over $140 million in additional compensation for their shares.

Other cases handled by Mr. Trevor included actions on behalf of investors in The Centennial Group, Daisy Systems, Bell Savings & Loan and BKP Partners. Mr. Trevor was also instrumental in the recovery of $19.2 million by the shareholders of Digital Microwave Corporation. Other reported decisions in which Mr. Trevor was one of the principal lawyers include: Musick, Peeler & Garrett v. Wausau Ins., 508 U.S. 286 (1993)(Amicus Curiae brief submitted by the National Association of Securities and Commercial Law Attorneys); In re Adobe Systems, Inc. Securities Litigation, 767 F. Supp. 1023 (N.D. Cal. 1991); In re Digital Microwave Corp. Securities Litigation, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18469 (N.D. Cal. 1992); Lilley v. Charren, 936 F. Supp. 708 (N.D. Cal. 1996) (Kenetech Corporation); In re Silicon Graphics Securities Litigation, 970 F. Supp. 746 (N.D. Cal. 1997); and Daniels v. Centennial Group, Inc., 16 Cal. App. 4th 467 (1993).

Educational Background

Mr. Trevor graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of California at Berkeley with High Honors in Rhetoric and Distinction in General Scholarship. He received his Juris Doctor from Hastings College of the Law in 1986. Mr. Trevor is a member of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice in all California State Courts, the Northern and Central Federal District Courts of California, the Federal District Court of Arizona and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He is a member of the American Bar Association, serving on the Committee of Business and Corporate Litigation and its Subcommittee on Securities Litigation. He is also a member of the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association.

While at Hastings, Mr. Trevor was one of the founders and the first director of the General Assistance Advocacy Project (GAAP). GAAP provides law students the opportunity to represent persons denied general assistance benefits. Mr. Trevor has served as a judge for the National Appellate Advocacy Competition and is active as a fundraiser for the U.C. Berkeley Foundation.