“Coblentz Attorneys Protect Low-Income Consumers,” BASF Bulletin, November 2013

The Justice & Diversity Center thanks Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass for its recent exceptional volunteer efforts on behalf of low income consumers. By mid-August 2013, led by partner Fred Fields, the firm had taken, and resolved, three full scope representation collection defense cases. The Coblentz team accepted one case that was scheduled for trial within the month. Thanks to the firm’s work, each case resolved before trial with a mutual release that included an agreement by the third party debt-buyer plaintiff not to report the alleged debt to credit reporting agencies.

Continuing “the excellent work of Coblenz, Fields just took on another full-scope collection defense case that is set for trial in mid-December. Field’s noted, “Often these credit, card debt accumulators take unfair advantage of [unrepresented consumers], such as taking liberties with the requirements of personal service of process, or improperly using affidavits in lieu of personal testimony.”

Because of the Coblentz firm’s assistance, the low income consumers avoided the downward economic spiral caused by having a money judgment on their credit report, they were protected from a wage garnishment or levy, further impact on their credit reports and scores were minimized, and they avoided tax consequences on the settlement of disputed debts.

Phil Feldman has been selected as the 2014 San Francisco Litigation – Trusts & Estates “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-reviewed publication in the legal profession. The “Lawyer of the Year” honor is awarded to a single lawyer in 16 high-profile legal specialties. Phil has continually been recognized by Best Lawyers since 2005 in both Litigation – Trusts and Estates and the Trusts and Estates categories.

“We continue to believe – as we have believed for more than 25 years – that recognition by one’s peers is the most meaningful form of praise in the profession,” said Steven Naifeh, President of Best Lawyers. “We would like to congratulate Phil Feldman on being selected as the ‘San Francisco Best Lawyers Litigation – Trusts & Estates Lawyer of the Year’ for 2014.”

Congratulations to Karen Frank for being named a Top Women IP Lawyer by Managing Intellectual Property Magazine.

“Karen Frank, a former president of the Copyright Society of the USA, practices IP and business law at Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass in San Francisco. Her clients include the advertising, food and beverage, and entertainment industries, including a major music company in its ongoing litigation in northern California.”

Click here for the full article.

Paul Tauber advised Accellera Systems Initiative (Accellera) in its acquisition of certain assets of the Open Core Protocol International Partnership (OCP-IP).  The asset acquisition includes the current OCP 3.0 standard and supporting infrastructure.  Accellera, an independent non-profit organization focused on the creation and adoption of electronic design automation (EDA) and intellectual property (IP) standards, has been collaborating on IP-standards for many years and is continuing to consolidate standardization practices.  Under one roof, the combined technologies are expected to provide a one-stop, front-end electronic design resource to address interoperability of IP design that will improve reuse, and ultimately increasing designer productivity and reducing development costs.  Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Jeff Knowles and Julie Greer are highlighted under section “III. THE LAWSUITS,” in the interview and article by Richard Nieva for Fortune Magazine.

“FORTUNE — Like the birth of most great music movements — Elvis on Ed Sullivan, Patti Smith at CBGB — Napster was rebellious of convention, threatening to established norms, and, well, really loud. The tiny startup from Hull, Mass. launched in early-1999, grabbing the world’s attention almost immediately. At its core was a clever-if-crude piece of software — so-called peer-to-peer technology — that allowed computers to easily send each other files over a network. It would transform the Internet into a maelstrom, definitively proving the web’s power to create and obliterate value.

It brought the music industry to its knees, eventually leading to an unprecedented legal battle over intellectual property. On behalf of the five major music labels, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) filed suit against Napster on December 6, 1999. The case reunited RIAA’s lawyer, Russell Frackman, with an old colleague, Jeff Knowles.”

Jeff and Julie represented music publishers and songwriters, who, along with the record companies, successfully sought to enjoin Napster’s infringing activities. Click here to read the full article and recollections from Jeff and Julie of a ground-breaking, hard fought case about the most important — and one of the most controversial — startups in early Internet history.

Steve Lanctot and Aaron Foxworthy are highlighted in a Daily Journal article by Joshua Sebold for their work with Team Luna Rossa in America’s Cup.

“Like every other multimillion-dollar sporting event, the America’s Cup has featured some compelling behind-the-scenes legal work . . . In a complicated legal matter in July, the regatta director Iain Murray proposed 37 last-minute rule changes after the practice-run crash that killed a team member of Sweden’s Artemis Racing. Murray included these rule changes with the Cup’s event permit application to the U.S. Coast Guard, and argued that a compliance with laws provision in the Protocol Governing the 34th America’s Cup required that all Competitors abide by the rule changes if incorporated into the Coast Guard’s permit. Emirates Team New Zealand (represented by Jones Day) and Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge (represented by Coblentz’s Stephen T. Lanctot and Aaron J. Foxworthy together with the team’s General Counsel), successfully challenged the rule changes. They argued that the Protocol (created for each America’s Cup to govern the event and implement the Cup’s founding document—the 1857 Deed of Gift) only permitted such rule changes by consensus of all Competitors. Furthermore, no other provision of the Protocol permitted a rule change in this manner. The America’s Cup Jury, five sailing experts from the International Sailing Federation, had the final say in America’s Cup disputes. The Jury agreed with the Italian and Kiwi arguments, and additionally found that the Coast Guard had its own authority to intervene if it thought safety was an issue at the event; the rules in question would not affect the Coast Guard’s authority under the Permit, thus were not required to be incorporated therein.

In addition to the successful rules challenge, Coblentz represented Luna Rossa on a variety of matters as the team’s counsel for this year’s competition.

Bill Hutton and Misti Schmidt advised the developer, Emerald Fund, in “an innovative arrangement” that will convert the land at 333 Harrison St. into San Francisco’s newest park, Emerald Park. “The agreement, approved Tuesday night between the San Francisco Parks Alliance and the developers of Rincon Green Apartments, creates a conservation easement that bars future development on the site and requires that the owners keep and maintain the land as a public park.” Bill and Misti drafted and negotiated the conservation easement for Emerald Fund, leading to the opening of Emerald Park at no cost to the city or the people of San Francisco. “This is a smart, very special gift to the city,” said Mayor Ed Lee.

Click here for the full article.

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Sept. 13, 2013 – Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass’ Litigation Group has been rated in the top 10 percent of all U.S. law firms for class actions. The ranking was featured in the recently released Litigation Outlook 2014 report by BTI Consulting Group, which annually provides in-depth analysis of the litigation market. BTI draws on direct feedback from interviews with corporate counsel at the world’s largest companies.

Coblentz has extensive experience defending class actions, including landmark cases representing cable giant Cox and Charter Communication and direct broadcast satellite leader DISH Network. Its litigators have also handled unfair business practice, real estate and environmental cases with notable client representations, such as Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America, San Francisco 49ers and other Fortune 500 companies.

“Our Litigation Practice provides comparable skills and experience to large, international law firms, yet we provide focused client service and a creative approach to each case at a better value,” said name partner and cable, satellite and telecommunications litigation veteran, Richard Patch.

In addition to its Litigation Outlook 2014 ranking, Coblentz has also been named a ‘Go-To’ Law Firm for Litigation by Corporate Counsel magazine and Partner Jessica Grant was named to the Daily Journal’s Top 100 list for litigation.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 4, 2013 – Coblentz welcomes Real Estate and Land Use Partner J. Gregg Miller, Jr. Gregg joins the firm from Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, where he was a partner. Prior to Pillsbury, he practiced at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati.

Miller brings nearly 15 years of experience representing clients on a broad array of real estate transactions, including multi-property portfolio acquisitions and dispositions, complex land use matters, leasing and secured lending. Some of the notable projects Miller has worked on include the sale of the iconic John Hancock Center, the mortgage loan on the Presidio Landmark Apartments, a 100,000-square-foot lease in one of San Francisco’s marquee office buildings and the entitlements for an expansion of the San Francisco Columbarium, a designated historic landmark.

“Gregg adds tremendous depth to our firm and shares a like-minded focus on delivering superior client service,” said Coblentz Partner Harry O’Brien, a real estate and land use law veteran. “He also fits well into our ‘next generation’ team of leaders, both at the firm and in the industry. He will be working on some of our high profile projects, and I know that both our clients and his clients will benefit from our combined expertise and capabilities.”

Click here to read the full press release.

Pamela Duffy has been selected as the San Francisco Litigation – Land Use & Zoning “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-reviewed publication in the legal profession. This is the third year Duffy has received the “Lawyer of the Year” honor, which is awarded to a single lawyer in 16 high-profile legal specialties. She has been recognized by Best Lawyers since 1995.

“We continue to believe – as we have believed for more than 25 years – that recognition by one’s peers is the most meaningful form of praise in the profession,” said Steven Naifeh, President of Best Lawyers. “We would like to congratulate Pam Duffy on being selected as the ‘San Francisco Best Lawyers Litigation – Land Use & Zoning Lawyer of the Year’ for 2014.”