Larry Russ is a founding partner and co-head of the litigation department of Russ August & Kabat.
As an active trial attorney, Mr. Russ has focused on trademark, copyright, patent, business torts, trade regulation and advertising law and complex litigation. Mr. Russ has also worked extensively on antitrust and unfair competition matters.
Directly after being admitted to the California Bar in 1978, Mr. Russ launched his career by successfully challenging Levi-Strauss & Co’s resale price maintenance program related to men’s jeanswear in Levi Strauss & Co. v. Federated Pants, et al., 1979-2 Trade Cases #62,727 (C.D. Cal. 1979). In 1981, as co-lead trial counsel, Mr. Russ achieved a multi-million dollar jury verdict in one of the first private Section 7 Clayton Act cases that directed Pillsbury Flour Co. to divest itself of Wilton, Inc., a dominant cake decorating equipment specialty firm.
Throughout his career, Mr. Russ has successfully represented clients in the direct marketing industry and the apparel industry. Mr. Russ also has extensive experience representing clients in the home entertainment, technology and communications sectors, including video game hardware manufacturers, computer software developers, electronic toy makers and wireless communications companies.
In 1985, Mr. Russ obtained the highest Superior Court sanctions award in California history in connection with his representation of plaintiffs in a complex Malibu real estate fraud matter in which the trial judge delivered a seven-figure verdict and awarded punitive damages.
In 2002, Mr. Russ negotiated a highly publicized settlement on behalf of Yodeler Wylie Gustafson against Yahoo. Gustafson, who had recorded a single yodel for a Yahoo radio commercial, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Yahoo after the company began using Gustafson’s distinctive and unique yodel as the company’s audible signature on a myriad of company products and releases.
Mr. Russ represented the prevailing parties in several major apparel cases. In 2010, Mr. Russ successfully defended Forever 21 in a copyright and trade dress infringement action filed by Express. Mr. Russ obtained Summary Judgment in Forever 21’s favor, as well as an award of attorney fees.
In 2016, Mr. Russ was lead Class counsel in Perkins, et al, v LinkedIn, a privacy class action challenging LinkedIn’s ubiquitous ad- connection emails. The Class was approved and LinkedIn agreed to modify its practices and pay the Class $13,000,000+.
More recently, Mr. Russ has been re-focusing his attention on consulting with established and emerging companies in connection with e-commerce, financing, expansion, mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings, strategic alliances and intellectual property issues. Along with the new chair of the Mergers & Acquisition Department, Christine Shin, Mr. Russ is tasked with the mission of building a pre-eminent M&A team rivaling the talent and depth of knowledge of big law M&A departments.
In addition to his law practice, Mr. Russ is the past President and a member of the Board of Directors of the Jewish National Fund Los Angeles zone. Mr. Russ is also involved as a principal of several well-known Los Angeles apparel companies including world renowned retailer, American Rag Cie. In 2014, Mr. Russ/ American Rag Cie was selected as a finalist by the Los Angeles Business Journal at the prestigious Southern California Apparel Awards, and WeAr Magazine, a world-renowned international magazine focusing on the apparel industry, announced that American Rag Cie was voted as the best retail denim store in the world.
Mr. Russ is also active in helping emerging and troubled companies raise funds. For a number of years, Mr. Russ served as an associate editor of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers quarterly publication. He is an active member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Litigation, Antitrust and Intellectual Property Law Sections as well as an active member of the American Bar Association Antitrust and Intellectual Property Law Sections.
Mr. Russ was recognized as a Super Lawyer by the Publishers of Los Angeles Magazine from 2008-2025. From 2013-2025, Mr. Russ was recognized as a Southern California Top 100 Super Lawyer. Mr. Russ was also recognized among The Best Lawyers In America list for Patent Litigation from 2012-2025. In 2024 and 2025, he was named a “Legal Visionary” in the LA Times B2B’s Business of Law: Updates, Trends, & Visionaries Magazine. Mr. Russ was selected to The American Lawyer’s Top Rated IP Lawyers list in 2015.
Admitted
- State Bar of California (1978)
- U.S. Supreme Court (1989)
- Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals (1978)
Matthew Rips is a partner at Russ August & Kabat, where he practices in the real estate and corporate and finance departments.
Mr. Rips’ practice focuses on the representation of developers and financiers of retail shopping, multifamily housing, office development and redevelopment projects. Mr. Rips combines his extensive business management and finance background with his legal expertise to represent a wide variety of clients including real estate investment trusts, pension funds, equity funds, private developers, lenders and others, in their endeavors as developers, owners, investors, buyers and sellers.
Equity financing is a key element of any development project. Mr. Rips has developed a finely tuned approach to structuring and negotiating the partnerships that provide such financing. In a wide range of circumstances, he has guided clients through the complexities of managing the risks and allocating the rewards of developing billions of dollars worth of real estate.
Public-private partnerships have become a cornerstone of urban redevelopment. Mr. Rips has successfully negotiated a variety of agreements between public and private entities, such as disposition and development agreements, ground leases, purchase and sale agreements, loans and grant agreements.
Whether converting an office building to residential condominiums or building a retail shopping center, developers face a multitude of risks. Through the use of contracts, insurance and other tools of the trade, Mr. Rips regularly works with his clients to manage the risks of design errors, construction defects, delays, accidents and related risks associated with most high end real estate developments.
Prior to joining Russ August & Kabat, Mr. Rips served as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer for the second largest vision insurance plan in the western United States. Mr. Rips guided the company through a major restructuring ultimately leading to a ten-fold increase in net income. Later, he negotiated the merger of the company with a major East Coast vision insurance plan, resulting in a combined enrollment of 6 million families and individuals.
Mr. Rips was recognized as a Southern California Super Lawyer from 2015-2025 by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine. He was named a Commercial Real Estate “Visionary” in the L.A. Times Commercial Real Estate Magazine in 2021.
Jules L. Kabat is a founding partner of Russ August & Kabat.
Mr. Kabat acts as lead trial and appellate counsel for clients in complex business, real property, intellectual property and related matters, in courts and ADR proceedings in and beyond California. He also represents clients in like real property and business transactional matters. His litigation and trial experience informs the effective structuring and drafting of transactions and documentation to protect clients, and his “deal maker” transactional experience informs the strategy and conduct of litigation, trial and appeal to identify and protect important business issues.
Mr. Kabat’s litigation, trial and transactional experience in the real property industry involves office, commercial, retail, shopping center, industrial, residential, mixed-use and hospitality; acquisition, development, redevelopment, construction, leasing and sale; financing and refinancing; restructuring and receiverships; ownership, joint venture, and operations.
Mr. Kabat is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law.
From 2009 to 2025, Mr. Kabat was recognized as a Super Lawyer by the publishers of Los Angeles Magazine. From 2013-2017, Mr. Kabat was recognized as a Southern California Top 100 Super Lawyer.
Deborah R. Clark is a partner in the corporate and finance department of Russ August & Kabat, where she primarily focuses her practice on real estate matters.
Ms. Clark joined the firm in 2001 and represents a wide range of real estate clients and focuses primarily on secured lending transactions, purchases and sales, property development, and leasing.
Ms. Clark has recently handled the negotiation of acquisition financing for a client’s purchase of a major interest in one of the world’s largest mixed use projects (located in New York); the purchase (including the negotiation of acquisition financing) and/or sale of numerous hotels throughout the country, the sale of a television and film production studio in Los Angeles; the purchase of a multi-building office complex in downtown Los Angeles; the sale of a corporate office campus in West San Fernando Valley, California; and the negotiation of financing for numerous residential developments, mixed use projects, and shopping centers throughout California. Ms. Clark has also handled numerous matters with respect to land use and entitlement issues, title review, litigation consultation and a variety of other real estate and commercial transactions.
Ms. Clark was previously a partner at Loeb and Loeb in Los Angeles, California, where she handled diverse real estate transactions with an emphasis on secured transactions, representing lenders nationwide in the origination of over $750,000,000 in acquisition, development, construction and permanent loans for both residential and commercial projects.
Ms. Clark also negotiated the financing for the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood, California and coordinated the master development of the Aviara residential, hotel and golf planned community in Carlsbad, California. In addition to her broad-based real estate activities, she handled numerous litigation matters, including arbitrations, mediations, discovery, and trials.
