2022 Joseph Costa Selected as LA’s Top 10 Attorneys by Power Agent Directory.
2023 Joseph Costa launches esugarnews.com, an entertainment legal video series.
What sets ESUGARNEWS apart is its commitment to keeping things light, injecting humor and personality into every episode. The hosts' witty banter and infectious enthusiasm create an atmosphere that feels more like catching up with friends than staying updated on the latest law headlines. In a world where time is a precious commodity, ESUGARNEWS understands that delivering entertainment news in bite-sized doses isn't just a choice—it's a necessity.
2023 Joseph Costa chosen as top 5% attorney by his peers, his 19th year selected as a Los Angeles Super Lawyer
Each year, no more than five percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team to be named a 'Super Lawyer.' Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates, and peer reviews by practice area.
CNN invited Entertainment Trial Attorney, Joseph Costa, to weigh in on the proceedings in the court room related to the trial.
It has been a strange year indeed. Hearings continue, however, most are by Zoom or phone. CostaLaw, however, continues to successfully represent its clients in all matters and has managed to pull off some impressive victories during this time frame. For example, this Spring, CostaLaw obtained a $2,338,935.06 judgment in favor of some clients who had a dispute with a former general contractor. In addition, after a successful JAMS arbitration, CostaLaw recovered $341,327.84 for a client in a contract dispute. CostaLaw continues to litigate its cases throughout California, including a big summary judgment victory for CostaLaw in Napa Valley involving a 20 million dollar business dispute. Significantly, 2020 marks the fifteenth straight year in which CostaLaw attorney Joseph P. Costa has been chosen as a Los Angeles Super Lawyer by his peers in the field of entertainment and business. Mr. Costa also continues to be retained as an investigator to investigate high level workplace complaints of inappropriate conduct and has conducted approximately five such investigations in 2020.
![ [Source: Jintak Han/Daily Bruin]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/558c5c9fe4b0443f864c4cb1/1457732775956-U4JJG1CXRD98JHK243YB/image-asset.png)
[Source: Jintak Han/Daily Bruin]
Title IX sexual harassment and violence claims are re-shaping college administrations across the Country. Many Universities are taking a closer look at their existing Title IX complaint procedures so as to further fine tune the handling of these claims. A few weeks ago, UCLA's punishment of a history professor triggered protests across its campus. The gripe was that the administration was perceived as being too lenient in the punishment it imposed as part of a settlement with that professor. This week, UC Berkeley, known nationally as a bastion of social justice, found itself on the cover of the Los Angeles Times under the heading: "Campus Tainted By Misconduct." The familiar problem was again that the administration was perceived as being too lenient in the punishment of a professor.
Let's face it, even in the most well-intentioned investigations of sexual misconduct, Universities can have conflicting interests when investigating faculty to student acts of sexual misconduct. Many Universities have panels of faculty members or administrators serve in the role of adjudicators of these claims. This, however, can create an appearance of bias and unfairness to students, and certainly may be part of what is fueling the types of protests recently experienced at UCLA and UC Berkeley. All parties are always entitled to a fair process. This is true for both the accused and complainant and runs through the veins and heart of our judicial system.
It is perhaps for this reason that schools are starting to move away from having faculty and administrators serve as the judges in these types of hearings and instead, are hiring experienced outside neutrals to decide these cases. When it comes to recommended discipline after a finding that a Title IX policy was violated (which oftentimes will involve a school's retention of an outside investigator), these external adjudicators are oftentimes charged with having to come up with the proposed sanction after a review and hearing that includes an investigator's findings; for sentencing consistency, external adjudicator's can make sentencing recommendations in conjunction with the school's Title IX coordinator. Written policies are heavily vetted prior to adoption by advisory boards and their skilled Title IX counsel, and it is up to the external adjudicator, with the assistance of input from a Title IX Administrator (if that is what the policy provides) to simply insure that the policies are being followed and enforced as drafted.
As a lawyer and a Judge who has presided over different types of matters, I am always drawn back to how important it is to convey to all involved the fairness of the process. That the process involves unbiased fact-finders who are trained in the areas of inquiry and will treat both sides equally. That the hearing will truly be consistent with the expectations of our justice system. Schools should re-evaluate whether the easiest way to accomplish the goal of both the appearance and reality of a fair process for all involved is to bring in third-party neutrals to adjudicate these types of cases.
After five years of highly contested litigation, Joseph Costa obtained a 6.7 million dollar judgment on behalf of his client in a real estate partnership dispute. In addition, after a trial in the Los Angeles Superior Court, West District, Joe obtained a conspiracy to defraud and fraudulent conveyance judgment of approximately $500,000 on behalf of his client. Joe also obtained two favorable decisions from the Labor Commissioner For his client the Beverly Hills talent agency Paradigm, each in the approximate amount of $100,000, with one of the cases also including an award of attorneys’ fees. Similarly, Joe was recently successful in obtaining a permanent injunction in the San Diego Superior Court on behalf of his client with respect to the distribution of Bob Marley images. Joe also obtained a favorable summary judgment on behalf of his client The gersh Agency, in connection with the Motion Picture "Trouble With the Curve." Joe was also recently named again as a “Super Lawyer” for the year 2014.
The CostaLaw team spent his Spring of 2015 in Federal Court in San Diego arguing over the ownership of the song publishing catalogue of the Village People. The former lead singer of that band claimed ownership to many of the songs, pursuant to copyright re-capture rights.