MANCINI SHENK - Key Persons
Founding Partner John W. Shenk is a litigator focused on shareholder and derivative, cannabis, and business disputes. With extensive experience in partnership disputes and the personal nature of fights within businesses, John has come to refer to his specialty as "business divorce."
John helps his clients understand their rights and assert them effectively, whether they be partners, shareholders in a corporation, members of an LLC, or joint venturers of any manner. In some instances, this requires diplomatic negotiation or out of court arbitration. In others, it may demand bare-knuckled litigation. In all cases it is a strategic process that John navigates with agility, finesse, and force when needed.
John has handled some of the most prominent shareholder and investor litigation in the legal cannabis industry. These complex disputes have their own shape and character, and John's successes on behalf of clients confronting managers intent upon self-dealing and, at times, outright fraud, place him at the forefront of litigation in the legal cannabis industry.
In these contexts, John has extensive experience with partnership and shareholder dispute s, breach of fiduciary duty and fraud claims, unfair competition, trade secret misappropriation, and real estate litigation.
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner
- Leader
- Member in Good Standing of the State Bar of California
- Member of the American Bar Association
Founding Partner Michael V. Mancini focuses on shareholder and derivative, cannabis, business, and entertainment disputes. He has represented internationally recognized businesses, notable angel investors, startups, world-famous celebrities, small local businesses, and private individuals.
Michael is a leader in cannabis litigation who handles headline-making cannabis disputes. He regularly spearheads complex cannabis litigation and frequently serves as advisory co-counsel to other premier firms. He has spoken on multiple expert panels regarding the ethics of representing licensed cannabis companies, emerging trends in cannabis litigation, and the need to thoroughly comprehend state and local licensing before rushing into court. Michael has recovered tens of millions of dollars for cannabis clients and defeated millions of dollars in claims against them.
Michael also has substantial experience in high-stakes business, breach of contract, entertainment, and unfair competition cases. Michael has negotiated advantageous settlements, secured case-ending pretrial rulings, excluded damaging evidence and expert testimony, fended off abusive evidentiary motions, taken and defended key depositions, and handled private arbitration proceedings and civil jury and bench trials in State and Federal courts.
Michael is a member of the American Bar Association and the Los Angeles County Bar Association, and he is Vice-Chair of Membership for the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Cannabis Section. He is also a proud graduate of the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Traditional Trial Advocacy Project (known as the "TAP" program).
Michael is a member in good standing of the State Bar of California and is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of California and all of California's lower state courts, all of the United States District Courts in California, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Peter J. Most specializes in complex commercial litigation, representing partnerships, corporations, and high-net-worth individuals in the areas of partnership, real estate, finance, securities, trade secret, and professional negligence. Peter has litigated numerous contractual commercial disputes in federal and state courts and before arbitration panels, regularly prosecuting matters both for and against Fortune 500 and private companies. Peter's clients include entities in a range of industries, including major real estate developers, financial institutions, energy companies, hedge funds, and manufacturers across all sectors of the economy. Peter's matters often include claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, professional negligence, and misappropriation of trade secrets. Additionally, Peter has served as a trustee for trusts generally invested in real estate and commercial holdings, as well as trusts for high-net-worth individuals.
Prior to Mancini Shenk, Peter was a partner at Arent Fox, a principal at McKool Smith, a partner/associate at Hennigan, Bennett & Dorman, and an associate at Howrey & Simon and Paul Hastings.
Peter is a Southern California Super Lawyer (2007-2023), AV Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, and former Editor in Chief of one of his law school's publications. He has been a member of the United States District Court Merit Selection Panel for Magistrate Judges for the United States District Court for the Central District of California; Los Angeles County Bar Association Judicial Appointments Committee; American Bar Association, Business Law Section; Association of Business Trial Lawyers; Los Angeles County Bar Association, Judge Pro Tem, Los Angeles County Superior Court, and Mediator, Los Angeles County Superior Court.