Lathrop Business Lawyers

Gerald R. Prettyman has been preparing and filing patents since 2001, and since 2006 has filed trademarks, copyrights and business filings, and worked to prevent and solve legal problems for his clients. Mr. Prettyman has prepared and filed over 200 patent applications for his clients and over 70 trademarks. Mr. Prettyman was previously an engineer and business manager, making him uniquely qualified to work with and protect the intellectual property of tech companies and to advise start-ups on how to make money without spending money. Mr. Prettyman is a U.S. Navy veteran.

Kathryn E. Barrett is a member of Silicon Valley Law Group’s Business Litigation, Employment and Financial Services Group. Her areas of expertise include complex commercial disputes involving fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair competition, partnership, corporate and shareholder disputes, breach of fiduciary duty, derivative claims, alter ego; claims under the Convention for International Sale of Goods (CISG), employment, and real estate. Kathryn's litigation experience also includes adversary proceedings in the bankruptcy courts.

Kathryn is also an experienced, U.C. Berkeley-certified mediator of business disputes. She serves as a mediator and arbitrator for the Santa Clara County Bar Association Fee Arbitration Panel and...

Kent P. Tierney has been practicing law for over 20 years. He specializes in the areas of Family Law, Real Estate, Civil Litigation, and Business Law. Mr. Tierney formed what is now Tierney Law Group in 2012 following more than 15 years of practice with several Bay Area law firms specializing in Civil Litigation. Mr. Tierney brings his unique personal experiences to the representation of his clients and is known for his no nonsense approach to cases. Mr. Tierney’s clients often compliment him for his straightforward demeanor and candid review of cases. His strengths are his knowledge of the law,...

Our office provides legal services in matters involving business law, real estate, construction, employment law, contracts, and litigation. With over 20 years of experience we are highly skilled and experienced in the various legal issues that involve our clients. We represent business owners, brokers, landowners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, sellers, and purchasers. Our clients include both businesses and individuals. We represent clients throughout the State of California. In addition, Mr. Jacobs provides top-notch mediation and arbitration services.

Adam Stoddard is a partner in the firm and has represented developers, general contractors and their insurance companies specializing in the representation of businesses and individuals in complex construction defect litigation, contract, and fraud-based disputes. This included representation ranging from Fortune 500 companies, to national builders and to individual board members of non-profit corporations through the initial investigation, pre-litigation process, and trial. Adam also worked for a prominent plaintiff's law firm representing homeowner's associations in complex construction defect cases. This provided Adam with a practical approach to critically evaluate construction defect claims and implement effective resolution strategies through mediation and settlement...

I am an experienced Estate Planning, Trust, Will, Probate, Business Formation, and Civil Litigation attorney. I zealously represent clients throughout Sacramento.

Having practiced law for over 25 years, I bring a wealth of knowledge and skill to advocate for my clients' rights and interests. I am dedicated to providing personal attention and outstanding service, while pursuing the best possible outcomes.

A native of Sacramento, I returned to Elk Grove in 2001 and thereafter fulfilled my dream of opening my own practice. Outside of work, I can be found enjoying time with my wife and three children.

Contact me for a free, no obligation...

As an attorney, Matthew Grech began his career as a civil litigator. From there Mr. Grech transitioned into estate planning and probate & estate administration. As an estate planning/administration attorney Mr. Grech has assisted numerous clients manage trust and estate administrations from inception to closing, as well as guiding and facilitating the planning process. It was during this time that Mr. Grech realized that a number of his clients’ family members and friends were facing mounting financial troubles in the wake of The Great Recession. It was this realization that motivated Mr. Grech to begin practicing bankruptcy law, which...

For your mediation, negotiation, or transactional needs, contact Kevin Boileau, PhD, at 415.830.0065 or 858.688.4871. Specializing in complex negotiation, mediation, transactional, and int'l problem-solving. INTL LAW, divorce, business, climate change and water, design - - We handle transactions in Asia, Europe and throughout North America. DIVORCE LAW - - we handle complex financials, estates, and discreet matters REAL ESTATE & DESIGN LAW - - We handle complex negotiations. ANIMAL RIGHTS MEDIATION - - We protect animals ranging from Animal Control issues, to vet malpractice, ownership, systemic abuse, and other. CLIMATE CHANGE, WATER & LAND MEDIATION - - We offer creative solutions. BUSINESS MEDIATION - - We...

Hank Burgoyne is an AV-rated counselor and litigator with more than a dozen years' experience advising technology and other businesses on commercial, intellectual property, advertising, speech, trade secret and data security issues. Hank has particular expertise in digital forensics and evidence, and in licensing, outsourcing, development and similar technology-related transactions. Hank has successfully represented plaintiffs and defendants in some of California's most important Internet-related advertising cases, both at the trial court level and before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. A former reporter and newsroom lawyer, Hank counsels clients on copyright, defamation, trademark, privacy and other communications-related issues, and has...

Experienced, dedicated and affordable immigration attorney servings the Immigration community for near 20 years. Record of winning case on asylum, VAWA claim, naturalization with criminal background, waivers, and complex family based immigrant visa petitions.

Ms. Rome-Banks has over 20 years of bankruptcy and related experience. Ms. Rome-Banks’ practice focuses on representing individual debtors in Chapter 11 cases, representing landlords in all chapters of bankruptcy, and in all types of bankruptcy litigation. Ms. Rome-Banks has considerable experience representing landlords in all aspects of bankruptcy, and has represented landlords in a number of well-known bankruptcies, including Round Table Pizza, Circuit City, Chevy’s, Fresh Choice, Mervyn’s, Crown Books, Hollywood Video, Napster, Levitz, Tower Record, Jennifer Convertibles, and Lionel Trains bankruptcies. Ms. Rome-Banks also has substantial experience handling complex stay relief motions and defending private lenders and bona...

Robert L. (Bob) Taylor was born near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and attended high school in Berkeley, California. Bob graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with high honors from the University of California at Berkeley in 1982 with an A.B. degree in Economics. Bob graduated from the Boalt Hall School of Law (UC Berkeley) in 1985, where he was a member of the California Law Review. In 1985, he was admitted to practice in the State of California and before the Federal District Court, Northern District of California, and the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. He has since also been admitted...

Michael Hassen's litigation practice spans over 30 years and emphasizes general business and commercial litigation, including class action defense and matters involving intellectual property and unfair competition.

I am Senior Counsel at Nopar & Associates Attorneys at Law. My practice areas include Business & Commercial Law, Business Purchases & Sales, Business Organizations, Corporate Law, and Intellectual Property Law.

I obtained my B.S. at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania. I earned my J.D. at Stanford Law School. I am admitted to practice law in the State of California.

I have extensive experience in a broad range of business law matters. I am dedicated to providing skilled and knowledgeable counsel for your legal needs.

I am a determined California attorney practicing Bankruptcy, Business, Real Estate and Construction Law, with a particular focus on insolvency, debtor-creditor rights and real estate matters. With years of experience, my goal is always providing exceptional legal service and representation to achieve the best possible outcomes.

At Structure Law Group, I am part of a dedicated legal team providing skilled and knowledgeable advocacy for business and real estate law matters. For more information visit my website or call for a consultation.

Quynh (“Quinn”) Chen is a bilingual attorney that has been admitted to practice in the Ninth Circuit of the United States Appellate Court. Her practice areas primarily focus on family law, entity formations, and intellectual property. Her interest is in software patents and helping underrepresented clients in her community.

As part of her interest in software patents, Ms. Chen is proficient in programming in Ruby on Rails, MEAN stack Javascript, and working with various databases. While at Golden Gate University, School of Law, she served as Vice President of Asian Pacific American Law Student Association.

Adept at crafting and executing on strategy, building teams, and partnering across functions to advance the business. I have rich experience in law, management and corporate development across diverse settings in terms of scale and geography. This has included advising startups, public companies and investors as outside counsel; serving as a legal and corporate development executive at an industry-leading public company with extensive global operations; and founding a real estate technology start-up. Strengths include: structuring and negotiating complex transactions; mergers & acquisitions; joint ventures; startups; venture capital financings; strategy; corporate governance; securities offerings; SEC reporting requirements; and global operations for complex...

Ed Kraus is a shareholder with Silicon Valley Law Group. For over 20 years he has represented individuals, small and large companies in a variety of civil and criminal litigation matters. Ed has successfully handled litigation involving employment issues, real estate, construction, commercial disputes, contract issues, unfair competition and Americans with Disabilities Act claims on behalf of businesses. Ed also handles a wide variety of criminal litigation including representing individuals and corporations accused of grand theft, embezzlement, real estate fraud, insurance fraud, environmental, trade secret violations, driving under the influence, other driving related charges and other general criminal matters.

Ed believes...

Marc van Niekerk is Special Counsel with Silicon Valley Law Group’s Business Litigation and Intellectual Property & Employment Group. Over the course of his career, Marc has tried more than 50 cases to verdict and also has extensive mediation experience. His practice focuses on business litigation, with special emphasis in the areas of intellectual property disputes, business torts and commercial contract disputes. During his more than 25 years in practice, Marc has counselled and represented clients in a wide array of commercial disputes including, inter alia, employee solicitation and trade secret misappropriation, business disputes, including breach of contract,...

Mr. Binder has over 35 years of experience representing businesses and individuals as debtors or creditors in all types of bankruptcy matters and corporate restructuring. In addition to his considerable bankruptcy experience, Mr. Binder frequently represents businesses and individuals in real estate and business matters, collection and collection defense, and commercial law disputes. Mr. Binder’s practice also includes asset protection planning, creditor negotiations and workouts, debtor-creditor rights, tax disputes, bankruptcy appeals, and representing under-insured defendants in settlement negotiations and mediations.

Mr. Binder is active in the local Silicon Valley community, frequently lecturing on bankruptcy and related topics such as asset protection...

Ms. Johns is a civil trial lawyer who has tried more than one hundred cases to verdict. She is the managing partner for Hillary Johns, Trial Lawyer which maintains offices in Beverly Hills, the Bay Area and New York City. She graduated from Occidental College in 1990 and Golden Gate University School of Law in 1993 where she graduated with Dean’s List and class honors. She is licensed to practice law in California, the California Southern, Central and Northern U.S. Federal District Courts, the District of Columbia, Montana, New York, and the New York Eastern and Southern U.S....

Bill is Special Counsel with Silicon Valley Law Group. He provides experienced and knowledgeable representation in the Corporate & Securities and Intellectual Property groups. His practice areas include business formation and governance, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances and joint ventures, private placements, and corporate finance, as well as commercial and intellectual property transactions, including technology licensing, copyright and trademark registration and licensing, strategic intellectual property counseling, and franchisor/franchisee relationship transactions and counseling. With 30 years of experience, Bill is committed to outstanding advocacy and the best possible outcomes for his clients' legal needs.

Bill earned his B.A. in Economics in...

Areas of Expertise

Business advice and counseling
Contract drafting and review
Corporate structure and transactions
Licensing and regulation
Employment and labor negotiation
Insurance coverage and claims handling
Education

B.A., Colgate University, 1991
Phi Beta Kappa, Magna Cum Laude
J.D., University of Wisconsin Law School, 1994

Martin is an experienced business attorney who facilitates transactions while minimizing the risks and pitfalls facing his clients. Martin takes a “can-do” approach to legal problems that focuses on crafting deals through an integrative and value creating process rather than conflict.

Mr. Tormey has over 20 years of experience in product development, marketing and intellectual property protection. As a company startup veteran, Mr. Tormey brings a unique perspective on the value of intellectual property to a small and growing business. As such, he also speaks to entrepreneurs and business executives on how to protect and leverage IP assets. Mr. Tormey is the author of the "Startup Guide to Intellectual Property." As a patent attorney, Mr. Tormey has drafted over 100 patent applications covering software, electronics, wireless, radio, mobile applications, encryption and automation controls. Besides intellectual property law, ...

Though he began his career practicing Entertainment Law in Los Angeles, Mr. Fink and his wife traded the glamour of Hollywood for the San Jose area' s charms. That early exposure to big city, high-pressure civil cases has served him well, particularly when dealing with the complex issues involved in contemporary employment cases. Mr. Fink is a partner in Mesirow & Fink, a small but energetic and creative law firm founded in 1976. Mr. Fink is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley's Boalt Hall, and he has six times been selected by San Jose Magazine as one of the...

Mr. Williams is the founder of The Williams Firm and has over 21 years of extensive experience in the areas of real estate, construction, business and corporate law. Mr. Williams' practice areas include all aspects of civil litigation and dispute resolution in all courts, government hearings, arbitrations and mediations in the areas of real estate, construction and business law. Mr. Williams also represents and advises clients in business transactions, corporate law, real property transactions, and trademark law. In real estate matters he has represented owners and developers of residential and commercial properties, including multi-million dollar properties, negotiated sales...

Michael Stebbins is a shareholder with Silicon Valley Law Group and the Chair of its Business and IP Litigation and Employment Groups. His practice focuses primarily on employment, intellectual property and commercial disputes. He has extensive litigation and trial experience in matters involving trade secret theft, employee solicitation, technology licensing, IP infringement, false advertising, earn-out issues, unfair competition, shareholder disputes, breach of fiduciary duty, trade libel, harassment, discrimination, wage and hour issues, and wrongful termination. He has also litigated complex matters involving real estate leases, construction contracts and insurance coverage.

A significant portion of Michael’s practice also involves...

Seasoned corporate and transactional lawyer specializing in vendor and supplier contract terms and conditions, software licensing, machinery purchasing, franchising, website terms and conditions/privacy policies etc. I also have a MBA and have lived in the start up world and know the pain points of entrepreneurs. Not only I can be a great legal advisor, I can also advise on a multitude of business issues, from procurement, to program management, HR, team building and more!

San Francisco native Gerald E. Brunn holds Martindale-Hubbell‘s AV-Preeminent rating, confirming that he has reached “the height of professional excellence…and the highest levels of skill and integrity.” He represents clients in trials and litigation; personal injury and wrongful death cases; employment law; and business and corporate law matters. Mr. Brunn has served as a Special Master for the State Bar of California and is an adjunct professor at Chapman University and Modesto Junior College. He teaches Business Law, Employment and Labor Law, Constitutional Law, Legal History, and Political Science. Mr. Brunn received mediation training from the Straus Institute for...

I represent individuals and small to medium sized businesses in bankruptcy, foreclosure defense and debt consolidation matters. For individuals, I represent clients in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings, including adversary proceedings, including 2nd home mortgage lien stripping, redemption of vehicles and student loan reductions. For businesses, I provide services related to the winding down of a business, board and management consultations and bankruptcy debt consolidation in Chapter 11. In conjunction with my bankruptcy practice, I also provide estate planning, probate and trust administration representation. The best way to avoid probate is to plan properly by drafting...

I have a passion and love for what I do. At Castaneda & Company, we represent individuals and small businesses in the areas of business law, contracts, employment, fraud, and real estate. After I filed a lawsuit in October 2007 against Apple™ and AT&T over the iPhone™, I was featured on websites around the world including Businessweek.com, Forbes.com, MSNBC.com, and the USAToday.com.

We have gone up against Stanford University, Google, Adobe, and Bank of America. Despite these big names, the majority of our clients are ordinary people and small business owners. We like representing the underdog and we like beating the...

Fred W. Schwinn is a licensed attorney admitted to practice in the States of California and Kansas. Fred is the shareholder and owner of the Consumer Law Center, Inc. His practice is dedicated exclusively to representing consumer debtors in bankruptcy, stopping predatory and abusive consumer lending practices, and protecting consumers from illegal debt collection activity.

In 1997, Fred graduated from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas where he organized and volunteered at the law school's Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site. While other law students were training in the law school's legal clinic, Fred began his legal career in...

Eric Despotes became the newest attorney at Lonich & Patton, LLP in February 2010 and assists in all areas of the firm's practice, Family Law, Estate Planning, and Business Law Eric grew up in the Bay Area and attended college at California State University, Long Beach, earning a degree in Poltical Science with an emphasis in International Relations. He then returned to the Bay Area to attend law school. Eric graduated cum laude from Santa Clara University School of Law in 2009. He received the Witkin Award for Academic Excellence in Constitutional Law and the CALI Excellence for the Future Award...

Through my office, I have been able to practice law in a manner that best serves my clients. Being a lawyer is being able to serve people. I am in a service industry. I must be honest with my clients. This means that I will tell clients what I believe is in their best interest, regardless of my financial interest or personal bias. I do believe that people should stay out of court, if possible. Court is expensive, time consuming, and emotionally draining for clients. It is easier to fix problems prior...