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FIRM PROFILE
We are a firm of five
partners. All of the partners began their careers at large law firms
with national and international practices. We decided to conduct a
“big firm” practice in a small firm setting.
Four of the partners are
trial lawyers and the fifth is an accomplished corporate, mergers and
acquisitions, and securities lawyer. It is with only slight
exaggeration that we state that there is not a business dispute or a
business deal that the Firm cannot successfully handle for its
clients.
On the litigation side of
the practice, we represent both plaintiffs and defendants in equal
percentages. Thus, we can readily anticipate how the other side in a
lawsuit will respond, and we act accordingly. On the corporate side,
we have extensive experience acting as buyer’s and seller’s counsel in
numerous public and private acquisitions, as well as counseling
companies in connection with their IPOs, secondary public offerings,
bank financings and compliance with the Securities Exchange Act of
1934 and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
All client representation
is at the partner level. We do not employ any associate level
attorneys. We do not believe that a client should have to pay for the
“learning curve” of an associate. A client of the Firm enjoys a close
one-on-one relationship with a partner who will handle their matter on
a “hands-on” basis from beginning to end. Our hourly billing rates
compare favorably to those charged by larger firms.
The Firm is dedicated to
providing the highest level of services on an effective and efficient
cost basis. A representative sample of the matters that we have
handled include:
Employment
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Successfully defended a public company
in a
multi-million dollar wage and hour class action
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Represented in-house counsel of a major
movie studio in her wrongful termination action; resulted in an
appellate opinion delineating when an in-house counsel may sue for
wrongful termination
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Regularly counsel and train officers,
managers and employees on compliance with employment matters,
including sexual harassment laws
Real Estate
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Obtained $11 million judgment against
defrauding real estate manipulator
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Regularly bring and defend specific
performance actions, including handling associated lis pendens
motions
Corporate Litigation
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Successfully defended a public company
against private and public attack on a $500 million merger
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Regularly bring and defend shareholder
derivative actions, as well as acting as counsel to Special
Litigation Committees
Insurance
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Obtained Ninth Circuit opinion extending
coverage to a landlord sued for breach of lease and wrongful
eviction, and permitting bad faith portion of case to proceed;
matter promptly settled thereafter
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Established, in a published appellate
opinion, the duty of a corporation’s insurance company to defend
officers in a lawsuit brought by the corporation
Entertainment
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Successfully defended motion picture
company against various attacks on its multi-million dollar movie
franchise
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Represented investors in a fraudulent
music investment deal, obtaining judgment after trial that included
punitive damages
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Performed all legal work for the “Vans
Warped Tour,” a traveling music festival that tours North America
annually.
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Obtained music clearances for
soundtracks, television commercials and video games
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Advised clients on event sponsorship
agreements, venue agreements and athlete agreements
Construction Defect
Equine Law
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Obtained $1+ million judgment in favor
of an owner against his trainer/horse manager for fraud in
connection with a series of Thoroughbred purchases and sales
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Obtained a writ of mandate, affirmed on
appeal, awarding California horse owners millions of dollars of
interest on their racetrack money accounts, reversing decades-old
practices whereby racetracks used such money as their own
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Obtained a $1+ million property tax
refund for an Arabian horse owner; the court ruled that the County
of Ventura had improperly taxed the horses and the decision forced
the County to change their tax procedures for the benefit of all
Arabian horse owners in the county
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Obtained a determination from U.S.
District Court that a horse syndicator was not selling securities.
Corporate Law
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Negotiated and documented dozens of
license agreements relating to both domestic and international
distribution
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Extensive experience in working with
foreign counsel to establish foreign distribution systems, including
drafting distribution agreements, establishing foreign subsidiaries,
and working with tax counsel and tax accountants
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Structured and documented numerous joint
ventures and limited liability companies
Mergers and Acquisitions
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Negotiated and documented the $100
million leveraged buyout of Vans, Inc.
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Negotiated and documented the $400
million acquisition of Vans, Inc. by VF Corporation
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Negotiated and documented multiple niche
acquisitions in the action sports industry
Securities
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Issuer’s counsel on 10 initial public
offerings, including for such well-known companies as HomeClub and
Vans, and Issuer's counsel on three secondary public offerings
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Extensive experience preparing and
filing all reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
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Established compliance programs and
procedures mandated by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
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Extensive experience in counseling
Boards and Board Committees on compliance with their duties under
Delaware and California law.
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