- Criminal DefenseWe have extensive trial experience in high-profile cases, but also understand that convincing the government not to pursue a matter in the first place is the best result. Because we’ve been there both as government attorneys and on behalf of our private clients, we understand the nuances of working with a variety of enforcement agencies – including the U.S. Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Internal Revenue Service, and many others – to avoid or temper potential enforcement actions.
- FraudOur White Collar Defense and Investigations team includes three former federal prosecutors (a past Chief of the Securities Fraud Section at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California and two Assistant United States Attorneys for the Southern District of California), a former Trial Attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, a former long-time public defender in San Francisco, and other attorneys with prior government experience, including at the California Attorney General’s office.
- Theft
- EmbezzlementOur employment litigators have assisted firm clients in putting a stop to, or recovering damages for, a wide range of improper activities regarding employee misconduct, including misuse of company property, theft of trade secrets, unfair competition, workplace violence and stalking, trade libel, breach of fiduciary duty, violations of nondisclosure agreements, and embezzlement.
- Money LaunderingWe have defended cases at both the trial and appellate levels, including alleging banks’ failure to detect and prevent fiduciary fraud; money laundering, forgeries, and embezzlements; improper bank charges and set-offs; lender liability; and claims of unfair competition and violations of consumer protection laws.
- Corporate LawCoblentz is nationally recognized for our expertise with the complex tax and regulatory issues facing nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations. At the core of our practice is our experience with corporate governance, estates and trust, and taxation law, all of which are central to the operation of tax-exempt and non-profit organizations.
- Mergers and AcquisitionsThe challenges facing clients in this highly competitive industry are unique—and so is our approach. We bring experience in both transactional—employment, intellectual property, real estate, advertising, and mergers and acquisitions—and litigation aspects of the law, and our various teams work together seamlessly to help our clients grow their businesses.
- Business TransactionsAlmost every business transaction includes an intellectual property component. And whether it is evaluating the intellectual property in an acquisition transaction, leveraging it in financing, or exploiting it with a license or joint venture arrangement, our attorneys can help maximize and protect the value of the intellectual property involved.
- Limited Liability CompaniesWe regularly advise clients about private issuances of various kinds of equity and debt securities, including common and preferred stock, membership interests in limited liability companies, limited partnership interests, and straight and convertible debt instruments of various kinds.
- Construction ContractsOur knowledge of the industry runs deep, and our breadth of experience is unparalleled. We have represented numerous cable operators and provide counsel in the diverse areas of direct broadcast satellite, broadband, and wireless technologies. We’ve handled virtually every kind of case—both in the regulatory compliance arena as well as in business transactional matters—from unfair practices to major antitrust cases, and from franchise transfers to disputes over construction contracts.
- Trade Secrets
- Intellectual PropertyOur attorneys have deep experience in a variety of intellectual property issues related to advertising, including brand selection and clearance issues, rights clearances for use of third-party content, rights of publicity and privacy, licensing agreements for music and other content, disclaimers, sponsorship agreements, talent and celebrity endorsements. We also work with clients on a range of Internet-related advertising issues, including website terms and conditions, privacy policies, claims and disclaimers, contest and sweepstakes rules and requirements, and use of trademarks in sponsored advertising.
- Unfair CompetitionWe have defended countless unfair competition claims and numerous false advertising claims asserted under California’s Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof. Code Section 17200 et seq.) and California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Proposition 65 suits, and California’s False Advertising laws, as well as state and federal class actions asserted under similar statutory schemes in more than 20 other states.
- AntitrustCoblentz represents companies and individuals in a variety of complex matters relating to white collar defense and investigations, including criminal and civil and regulatory enforcement defense, and government and internal investigations. Our team has deep experience in securities, financial, tax, and accounting fraud, as well as False Claims Act violations, insider trading, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act claims, antitrust violations, federal grants management, corporate culture, and other areas that often involve multiple jurisdictions and parallel civil, regulatory, and criminal proceedings. We regularly defend directors and officers against suits by shareholders, creditors, bankruptcy trustees, and others. Our experience also includes conducting internal investigations and advising companies in establishing compliance policies, programs, and training in a range of industries.
- Wrongful Termination
- Employment ContractWe serve as outside human resources and employment counsel to a number of Bay Area businesses, giving us the insight that many firms just don’t have into the day-to-day challenges of corporate life. It also gives us the experience we need to advise our clients on all aspects of employment law workforces. Our deep experience includes audits of employment policies, procedures, and practices; sexual harassment and anti-discrimination training of human resource personnel, managers, and supervisors; negotiation and drafting of individual employment contracts; and counseling regarding wage and hour compliance.
- Employment LitigationWith every client and in every case, we take a proactive approach to counseling and compliance matters, providing advice that is strategic, savvy, and specific to our clients’ needs with a focus on litigation avoidance whenever possible. When workplace issues progress to litigation, our employment litigation attorneys are prepared to provide vigorous, yet cost-effective representation to our clients.
- Sexual Harassment
- Real Estate LitigationOur firm’s deepest roots are in real estate law, and the individual attorneys in our practice are the most skilled, experienced, and innovative in the field. Collectively—and through collaboration with the firm’s other practices—we provide clients with valuable counsel on a full spectrum of real estate matters.
- Construction LitigationWe represent public and private owners and developers in construction litigation, but because we’ve also handled litigation for construction companies we understand both sides of the matters our clients present. We use this depth of knowledge to resolve disputes efficiently and effectively, guiding our clients to successful outcomes in matters involving construction defects, liens, contract remedies, structural failures, project management, billing disputes, and disruption to adjacent properties. We have particular insight into the problems our clients face with the rise in disputes involving delay and scheduling conflicts, disputes that can threaten to derail multimillion-dollar projects.
- Real Estate TransactionsBut we don’t only take on California’s biggest and most visible real estate developments. Our attorneys handle the day-to-day real estate transactions for many premier companies, such as The Carlyle Group, Equity Office, Brookfield Properties (formerly Forest City), Wilson Meany, LendLease, Lincoln Property Company, Spear Street Capital, and UBS Realty Investors. We have created lasting partnerships with some of California’s premier technology companies, sports teams, hotels, restaurants, and cultural, educational, and medical institutions, assisting them in their real estate endeavors for many years.
- Eminent DomainCoblentz has a long and successful history of representing clients in real estate-related litigation, including zoning, development entitlements, and permits disputes; disputes arising out of real property purchase agreements or options; defense of eminent domain actions; property tax challenges; and quiet title actions, including adverse possession, boundary, and easement disputes. Our trial attorneys represent a broad range of institutional and individual clients, including developers, investors, building owners, commercial tenants, and purchasers and sellers of real property.
- Easement
- Land Use and ZoningCalifornia is home to some of the world’s most innovative alternative energy solutions. And a vibrant and successful renewable energy business requires a law firm like ours with particular experience in a variety of practice areas that work together to contribute to that success, including real estate and land use, construction, tax, corporate transactions, intellectual property, and litigation. That’s why, as opportunities have developed over the last several years in renewable energy and green technologies, companies taking advantage of those opportunities have wanted Coblentz by their side as they navigate the often complex regulatory environment that governs many aspects of the field.
- Landlord-Tenant DisputesCoblentz has extensive experience representing both landlord and tenant interests and issues in power center, mixed-use, and neighborhood shopping centers relating to the leasing and operation by major tenants such as Target, Macy’s, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
- Estate PlanningWe represent both institutional and individual fiduciaries with regard to post-mortem trust and estate administrations, as well as the administration of irrevocable, continuing trusts established by our clients. We assist in all aspects of administration, including property tax; estate, gift, and generation-skipping tax filings and compliance; satisfaction of trustee duties concerning investment, management, and disposition of trust assets, as well as discretionary funding and distribution decisions.
- WillsTrust and estates litigation matters are among the most sensitive we handle at our firm. We take great care to look for nonjudicial opportunities to resolve disputes. However, when settlement or mediation does not work, we litigate aggressively to achieve our clients’ goals, and we have done so in a wide range of disputes, including will contests and actions alleging negligence or other breaches of fiduciary duties.
- TrustsWorking hand-in-hand with our Family Wealth practice, our tax attorneys advise on the tax planning and issues surrounding family wealth transfers involving trusts and estates and other areas of importance to high-net-worth family clients and their closely-held businesses, including succession planning for extended families.
- Probate
- Bankruptcy
- Tax LawWe handle all aspects of an individual’s estate and gift tax planning. Our goal is to help our clients analyze and implement strategies that will efficiently maintain and transfer wealth while minimizing income, gift, and estate tax consequences for them and their families.