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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

SAN FRANCISCO, August 12, 2010 – 14 Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP partners have been recognized by Law and Politics as 2010 Northern California Super Lawyers.

Published by Law & Politics, the 2010 Northern California Super Lawyers list is compiled through peer nomination and research.  Approximately five percent of the Northern California Bar received the distinction. The list appears annually in San Francisco magazine.

Selections for the annual list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers, which is a service of the Thomson Reuters Legal Division. The rigorous selection process includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area and a good-standing and disciplinary check.

This year’s Super Lawyers from Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass are: Jonathan R. Bass – Business Litigation; Jeffry A. Bernstein – Tax; Pamela S. Duffy – Real Estate; Philip B. Feldman – Estate Planning & Probate; Gregg M. Ficks – Bankruptcy & Creditor/Debtor Rights; Frederick S. Fields – Business Litigation; Alan C. Gennis – Real Estate; Susan K. Jamison – Business Litigation; Jeffrey G. Knowles – Business Litigation; Barbara A. Milanovich – Real Estate; James P. Mitchell – Estate Planning & Probate; Harry O’Brien – Real Estate; Richard R. Patch – Business Litigation; and Tay C. Via – Real Estate.

CPDB partner Pamela S. Duffy was also named to the distinguished list of the Top 50 Women Lawyers, and as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in Northern California. Ms. Duffy has been recognized since 2004 by Super Lawyers.

Another feature of the annual Super Lawyers publication is the 2010 Northern California Rising Stars, which recognizes the top up-and-coming attorneys in the region – those who are 40 years old or younger or who have been practicing law for 10 years or less. Approximately two percent of the Northern California Bar received the distinction. Real estate associate Eileen Chauvet was named to this year’s prestigious list.

Coblentz Partner, Pamela Duffy, discusses the personal and professional path that lead her to being named as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Northern California, in the 2010 edition of Northern California Super Lawyers magazine.

In the insightful profile, Duffy speaks about the unique real estate development projects she has helped to shape, her dedication to legal services and social policy, and the fulfillment she finds in navigating the intricate path of a complex development.

“I love finding a pathway to a shared conclusion,” says Duffy in the profile, “Then we can build something great.”

For a copy of the profile, please click here.

For more than a decade, the San Francisco Business Times has shined the spotlight on women leaders who are making a difference in their companies, their industries and their communities.  We are proud to say that for the sixth year in a row, the San Francisco Business Times named partner Pamela Duffy one of the 2010 Bay Area’s Most Influential Women in business.

Coblentz teamed with Greene Radovsky Maloney Share & Hennigh LLP in advising Sky Holding Company, LLC in the recent formation of Jackson Square Aviation, LLC, and in connection with the commitment of $500 Million to Jackson Square Aviation's parent company by investment funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management. Coblentz partners, Richard Patch, Paul Tauber and Sara Finigan, together with tax counsel Joseph Radovsky and Ronald Garrity of Greene Radovsky represented Sky Holding in the transaction. Richard Patch described the deal as “providing Jackson Square Aviation with the resources and outreach to become a major force in the financing of commercial aircraft acquisitions and the execution of long-term sale and leaseback transactions.” Jackson Square Aviation has already entered into transactions with Avianca and Air Berlin for ten A320 and B737NG aircraft.

Jackson Square Aviation will be a full-service aircraft leasing company emphasizing sale/leasebacks of next-generation technology. It is based in San Francisco with offices in Seattle, Miami, Buenos Aires, and a European office to open in 2010. Previously, through Pegasus Aviation and Sky Holding, the management team, led by Richard Wiley, Toby Bright, and Scott Weiss, has acquired over $10 billion of aircraft and purchased and/or remarketed over 400 aircraft. Sky Holding, a full-service aircraft leasing platform, will continue to operate separately from Jackson Square Aviation. Oaktree Capital Management, headquartered in Los Angeles, is a global alternative and non-traditional investment manager with approximately $73 billion in assets under management.