• Coblentz Advises Treadwell & Rollo in Acquisition

    Paul Escobosa and Eleanor Hicks advised Treadwell & Rollo in its acquisition by Langan Engineering & Environmental Services in deal that closed on November 1, 2010.

    Treadwell & Rollo is a consulting firm that specializes in environmental, geotechnical and earthquake related engineering solutions. Coblentz and Treadwell & Rollo have shared many client projects over a 25-year span such as AT&T Ballpark, Mission Bay, Presidio of San Francisco and many others.

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  • Pamela Duffy Named 2011 San Francisco Land Use & Zoning Lawyer of the Year

    SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 10, 2010 – Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP Partner Pamela Duffy has been selected as the 2011 San Francisco 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 second consecutive 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.

    Duffy’s practice is focused on commercial real estate, land use and development, with a special emphasis on large public and private entity transactions.  She has played an active role in some of the Bay Area’s largest development projects and real estate transactions, including the San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park, the 300-acre Mission Bay development project and the Public Health Services Hospital conversion to a LEED-certified residential community.  Currently, she acts as lead counsel for the proposed new San Francisco 49ers Stadium, the 150-acre smart growth Napa Pipe project, and The Exploratorium’s move to Piers 15-17.  One of the only Bay Area women to be a name partner at a major law firm, Duffy also has been honored by the San Francisco Business Times as one of the “Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business” for the past six years.

    “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 Land Use & Zoning Lawyer of the Year’ for 2011.”

    Duffy earned her J.D., cum laude, from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles (1978) and her undergraduate degree, with honors, from California State University, Los Angeles (1970).

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  • Coblentz Clients Ammunition LLC, Eleven Inc. and Mekanism Inc. Selected for S.F. Business Times Fast 100

    Coblentz congratulates our clients Ammunition LLC, Eleven Inc. and Mekanism Inc. for being selected as three of the San Francisco Business Times 100 Fastest-Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area.  The Fast 100 spotlights the Bay Area’s most interesting, promising companies representing the best of the entrepreneurial spark and drive long associated with the Bay Area.

    Coblentz is pleased to be a sponsor of the San Francisco Business Times 19th Annual Fast 100 Awards Presentation.

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  • Tay Via Quoted in The Registry Regarding CEQA Guidelines

    Tay Via was quoted in the October 10, 2010 issue of The Registry regarding the new California Environmental Quality Act guidelines recently adopted by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and how they impact development projects.  The new air quality standards make urban development harder and the process more complex.

    Click here to view the article from The Registry, October 2010.

    Categories: News
  • Eleven Partners Named 2011 Best Lawyers

    Best Lawyers, one of the oldest and most respected peer-review publications in the legal profession, named eleven Coblentz attorneys as Best Lawyers in 2011:  the late William Coblentz, Jonathan Bass, Jeffry Bernstein, Pamela Duffy, Philip Feldman, Frederick Fields, William Hutton, James Mitchell, Harry O’Brien, Cynthia Rowland and Tay Via.

    Many of the Coblentz attorneys have been on the Best Lawyers list for over 15 years. This year’s national list is based on more than 3.1 million individual evaluations. The inclusions are strictly based on peer review, and fewer than 3 percent of practicing attorneys in the U.S. are included on the final list. Best Lawyers remains the gold standard of reliability and integrity in lawyer ratings.

    In 2010, three Coblentz partners (Pamela S. Duffy, the late William K. Coblentz, and William T. Hutton) were selected as San Francisco’s Best Lawyers of the Year in Real Estate, Land Use & Zoning, and Tax, respectively.

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  • Coblentz Named Tier 1 San Francisco Law Firm by U.S. News & World Report

    SAN FRANCISCO, October 4, 2010 – Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP has been recognized as one of the nation’s top law firms in the 2010 Best Law Firm list, published in print and online by U.S. News & World Report. The firm received five prestigious “Tier 1” rankings in the highly competitive San Francisco Metropolitan law firm category.

    Coblentz was recognized as a San Francisco Metropolitan “Tier 1” firm in the areas of Corporate Law, Environmental Law, Land Use & Zoning Law, Non-Profit/Charities Law, and Tax Law. The Tax Law practice was further recognized with a national ranking.  The firm also received recognition in the rankings for its Real Estate Law and Trusts & Estates Law practices.

    “This is a wonderful recognition to be included in the inaugural publication of U.S. News and World Report’s Best Law Firms among a collection of such prestigious national firms,” noted Danna Kozerski, managing partner at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP.  “We are proud of this honor and greatly appreciate that our peers and clients have shown us such confidence and support.”

    The Best Law Firms, a joint effort between U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers, surveyed and ranked nearly 9,000 firms in 81 national practice areas and 171 metropolitan practice areas. Research was based on feedback and interviews from thousands of law firm clients, lawyers and administrators. Individual firm diversity and pro bono efforts were also considered.

    To be eligible for a Metropolitan ranking, a firm had to have at least one lawyer listed in Best Lawyers. In 2010, Best Lawyers awarded San Francisco Lawyer of the Year honors to the late William K. Coblentz for Land Use & Zoning Lawyer of the Year, Pamela S. Duffy for Real Estate Lawyer of the Year, and William T. Hutton for Tax Lawyer of the Year. These Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass attorneys received three of the sixteen Lawyers of the Year honors awarded by Best Lawyers, more than any other law firm in San Francisco.

    The Best Law Firm list will appear in the October issue of U.S. News & World Report. Complete rankings for Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass are available on the U.S.News & World Report web site at bestlawfirms.usnews.com.

    Categories: News
  • Business Practice Secures $90M Credit Facility for Think Finance, Inc.

    Paul Tauber served as legal counsel for Think Finance, Inc. in securing its $90 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital Advisors.

    Think Finance, Inc., a developer of next-generation financial products, will use the line of credit to fund expansion of its existing product lines and to support the development and growth of new products.

    “We are excited about securing this additional source of funding enabling us to expand our innovative financial solutions for a growing market of consumers unbanked or underbanked,” said Think Finance CEO Ken Rees.  “Consumer response to our products have been tremendous and we’ve grown by over 50% this year and expect that growth to continue in 2011.”

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  • Pamela Duffy Named Among Top 100 Lawyers in California by Daily Journal

    Coblentz, is proud to announce that Pamela Duffy was selected as one of Daily Journal’s Top 100 – California’s Leading Attorneys of 2010.  The list, an honor of excellence, recognizes the 100 elite lawyers across all practices in California – men and women who are making the most impact on the legal profession and on society right now.  Ms. Duffy was among 12 women selected for this distinguished list.

    Categories: News
  • Coblentz Represents TMG Partners in Largest New Office Lease in San Francisco in 5 Years

    Danna Kozerski advised TMG Partners in securing a lease with Zynga, the world’s largest social game developer, for 270,000 square feet in the Townsend Center.  TMG Partners’ lease with Zynga is the largest in San Francisco since 2005.

    Townsend Center is one of several buildings located in the City’s South of Market area owned by TMG Partners, a full service real estate development and management company headquartered in San Francisco.  TMG has developed more than 18 million square feet of property throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.

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  • Coblentz Named Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year By California State Bar

    SAN FRANCISCO, August 13, 2010 – Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP has been recognized as the California State Bar President’s 2010 Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year. The prestigious award, which annually honors a California law firm for extraordinary pro bono service, will be bestowed in a presentation with California Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald George at the State Bar Annual Meeting in Monterey, Calif. on September 24.

    Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass is being honored by the State Bar for the firm’s pro bono efforts throughout 2009, a remarkable year in which the firm’s attorneys contributed over 4,700 pro bono hours across a wide variety of practice areas in matters including:

    • Direct representation of a federal inmate in a federal civil rights action against a doctor at Salinas Valley State Prison, culminating in a 7-day jury trial;
    • Providing legal services for more than 60 matters from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights on issues ranging from unlawful detainer, debt collection, administrative agency disputes, and evictions;
    • Representation of several criminal record expungement cases with the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office Clean Slate Program;
    • Representation of a complex immigration case before the Board of Immigration Appeals regarding a Togolese man denied asylum who was detained and tortured by his government;
    • Staffing seasonal tax clinics to assist low-income taxpayers with the preparation of income tax returns; and
    • Coaching 20 high school students from San Francisco’s School for the Arts in preparation for the annual Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the Bar Association of San Francisco and the Constitutional Rights foundation.

    “2009 was an incredible year of service for the firm,” said Pam Duffy, name partner and co-chair of the firm’s pro bono committee. “Service is not only our duty as members of the Bar, it is also an incredible opportunity to give back to the broader Bay Area community and to directly affect the lives of underserved individuals. We’re thrilled that our lawyers continue to embrace this important commitment and especially proud that the State Bar has recognized our efforts.”

    Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass maintains an active pro bono committee of attorneys and staff who are committed to supporting and encouraging pro bono efforts in all of the firm’s practices. The firm is a signatory to the National Pro Bono Project and the Bar Association of San Francisco’s Pledge in Support of Pro Bono Service. The firm also has pledged to both the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the San Francisco Superior Court to devote a minimum of three percent of billable hours to pro bono matters and has exceeded the pledge annually.

    This honor by the State Bar is the most recent for the firm, which has also been recognized in recent years for pro bono service throughout the state. In 2009, Coblentz litigation partner Frederick Fields was awarded the Keta Taylor Colby Award by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in recognition of his outstanding commitment to and representation of the poor and under-represented. In 2010, corporate group partner Sara Finigan was honored by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights with the James T. Caleshu Award for her extraordinary pro bono contributions to the Legal Services for Entrepreneurs Program.

    The firm’s senior partner, William Coblentz, has been a leader and inspiration to the firm in its pro bono and community commitments. In 2008, the firm established the William K. Coblentz Endowment Fund at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law to support research on racial and ethnic justice. In 2010, Coblentz was honored with the University of California, Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) Distinguished Service Award.

    About the President’s Pro Bono Service Awards

    The President’s Pro Bono Service Awards were established in 1983 by the State Bar Board of Governors to recognize California attorneys who provide or enable the direct provision of legal services to poor persons or to organizations whose primary purpose is to provide legal services to the poor, free-of-charge, without expectation of compensation from the client.

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