The city of Anaheim finally notched a win in its naming battle with Angels Baseball LP.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Orange County Superior Court Judge Peter Polos rejected the Angels’ request to throw out three of the four counts in the city’s suit to block owner Arte Moreno’s name change.
Polos allowed the city to go ahead with the heart of its case, which claims breach of contract, implied bad faith and unfair dealing on the part of the Angels, now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
On Tuesday the parties must again appear before Polos for a case management conference. The judge and the parties will determine the scheduling for a trial.
Anaheim attorney Andrew Guilford told the Associated Press that he would seek a trial in August, though it’s unlikely a court date would come before the 2005 baseball season is over..
The city contends the lease at Angel Stadium of Anaheim requires the team to go by Anaheim Angels. Team owner Moreno added Los Angeles to the team’s name in January in a bid to identify with a larger market.
Last month the city beefed up its legal team by adding Guilford, a trial attorney with the Costa Mesa office of Los Angeles law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter and Hampton LLP. Guilford was lead counsel for the city at Wednesday’s hearing.
Before bringing Guilford on board Anaheim solely had relied on Costa Mesa law firm Rutan & Tucker LLP.
Guilford has been named four times to the list of California’s 100 most influential attorneys done by legal newspaper the Daily Journal. He gained attention in the late 1990s for handling a slander suit against Dr. Laura Schlessinger for Beach Access in South Coast Plaza.
Guilford, who also has represented former Angel Reggie Jackson, is set to work with Rutan partner Michael Rubin, who was lead counsel for the January injunction hearings.
Rubin, who has represented the city in a previous dispute with the team, remains Anaheim’s lead lawyer.
Moreno and the Angels have enlisted the Costa Mesa office and Los Angeles headquarters of Stephan, Oringher, Richman & Theodora to defend the name change.
Stephan, Oringher’s team also is working with Atlanta-based Powell Goldstein LLP, which acts as outside general counsel for the Angels. Todd Theodora of Stephan, Oringher’s Costa Mesa office was lead lawyer for the team at the hearing for a temporary injunction in early January.
Partner George Stephan of the Los Angeles office made arguments in the hearing for a preliminary injunction a couple of weeks later and also was lead counsel on Wednesday.
Polos ruled for the Angels in both of those hearings, making Wednesday’s ruling the first win for Anaheim.
