Brian D. Huben is the Managing Partner of the Los Angeles office, and is a member of the firm's Senior Leadership Team. His practice focuses on the representation of commercial landlords and shopping center owners, managers, and developers, representing them in real estate-focused litigation in state and federal courts.
In addition to representing them in trial and appeals, Brian also advises commercial property owners in everyday operational matters including evictions, breach of lease issues, public access, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Brian also has extensive experience in retail and office tenant bankruptcies, representing landlords and other creditors in cases throughout the United States.
Experience
Representative Matters
- Representation of shopping center landlords in Chapter 11 reorganizations such as Garden Botanika, Frederick's of Hollywood, Natural Wonders, Store of Knowledge, Track 'n Trail, Crown Books, Wherehouse Entertainment, The Bombay Company, Sharper Image, Shoe Pavilion, The Walking Company, Round Table Pizza, and Mervyn's.
- Representation of office landlords in Chapter 11 cases such as WeWork, AmeriFirst Financial, and SVB Financial Group (parent holding company of Silicon Valley Bank).
- In 2022 and 2023, Brian successfully tried four cases to judgment or verdict in California state courts on behalf of landlords and against commercial tenants asserting various affirmative defenses associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Professional Highlights
Pro Bono Experience
In 2024, after a two-year effort, Brian and another Ballard Spahr attorney succeeded in obtaining asylum for an Afghan refugee evacuated from Kabul shortly after the Taliban regained power.
Between 2021 and 2024, and as part of Ballard Spahr's Racial Justice and Equity Initiative, Brian led a team of Ballard Spahr attorneys to work with the Oklahoma Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. Together, they investigated the state's voter laws to improve absentee ballot access for incarcerated individuals.
In 2020, Brian led a team which successfully defended a Holocaust survivor from a water damage claim asserted by a neighbor in his apartment building.
In the Summer of 2019, Brian and two other Ballard Spahr team members spent a week in southwest rural Georgia. The team assisted the local office of the Southern Poverty Law Center with its Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, providing pro bono representation to detained immigrants.
In 2018, Brian led a team which assisted a Guatemalan teenager with a petition to have her older sister appointed as her legal guardian in order to obtain U.S. citizenship.
Professional Activities
California Business Properties Association
International Council of Shopping Centers
Law Conference Planning Committee, 2011-2023
Recognition & Accomplishments
Lawdragon, 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers, 2024
Featured on The Legal Intelligencer's 2022 list of 'West Trailblazers'
ICSC, Trustees’ Distinguished Service Award, 2022
Speaking Engagements
American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) Annual Meeting, "Welcome to the Party: Real Estate Loan Workouts and Enforcement in Today's Downcycle," October 18, 2024
California Judges Association, “Our Post-COVID World: How Has COVID Affected the Law and Changed the Way We Handle Cases?” Los Angeles (virtual) March 07, 2022
ICSC 2021 U.S. Shopping Center Law Conference, “Recent Developments 2021: Despite, Including, and During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” General Session, San Francisco, November 3, 2021
Publications
"Bankruptcy Court Finds Tenant Cannot Assume Commercial Lease After Waiving Rights to Seek Relief From Forfeiture Under California Law," Client Alert, September 24, 2014
"Knowing When (or Whether) to Say When-A Survey of Public Access and Free Speech Rights at U.S. Shopping Centers," Co-author, Shopping Center Legal Update, Summer 2014
Credentials
Education
Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (J.D. 1987)
Loyola Marymount University (B.A. 1984, cum laude)
Admissions
California
U.S. District Court for the Central District of California
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California
U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court