Paul Tauber and Peter Wang represented Pure Wafer plc in the sale of its Arizona manufacturing facilities to Wafer Holding Company LLC. Pure Wafer plc is a provider of high quality silicon wafer reclaim services to a blue chip customer base of semiconductor manufacturers and independent foundries from its manufacturing facilities in Swansea, Wales, and Arizona. Following a fire at its Swansea facilities in 2014, Pure Wafer decided to sell its Arizona business to Wafer Holding Company for $16 million.
Clifford Yin Honored With Minority Bar Coalition Unity Award
Coblentz congratulates Clifford Yin on being honored with a Minority Bar Coalition 2015 Unity Award. Cliff was selected for this award by the Justice & Diversity Center of the Bar Association of San Francisco for his volunteer work with the organization, including his dedication to coaching the Mock Trial Program for the last 20+ years. Cliff was one of 15 recipients honored at a reception on November 18th, 2015, for his dedication to the cause for diversity in the legal profession.
Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass Awarded Best Law Firms Recognition by Best Lawyers®
U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers® ranked Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP among its 2016 list of “Best Law Firms.” Coblentz is ranked in 13 different practice areas in both National rankings and Metropolitan San Francisco rankings. The Firm was awarded six prestigious “Tier 1” rankings in the highly competitive Metropolitan San Francisco law firm category, in the following practice areas: Commercial Litigation, Land Use & Zoning Law, Litigation – Land Use & Zoning, Real Estate Law, Tax Law and Trusts & Estates Law. Coblentz was also awarded a National “Tier 1” ranking in Land Use & Zoning Law.
Best Lawyers® names firms included in the 2016 “Best Law Firms” list as being recognized for “professional excellence with persistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.”
Rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes clients’ and peers’ evaluation of firms based on expertise, professionalism and responsiveness. To be eligible for a ranking, a firm must have a lawyer listed in The Best Lawyers in America©, which recognizes the top 4 percent of practicing attorneys in the U.S. Fifteen Coblentz attorneys are recognized by The Best Lawyers in America©, and name partner Pam Duffy was selected as the Best Lawyers® 2016 Real Estate Law “Lawyer of the Year” in San Francisco.
Statutory Class Actions Hang In The Balance At High Court
Authored by Skye Langs and Richard Patch. Originally published in Law360, November 2, 2015.
“On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in Spokeo Inc. v. Robins, a case that has the potential to fundamentally alter the landscape of class actions based on violations of statutory rights. At issue in Spokeo is whether a plaintiff has Article III standing to sue for a violation of his or her statutory rights, absent proof of any “concrete harm” resulting from the violation. If the petitioner is victorious, plaintiffs will no longer be able to sue for bare violations of a statute unless they can demonstrate that they suffered some real-world harm.
. . .
Ultimately, the Supreme Court’s decision in Spokeo could make it much more difficult for plaintiffs to bring large-scale class actions based on bare violations of the FCRA as well as other similar privacy statutes, such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act and the Video Privacy Protection Act. Under the status quo, class certification for claims based on statutory violations is a relatively low hurdle because no individualized proof of harm is required. Once a class is certified, defendants are under tremendous pressure to settle in the face of potential exposure in the billions of dollars. A ruling in favor of Spokeo would equalize this imbalance, raise the bar for class certification by requiring common proof of actual, real-world harm, and reduce the risk of large-scale liability to corporate defendants.”
Full article can be found at Law360 (subscription required).