SAN FRANCISCO, Mar. 31, 2009 – Jonathan R. Bass, a name partner at Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass LLP, was honored by the California Bankers Association (CBA) at its annual Bank Counsel Seminar in Newport Beach with the 2009 Robert Frandzel Award, given annually “for superior and noteworthy legal assistance by an outside counsel to the California banking industry.”

“To be recognized as outstanding outside counsel by the California banking industry’s largest and most respected professional organization is a testament to Jon’s reputation and decades of dedication to legal leadership in this dynamic field.  We congratulate him on this prestigious honor,” said Jeffrey Knowles, one of the firm’s managing partners.

Bass has successfully represented banks in dozens of cases involving customer claims arising out of forgeries, embezzlements and fiduciary fraud, at both the trial and appellate levels. The CBA’s award was presented to him in recognition of a series of appellate decisions favorable to the banking industry.

Bass, who has been listed as a commercial litigator for the past 10 years in Best Lawyers in America, handles a broad range of complex litigation in addition to his working in the banking sector.

About CBA

Established more than 115 years ago, the California Bankers Association is one of the largest state banking trade associations in the country. CBA leads the way in developing relevant educational and legislative solutions to some of California’s more pressing financial and banking issues, including adult financial empowerment, identity theft, financial privacy, and financial elder abuse. CBA’s membership includes more than 300 of California’s commercial, industrial and community banks and savings associations. For more information, visit www.calbankers.com.

Harry O’Brien and Matt Bove were recently honored at the annual CLAY Awards presentation — California Lawyer magazine’s Attorney of the Year Awards.

O’Brien and Bove were recognized with CLAY Awards for their work on the landmark Tejon Ranch land preservation deal, which provides for permanent protection of 240,000 acres of the historic Tejon Ranch property, located along Interstate 5 about 60 miles north of Los Angeles. O’Brien and Bove led a team of CPDB attorneys representing the Tejon Ranch Co. in negotiations with many of the nation’s major environmental organizations, including the Sierra Club, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Audubon California, the Planning and Conservation League, and the Endangered Habitats League, leading to the unprecedented agreement, which was heralded as one of the largest of its kind in California history when it was announced in May 2008.

Congratulations to the San Francisco School of the Arts mock trial team for winning the San Francisco city championship! The team, coached by Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass attorneys Clifford Yin and Courtney Huizar, placed first in the city for the second consecutive year. Next stop for the team is the state competition later this month in Riverside.

The San Francisco Business Times delivered a special issue featuring the 2009 Best Lawyers in the Bay Area. William Coblentz, Jeffry Bernstein, William Hutton, Jonathan Bass, Pamela Duffy, Philip Feldman, Frederick Fields, James Mitchell, Harry O’Brien, Cynthia Rowland, and Tay Via were listed in the inaugural issue of Best Lawyers in San Francisco.

Many of the Coblentz attorneys have been on the Best Lawyers list for over 10 years. This year’s national list is based on more than 2.2 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. Listings cannot be bought, and no purchase is required to be included. In this regard, Best Lawyers remains the gold standard of reliability and integrity in lawyer ratings.

The list includes 889 Bay Area Attorneys representing 296 law firms. That is an average of 3:1 attorneys to each law firm. Coblentz has 11 lawyers listed in Best Lawyers – more than 3 times the average.

Pamela Duffy was quoted throughout the editorial on pro bono work in law firms as was Frederick Fields, recently honored by the Bay Area’s Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights as the recipient of the Keta Taylor Colby Award. Tay Via and Pamela Duffy provided insightful remarks in the article covering mentoring and developing a firm’s future leadership.