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Mark A. Stump

Principal

  • Telephone: (510) 835-9100
  • Facsimile: (510) 451-2170
  • Email: mstump [at] wulfslaw [dot] com

Biography

Mark A. Stump is a principal with the Firm and has been a litigator since his admission to the California Bar in 1982. His practice focuses on municipal, construction, and environmental litigation for business and public entity clients.

Education

  • B.A., Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, 1978
  • J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law University of California, 1982

Affiliations

  • American Bar Association
  • Alameda County Bar Association

Bar Admissions

State Bar of California; United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Central and Southern Districts of California; United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Professional Experience

  • Municipal and Public Entity Litigation

    • Successfully defended a city and its redevelopment agency against a $20 million claim made by an unsuccessful redeveloper of a historic landmark building.  The case involved a successful writ petition to the California Court of Appeal, affirmed by the California Supreme Court. 
    • Served as trial and appellate counsel to a redevelopment agency in Federal litigation, resulting in a $39 million decision (including orders of disgorgement and attorney fees) against a Court-appointed Special Master.   As appellate counsel, successfully defended the trial court’s rulings.
    • Served as trial counsel in a dispute between a city and a county regarding control over administration of emergency medical dispatch services.   
    • Successfully concluded litigation enforcing a redevelopment agency’s option to repurchase undeveloped real property.
    • Obtained the dismissal of Federal litigation against a city brought by tow truck operators who alleged irregularities in the award of tow truck franchises.    
    • Obtained a favorable result in an arbitration proceeding between two cities that resulted in the establishment of a new fire department for our client. 
    • In two separate Federal cases, represented two cities in a dispute with utility companies over the validity of a trench cut restoration fee. 
    • Served as counsel representing a city in a dispute over compliance with the California Public Records Act in a case of high media interest. 
  • Construction Litigation
    • Served as trial counsel to a water district in Federal litigation over alleged construction defects and delays in the completion of a water delivery tunnel. 
    • Served as trial counsel defending a county in a dispute arising out of the construction of a juvenile hall, resulting in a defense judgment after the successful one-day trial of a bifurcated case-dispositive issue.  
    • Served as trial counsel in a multimillion dollar dispute between a water district and a contractor over a maintenance project at a municipal sewage treatment plant.  
    • Represented a condominium developer in a dispute involving claims primarily against a performance and payment bond issuer and the insolvent general contractor on the project. 
    • Served as counsel to a city and its redevelopment agency in a construction dispute involving a defective seismic upgrade to a historic office building.
    • Represented an EPC contractor in Federal litigation arising over alleged construction defects and delays in the construction of two power plants in Thailand.
    • Participated in the successful defense of a challenge to a client’s draw on a series of letters of credit of about $11.3 million, based on delays in completion of an energy infrastructure project in Mexico.
    • Participated as counsel in a number of other lawsuits against public entities arising out of the construction of a variety public works projects, including three jails, a sewage collection system, and renovations to San Francisco’s cable car system.
  • Environmental Litigation
    • Successfully represented a former manufacturer of aircraft components alleged to be a generator of wastes taken to a disposal site, by establishing the lack of any evidence that the manufacturer disposed of wastes at the site.
    • Participated in successfully representing manufacturers in two Federal CERCLA contribution actions, in which aggressive investigation greatly reduced the client’s exposure to such claims, resulting in favorable settlements. 
    • Represented two cities in separate litigation brought under the California Environmental Quality Act.  One involved an action to challenge the requirement of an EIR for rezoning and changes in land use designation of a contaminated former chemical handling site; the other involved a challenge to the EIR for a municipal waste transfer station.
    • In the early 1990s, represented an environmental liability insurance carrier in a series of insurance coverage disputes arising out of CERCLA and other environmental cleanup litigation, including the landmark Montrose insurance coverage litigation.
    • Represented the operator of a gas recovery system at a former landfill in contested proceedings before the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. 
  • Other Significant Litigation
    • Obtained a dismissal with prejudice of a Federal securities class action against our client, brought by issuers of securities in Merrill Lynch’s HOLDRS program.
    • Secured the dismissal of a Federal securities action against a franchisor of home rental services, including an award of attorney fees.  
    • Obtained a summary judgment in Federal court in favor of an insurance company, against the $17 million claim of a power plant EPC contractor who failed to complete the project. 
  • Reported Cases
    • Fireman's Fund Ins. Co. v. Fibreboard Corp. (1986) 182 Cal. App. 3d 462; Guardino v. Santa Clara County Local Transportation Authority (1995) 11 Cal. 4th 462; Cordoza et al. v. Pacific States Steel Corporation (9th Cir. 2003) 320 F.3d 989; City of Stockton v. Superior Court (2007) 42 Cal. 4th 730.