Overview
Walt Traver is litigation Partner whose practice focuses on financial institutions, employment and commercial litigation. Mr. Traver holds Martindale-Hubbell’s highest AV Preeminent peer rating with over 35 years of experience in a broad range of fields including banking, investment services, FINRA disputes involving investor claims, employment, real estate, commercial disputes, construction, insurance bad faith, product liability, municipal law and environmental contamination. He has represented banks, savings and loans, broker-dealers, financial advisors, real estate brokers, developers, employers, contractors and other businesses, as well as municipal agencies. He has acted as lead trial counsel in numerous state and federal courts, FDIC administrative hearings and private arbitrations on behalf of banks sued for wrongful foreclosure, state and federal credit reporting and Commercial Code violations, unauthorized transactions, financial elder abuse, and aiding and abetting fraudulent investment schemes; real estate brokers for alleged fraud relating to the sale of both residential and commercial properties including a residential development in La Quinta and a $6 million agricultural property located on the San Mateo coast; employers for breach of loyalty, theft of trade secrets, discrimination and wage and hour claims; developers in real estate partition actions; lenders for claims against title insurers and escrow companies for mishandling purchase money trust deeds; municipal agencies including the City of Indio and the Coachella Valley Mosquito Abatement District for claims arising out of pesticide exposure and for recovery of cleanup costs for petroleum contamination sites; and various commercial lessors.
Mr. Traver's experience includes appellate matters such as the federal preemption opinion in Lopez v. World Savings & Loan Association (2003) 105 Cal.App.4th 729, alleged violations of state and federal credit reporting acts in Banga v. World Savings & Loan Association (2006) 2006 WL 1467967, affirmation of summary judgment in N.K. Beverly Hills Corporation v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (2012) 2012 WL 6583685, a case involving a borrower’s claimed breach of its right of first refusal to purchase a $29 million loan from Washington Mutual Bank, and Crawford v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. (2015) 242 Cal.App.4th 1265, a case involving discovery and terminating sanctions.
Mr. Traver’s representative clients include Bank of the West, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., Citibank, City National Bank, Gateway Bank, Bank of the Orient, World Savings Bank and Wachovia Bank.