OC All Over— From Wayne’s World to Ebell

Put Wayne Gross at the head of the line on a recent trend that has OCers popping up in all sorts of prominent places. The affably intense trial lawyer is leading Greenberg Gross in its representation of Investel Capital Corp. in a lawsuit against Snap Inc., which last week filed for an IPO that’s expected to raise around $3 billion and pegs its value at more than $20 billion. The suit aims for the invalidation of a patent at the core of Snap’s business. Investel refers to one of its founders, Reggie Brown, as an “ousted cofounder” of Snap. The photo-sharing outfit appears to have noted $157.5 million it paid to Brown to settle prior claims over the rights to intellectual property in a separate case, although it didn’t refer to him by name. That revelation came in Snap’s S1 filing, and Investel contends it “shows that the company has a pattern of grabbing intellectual property that it does not own or have the right to use.” No word on what sort of damages might be sought … John Hueston of Hueston Hennigan has plenty in common with Gross, his longtime pal and former colleague at the U.S. Department of Justice. Both took a turn running the U.S. Attorney’s office in OC, went on to big firms in private practice, subsequently formed their own firms, and have led the OC Bar Association. And now both have big cases in the digital world, with Hueston representing Amazon.com on a challenge to a recently passed state law that prohibits the company’s IMDb Pro talent-matching website from listing the ages of actors without their consent. Amazon contends that’s a chill on the First Amendment …. OC in NYC: The Pacific Symphony and Pacific Chorale aren’t the only musical troupes with an eye on Carnegie Hall, where they’re already booked for April 2018. The resident professionals of UCI’s Clare Trevor School of the Arts will take the stage there as Trio Celeste this April … Expect former UCI administrator and Barclay Theatre boss Jerry Mandel to catch the trio’s show—the jazz band he leads has gigs lined up around the Big Apple at about the same time … PBS SoCal’s Maria Hall Brown will beat the musicians to the punch—her recent documentary on Henry Segerstrom will be shown at the Directors Guild of America’s center in Manhattan on March 20, with a reception to follow at—you guessed it—Carnegie Hall … OC on the Concours: That’s where you might find a couple of other Segerstroms, as you’ll see in a front-page story about some cool classic cars … … OC in the salon: Put Chapman U. there after it was credited as a source for the Harper’s Index in the most recent issue of the magazine—a favorite of the literary set … OC in D.C.: Thanks to Loreen Gilbert, president of WealthWise Financial Services in Irvine, who was appointed to one of 19 seats—and the only one representing California—on the Trump Pence Small Business Advisory Council … Sullivan says: Dang Tran hasn’t played Carnegie Hall, but she’s a genuine crowd pleaser when she tickles the ivories for Santa Ana Kiwanis Club meetings at the Ebell Club on French Street.