San Francisco (January 3, 2024) – San Francisco-based law firm Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is pleased to welcome Frank Busch to the firm’s partnership.

Frank is an experienced litigator who has represented parties of every size in complex trial and appellate matters. He has experience with all phases of discovery, motion practice, mediation, arbitration, trial, and appeal, including a successful oral argument before the Ninth Circuit. Frank also has significant experience in probate litigation, having represented both beneficiaries and fiduciaries in many litigated matters, including will contests, trust contests, accounting actions, attorney-in-fact litigation, and other related matters.

“We welcome Frank to Coblentz,” said Sara Finigan, Managing Partner of the firm. “Frank brings impressive complex commercial litigation experience and leadership in the San Francisco legal and business community; he is a wonderful complement to our litigation team.”

“I’m excited to start my next chapter at Coblentz. Coblentz is a top-notch litigation firm and is well known in the Bay Area community. I am looking forward to working alongside the excellent folks who I have the good fortune to partner with now,” said Frank Busch.

Frank is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco Litigation Section, where he served as Chair and as a member of the Executive Committee through 2023. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association, Northern District of California Chapter and the Association of Business Trial Lawyers.

Frank joins from Wagstaffe, von Loewenfeldt, Busch & Radwick LLP, where he was a founding partner.

San Francisco (January 3, 2024) – Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is pleased to announce the election of Marcia Valadez Valente and Ashley Weinstein-Carnes to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2024.

“We are delighted to welcome Marcia and Ashley to the partnership,” said Sara Finigan, Managing Partner of the firm. “Marcia and Ashley are immensely talented lawyers and are dedicated to their clients, community, and Coblentz. We are proud to call them our partners.”

The 2024 new partners are:

Marcia Valadez Valente, Litigation.

Marcia Valente is a trial attorney with a broad range of experience representing companies, individuals, and public entities in state and federal courts. Marcia’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation with an emphasis on financial and commercial cases, and employment disputes. She also represents clients in matters brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. Marcia is a member of the State Bars of California and New York and the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Federal Bar Association, and the Women’s White Collar Defense Association. Marcia maintains an active pro bono practice and is dedicated to serving her community. She serves on the Executive Board of the Federal Bar Association, Northern District of California Chapter, and is a member and Co-Chair of the Stanford Latino Alumni Association, Northern California Chapter. Marcia earned her J.D., cum laude, and as a member of the Order of the Coif, from Cardozo School of Law. She received her B.A. in Political Science, with honors, from Stanford University.

Ashley Weinstein-Carnes, Real Estate.

Ashley Weinstein-Carnes is a land use attorney focusing on complex entitlement and permitting for development projects throughout the Bay Area. Ashley’s practice includes a wide range of product types and local jurisdictions. She has successfully obtained land use approvals for projects including mixed-use and multifamily residential developments, corporate R&D and office campuses, an NBA stadium, hospitals and medical facilities, and industrial facilities. Ashley has significant experience utilizing California’s evolving housing laws with a focused practice on streamlining strategies for residential and mixed-use residential projects; she regularly speaks and writes on changes in the regulatory landscape impacting housing production in California. In addition to her law practice, Ashley is a faculty lecturer at the University of California, Haas School of Business, where she teaches an interdisciplinary graduate course to business, law and planning students on land development and investment issues. Ashley is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, serving on the Leadership Team of the Small Scale Development National Product Council and the Steering Committee of the San Francisco District Council Young Leaders Group, and a member and former Vice-President of the Berkeley Real Estate Alumni Association. Ashley earned her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law with an Interdisciplinary Graduate Certificate in Real Estate. While at Berkeley Law, Ashley was a member of the Ecology Law Quarterly Board and a Graduate Research Assistant at the UC Berkeley Terner Center for Housing Innovation. She received her M.A. from Loyola Marymount University and earned her B.A., cum laude, from the University of Miami.