Business Litigation:

• Represented former owners of a manufacturing facility against indemnity claims brought by the buyer of the business based on claims made by California Department of Toxic Substances Control (“DTSC”). Participated in DTSC proceedings and negotiated a solution to potentially significant environmental exposure
• Obtained writs of attachment and subsequently settled multiple cases against personal guarantors of bank loans to developers.
• Represented plaintiff in a ten-week trial resulting from a dispute between equal members of a limited liability company investment bank, including an LLC dissolution action. The case settled before we concluded our presentation of plaintiff’s case.
• Protected the valuable intellectual property of a unique dental fabrication client by filing suit and a TRO application and obtaining a temporary restraining order by stipulation of the defendant against use of our client’s trade secret customer data.
• Obtained a settlement for our client on the second day of trial in Contra Costa County in a breach of fiduciary duty and fraud claims case against our client’s real estate broker and the broker’s father. Defendants had used our client’s confidential purchase offer information to purchase property through a bankruptcy court bid.
• Successfully defended the claims of a terminated computer game artist employee for overtime compensation and tort damages for wrongful termination. Our motion for a non-suit on the wrongful termination and punitive damages claims was granted after plaintiff’s case. At the conclusion of trial, judgment for our client was entered based on the Court’s agreement with our contention that the artist was within the professional exemption to wage and hour laws, precluding any award of overtime pay.
• Represented multiple clients in a three-week jury trial in Sacramento County defending a claim by an unlicensed broker for a ten percent management fee relative to a $24 million property sale. A verdict of one-third of fee claimed was vacated by the granting of our clients’ motion for new trial. New trial was avoided as a result of a fifty-two page Court of Appeal opinion adopting our position, as asserted in pre-trial and trial motions, that the unlicensed broker could not recover any fee. The appeal court directed reversal and vacated the damage award.

Real Estate Litigation

• After a seller refused to close on an $8 million sale of an appreciating commercial building, and sued our buyer client for breach of a lease to buyer for the one-year escrow period, successfully represented the prospective buyer in trial, obtaining a judgment of specific performance. The Court ordered seller to deliver title, and denied the seller’s breach of lease claims. Our client subsequently won a motion to recover all attorneys’ fees and costs in the amount of $293,486.
• Obtained summary judgment for defendant-seller in a specific performance action concerning commercial real estate, preventing an expensive and risky trial. Client’s motion for attorneys’ fees was withdrawn and the case settled when plaintiff paid our client $110,000 for attorneys’ fees and gave up appeal rights.
• Successfully defended in trial a will contest based on claimed lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence.
• Responded to a petition for instructions to a trustee to compel distribution or partition of five large parcels of developable property adjacent to existing subdivisions. Defended the claim brought by their sibling, guiding the co-trustees through complex estate tax and settlement issues to resolve the matter just before trial.