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.

Coblentz Partner Sara Finigan Receives Award from Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 3, 2010 – Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP Partner Sara Finigan has been honored with the James T. Caleshu Award from the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights (LCCR) of the San Francisco Bay Area for her extraordinary pro bono contributions to the LCCR’s Legal Services for Entrepreneurs Program (LSE).

At the award ceremony, Finigan spoke about the duty of each lawyer to provide pro bono services and recognized the challenges of balancing this duty with professional and family needs.

“We congratulate Sara on this much-deserved recognition of her dedication, leadership and outstanding contributions to the LSE program,” said Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass Managing Partner Danna Kozerski.  “Sara’s pro bono work is a reflection of our firm’s long and rich history of promoting the ability of all citizens to have access to the legal system and of our dedication of time and talent to that end.“

The James T. Caleshu Award, presented Jan. 28 at LCCR’s 23rd Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon in San Francisco, honors those who have made extraordinary pro bono contributions to the Committee, an organization devoted to advancing the rights of people of color, the poor, immigrants and refugees, and its LSE program.  Finigan serves as a member of the applicant screening committee for LSE.  Having first volunteered with the program nine years ago, Finigan has helped establish a variety of small businesses and has been critical in engaging other members of her firm to take on clients from the LSE program.

Finigan’s law practice encompasses general business transactions and securities issues.  Her corporate transactional experience includes business formations, financings, mergers and acquisitions, and employee and executive compensation.  Finigan also helps clients develop and implement successful business strategies by counseling start-ups and existing companies in corporate formation, structuring, governance, compensation and finance.

Finigan earned her J.D. from Santa Clara University in 1997 and her B.A. from the University of Florida in 1994.

Clifford Yin was inducted to the Litigation Counsel of America, a trial lawyer honorary society established to reflect the new face of the American bar.  Fellowship is by invitation only and represents the best in law among its membership.

Click here for information regarding the Litigation Counsel of America.

Best Lawyers, the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, has awarded San Francisco Lawyer of the Year honors for 2010 to 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.  Managing partner Jeffrey Knowles conveyed, “This honor attests to the excellent work and dedication of these partners.  Three of the sixteen recipients of this honor are lawyers from Coblentz—more than any other law firm in San Francisco.”

After more than a quarter of a century in publication, Best Lawyers is designating “Lawyers of the Year” in high-profile legal specialties in large legal communities. Only a single lawyer in each specialty in each community is being honored as the “Lawyer of the Year.”

Best Lawyers compiles its lists of outstanding attorneys by conducting exhaustive peer-review surveys in which thousands of leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers. The current, 16th edition of The Best Lawyers in America (2010), is based on more than 2.8 million detailed evaluations of lawyers by other lawyers.

The lawyers being honored as “Lawyers of the Year” have received particularly high ratings in our surveys by earning a high level of respect among their peers for their abilities, professionalism, and integrity.

Steven Naifeh, Managing Editor of Best Lawyers, says, “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 legal profession. “