Coblentz Co-Managing Partner Sara Finigan was named among the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business for 2019 by the San Francisco Business Times. The annual Most Influential Women in Business list celebrates over 100 women business leaders in their organizations and their communities in law, real estate, tech, finance, health care, and many other industries.

Sara specializes in serving clients in the negotiation and funding of joint ventures for the development of real property and helps both corporate and individual clients develop and implement strategies to navigate complex business matters. Sara is the former Co-Chair of the Corporate practice group and joined Real Estate partner Danna Kozerski as Co-Managing Partner of the firm in 2018.

Danna Kozerski also joins Partner Pamela Duffy on the San Francisco Business Times “Forever Influential” Honor Roll, which recognizes past Most Influential Women honorees for their continued leadership in business and the community.

Five Coblentz partners have been recognized as Leading Lawyers by Chambers & Partners in the Chambers USA 2019 Guide. Real Estate partners Pamela Duffy, Harry O’Brien, and Alan Gennis are listed as leading lawyers in the Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use – California category, Litigation partner Timothy Crudo is listed in the Litigation: White-Collar Crime & Government Investigations – California category, and Employment partner Fred Alvarez is listed in the Labor & Employment – California category.

Independent and objective, Chambers USA is carefully researched and widely considered to be the most reputable law firm directory in the world. Ranking criteria include technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial astuteness, diligence, commitment and other qualities most valued by legal clients.

Real Estate & Land Use
Pamela Duffy is again ranked as a Leading Lawyer in the top tier, Band 1, in the Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use – California category. Pam is noted for her highly esteemed practice and skilled handling of entitlements across the healthcare, entertainment and sports sectors. Clients say she’s “exceptional and cuts to the heart of issues.” She has been recognized by Chambers since 2003.

Harry O’Brien is also again ranked as a Leading Lawyer in Band 2 in the Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use – California category. Clients describe Harry as “very smart and really knows the law as well as our business.” He has been recognized by Chambers since 2003.

Alan Gennis is ranked as a Leading Lawyer in Band 3, in the Real Estate – California category, and noted for his experience handling commercial leasing issues for household names. Clients noted, “He’s excellent – commercially reasonable and effective.” Alan has been recognized by Chambers since 2018.

The Real Estate and Land Use practice at Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass has again been awarded the highest ranking by Chambers & Partners USA 2019 Guide – Band 1 in the Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use category for California. Chambers notes that the Firm is a “prominent real estate practice offering particular strength in obtaining land use, zoning and environmental approvals for development projects” with an especially strong presence in the Bay Area. Clients describe the team as “outstanding,” adding that the lawyers “provide excellent advice promptly.”

Litigation
Litigation partner Timothy Crudo is again ranked as a Leading Lawyer, Band 4, in the Litigation: White Collar Crime & Government Investigations category for California. Clients noted that they appreciate that he is “well versed in the law, thorough, and detail-oriented,” and that “he knows how to interact with the folks in government to get to a resolution.” Tim has been recognized by Chambers since 2016.

Employment
Employment partner Fred Alvarez is recognized as one of six Senior Statespeople in California in the Labor & Employment category. Chambers notes that Fred “possesses decades of employment law experience and has a strong knowledge of wage and hour disputes.” Fred joined Coblentz in 2018 and provides strategic and compliance advice, conducts sensitive internal investigations, and serves as a jointly-appointed Monitor or Special Master of class action decrees.

Coblentz partners Fred Alvarez and Miles Imwalle have been appointed to editorial positions with Law360.

Fred Alvarez, a partner in the firm’s Employment practice, has been appointed to the 2019 Employment Editorial Advisory Board of Law360, and Miles Imwalle, a partner in the Real Estate practice, has been appointed to the 2019 Real Estate Editorial Advisory Board of Law360.

Coblentz’s international legal alliance, TAGLaw®, has again been recognized by Chambers & Partners as “Elite” for 2019—the highest ranking awarded to legal networks and alliances. This is the sixth time TAGLaw has received the distinguished “Elite” designation since Chambers & Partners began ranking legal networks and alliances in 2013.

In selecting networks and alliances for their “Elite” status, Chambers & Partners pays particular attention to the quality of the member firms, their global reach, and the value that the alliance provides to its member firms. Member firms have exceptional reputations for quality of service and client satisfaction, and strive to cooperate to provide resources and expertise as if they were right down the hall from one another.

As the Northern California law firm representative to TAGLaw, Coblentz is able to access a network of exemplary regional, national and international legal resources to help us better serve our clients. TAGLaw, with a global footprint in over 90 countries, has leading firms in over 160 jurisdictions providing legal services to companies ranging from the Fortune 5000 and leading SMEs to high net worth individuals. With expertise in dozens of practice areas and countless industry sectors, TAGLaw offers a substantial capability to its members’ clients. This capability is expanded by TAGLaw’s unique relationship with its sister alliance of accounting firms, TIAG, providing members and clients with the multidisciplinary expertise needed in today’s business world.

Coblentz partner, Paul Tauber, is a member of the Advisory Board of TAGLaw, assisting in reviewing prospective new members, offering feedback for the planning of international conferences and providing valuable guidance on future plans and initiatives.

U.S. Government Accountability Office Report: DOD Should Assess the Tradeoffs Associated With Expanding Public Access to and Information About Terrorism Trials

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP partner Paul Tauber is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy Guantánamo Bay (GTMO) Task Force. Building on recommendations made by the GTMO Task Force’s 2016 report, Up to Speed, and legislation passed in response to the report, on February 12, 2019, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report concerning increased public access to pre-trial hearings of alleged terrorists held at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO).

The GAO’s report recommends that the Department of Defense (DOD) analyze the tradeoffs associated with expanding public access to and information about the military commissions’ proceedings and develop a strategy for meeting its public access goals, as public interest is expected to increase when the commissions enter into their trial phases. The DOD agreed with the GAO’s recommendation.

Read the GAO’s report here.

In 2013, the Pacific Council was granted official NGO observer status at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) by the Office of Military Commissions, joining a group of organizations, including the American Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association, that have the privilege of sending a representative to observe proceedings at GTMO.

Paul traveled to GTMO in February 2015 and again in 2016 and 2018 as a civilian observer on behalf of the Pacific Council to observe a week of hearings in the matter of US v. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the alleged mastermind of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and stands trial along with four others.

Since 2013, 50 members of the nonpartisan Pacific Council have spent a collective 255 days at Camp Justice as observers of the Guantánamo proceedings.

Paul’s GTMO assignment follows the lead of the late William (Bill) Coblentz, who was also appointed as an observer by the American Bar Association in 1989 when he traveled to Singapore on behalf of the ABA to observe the trials of four Singaporean lawyers accused of conspiring to undermine the government.

 

About Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is a premier provider of innovative, results-oriented legal services, specializing in real estate, litigation, corporate, intellectual property, employment, tax, and family wealth. U.S. News & World Report recognizes Coblentz as one of the nation’s top law firms in the Best Law Firm list, with national and local rankings in 16 practice areas and six prestigious “Tier 1” rankings in the highly competitive San Francisco law firm category. Law360 named Coblentz a California Powerhouse firm. The National Law Journal named Coblentz to its prestigious, nationwide Midsize Hot List four times.  For more information: www.coblentzlaw.com.

San Francisco-based law firm Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP welcomes Fred W. Alvarez to the firm’s partnership. Fred joins Coblentz from Jones Day.

One of the preeminent employment lawyers in the United States, Fred Alvarez combines a distinct blend of employment law experience, public service, and legal profession leadership. He has an active individual and class action litigation practice devoted to defending employers in trial and on appeal in claims brought by private and governmental parties and by former senior executives. He has led the employment practice of two major American law firms. Fred represents clients in a range of industries, including energy, retail, communications, financial services, and technology.

He currently focuses substantial attention on providing strategic and compliance advice, conducting sensitive internal investigations and serving as a jointly-appointed Monitor or Special Master of class action decrees. He has testified before Congress on several occasions.

“Fred is a titan in the employment world and in the San Francisco and Silicon Valley communities,” said Clifford E. Yin, partner and chair of the litigation practice of Coblentz. “He is a fabulous addition to the firm, and we’re proud to have him as our partner.”

Appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, Fred served in two federal government sub-cabinet positions. As Assistant Secretary of Labor, he managed the Wage and Hour Division and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. He also served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He began his career as a trial attorney with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and was a law clerk to Chief Justice LaFel E. Oman of the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Fred returns to San Francisco, where he served as President of the Bar Association of San Francisco, after practicing employment law in the Silicon Valley for 20 years and brings a unique perspective on Bay Area and national employment law issues to the growing employment practice at Coblentz.

“When I decided to come back to San Francisco, I wanted to come to a first-rate, well-respected San Francisco law firm. Coblentz is quintessentially San Francisco and has demonstrated over the years that independent, high-end, high-integrity, national quality law practice is available right here,” said Fred Alvarez. “For the kinds of employment work I am doing now, those qualities are key.”

 

About Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is a premier provider of innovative, results-oriented legal services, specializing in real estate, litigation, corporate, intellectual property, employment, tax, and family wealth. U.S. News & World Report recognizes Coblentz as one of the nation’s top law firms in the Best Law Firm list, with national and local rankings in 16 practice areas and six prestigious “Tier 1” rankings in the highly competitive San Francisco law firm category. Law360 named Coblentz a California Powerhouse firm. The National Law Journal named Coblentz to its prestigious, nationwide Midsize Hot List four times.  For more information: www.coblentzlaw.com.

San Francisco, CA December 20, 2018 – Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is pleased to announce the election of Sean P.J. Coyle, Mitchell Edwards, Daniel Gershwin, Seth Pardee, and Kyle J. Recker to the firm’s partnership. These promotions are effective January 1, 2019.

“Our new partners show a strong commitment to their clients, practice, and communities, and we look forward to their future contributions,” said Sara Finigan, Co-Managing Partner of the firm. “The partnership is proud to welcome five immensely talented lawyers to our ranks,” said Maggie Callicrate, Chief Operating Officer. “In each of their different practice areas, these new partners deliver exceptional client service and build on the firm’s reputation for excellence.”

The 2019 new partners are:

Sean P.J. Coyle, Litigation.

Sean Coyle is an experienced trial lawyer, assisting clients in navigating white collar criminal and enforcement matters, and the related lawsuits and regulatory proceedings that often come with them. Sean defends clients in major criminal cases and sensitive investigations involving publicly traded companies, corporate officers, and public agencies and officials. He has substantial experience defending clients in regulatory investigations, including before the Securities and Exchange Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission. Sean has also handled a wide range of civil litigation matters in state and federal courts, including securities litigation, commercial disputes, government tort claims, and real property and tax controversies. Prior to joining Coblentz, Sean served as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Major Frauds and Special Prosecutions Section of the United States Attorney’s Office in San Diego. He investigated and prosecuted cases involving virtually every kind of fraud, including securities and insider trading, defense procurement, health care, and tax and bank fraud, as well as cases involving public corruption, obstruction of justice, and money laundering crimes. Sean earned his J.D. from the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University – Bloomington in 2004, where he graduated magna cum laude with election to the Order of the Coif, and where he served as a Managing Editor of the Indiana Law Journal. Sean received his B.A. in history from Arizona State University in 2001.

 

Mitchell Edwards, Estate Planning.

Mitch Edwards focuses his practice on estate planning for high net worth individuals and trust and estate litigation and administration. Mitch prepares foundational documents for his estate planning clients, including revocable living trusts, wills, and powers of attorney. He regularly incorporates advanced estate planning techniques and vehicles which can both minimize taxes (including gift, estate, income, and California real property taxes) and help clients achieve their individual wealth transfer objectives, including grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), intentionally defective grantor trusts, generation-skipping trusts, charitable trusts, and LLCs. Mitch also represents trustees and beneficiaries in disputes involving trusts and wills. By drawing on both his estate planning knowledge and civil litigation experience, Mitch is able to effectively advocate for his clients in courts throughout California. He earned his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2011, and his B.A.in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 2007.

 

Daniel Gershwin, Real Estate.

Dan Gershwin helps clients navigate the complex local, state, and federal approval and entitlement processes required to develop real property. He has extensive experience in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), public-private partnership projects involving multiple public agencies, historic resources, waterfront and coastal development, transportation, municipal and state legislation, special-status species and related laws and regulations, and local planning and zoning laws throughout California. In addition to representing clients as they pursue land use approvals and entitlements, Dan has litigated land use and environmental cases in California’s federal and state courts, with a focus on CEQA and the Endangered Species Act. Since coming to Coblentz, Dan has worked on a range of mixed-use infill development projects, a major student housing project, and sports and entertainment facilities throughout California. Prior to joining the firm, Dan served as a law clerk to the Honorable Ruggero J. Aldisert of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Dan earned his J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2012, where he was an editor on the Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif. He earned his B.A. in economics, with distinction, from the University of Virginia in 2003.

 

Seth Pardee, Tax.

Seth Pardee is a tax and corporate attorney with significant experience advising clients on business transactions and representing clients in federal and California tax controversies. His practice focuses on business formation planning, company restructurings, mergers, acquisitions, tax issues involved in equity compensation, tax issues arising in connection with virtual currencies and the use of blockchain technology, international tax planning, the application of special tax incentives, such as those for qualified small business stock and qualified opportunity zone funds, real estate joint ventures, property tax issues, transfer tax, and representing clients in disputes with the IRS and California tax authorities. Seth earned his J.D., magna cum laude, and his Master of Laws in Taxation from Georgetown University Law Center in 2011, where he received the Thomas Bradbury Chetwood, S.J. prize for ranking first in his LL.M. program. He earned B.A. degrees with comprehensive honors in political science and Hispanic linguistics and literature from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2007.

 

Kyle J. Recker, Real Estate.

Kyle Recker focuses his practice on transactional matters, with an emphasis on finance, real estate, and general corporate matters. Kyle has represented institutional lenders, loan servicers, owners, developers, and investors in connection with a broad array of finance and real estate transactions. His finance and real estate experience includes mortgage and mezzanine loan origination, secured and unsecured financing, CMBS loan servicing, construction lending, bond financing, federally insured loan products, transactions with state and federal subsidy components, joint ventures, leasing, and acquisitions and dispositions. Kyle’s corporate experience includes structuring and negotiating a variety of contractual matters, including distribution, manufacturing, licensing, consulting and other service agreements. He earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School in 2010, and received his B.S. in business administration from Franklin University in 2005.

 

About Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP, headquartered in San Francisco, is a premier provider of innovative, results-oriented legal services, specializing in real estate, litigation, corporate, intellectual property, employment, tax and family wealth. Law360 named Coblentz a California Powerhouse firm in 2017. The National Law Journal named Coblentz to its Midsize Hot List four times. Coblentz is nationally ranked as a Best Law Firm in seven practice areas, and holds San Francisco Metropolitan rankings in 14 practice areas on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Law Firms list. Best Lawyers® has named four Coblentz partners “Lawyer of the Year” in 2019, and 18 Coblentz partners are honored in 14 practice areas. For more information visit www.coblentzlaw.com.

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP partner Paul Tauber is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy Guantánamo Bay (GTMO) Task Force. On September 11, 2018, the 17th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States, the Pacific Counsel’s GTMO Task Force released its second report, A Matter of Time, to renew the call for federal judges to preside over military trials at Guantánamo.

The report builds on recommendations made in 2016, several of which were adopted in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2018.

Following up to the GTMO Task Force’s 2016 report, Up to Speed, the task force now calls for equipping judges with expanded powers to enforce deadlines, levy consequences, and propel these cases toward fair and final conclusions.

Read the Task Force’s report here.

In 2013, the Pacific Council was granted official NGO observer status at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba (GTMO) by the Office of Military Commissions, joining a group of organizations, including the American Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association, that have the privilege of sending a representative to observe proceedings at GTMO.

Paul traveled to GTMO in February 2015 and again in 2016 as a civilian observer on behalf of the Pacific Council to observe a week of hearings in the matter of US v. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed. Khalid Shaikh Mohammed is the alleged mastermind of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center and stands trial along with four others.

Since 2013, 50 members of the nonpartisan Pacific Council have spent a collective 255 days at Camp Justice as observers of the Guantánamo proceedings.

Paul’s GTMO assignment follows the lead of the late William (Bill) Coblentz, who was also appointed as an observer by the American Bar Association in 1989 when he traveled to Singapore on behalf of the ABA to observe the trials of four Singaporean lawyers accused of conspiring to undermine the government.

Four Coblentz Partners were awarded Lawyers of the Year and 18 were recognized by Best Lawyers in America® in its 2019 listing of the nation’s top legal talent.

Jon Bass was named the Best Lawyers 2019 Litigation – Real Estate Law “Lawyer of the Year,” Alan Gennis was awarded Best Lawyers 2019 Real Estate Law “Lawyer of the Year,” Harry O’Brien was awarded Best Lawyers 2019 Land Use and Zoning Law “Lawyer of the Year,” and Tay Via was awarded Best Lawyers 2019 Litigation – Land Use and Zoning Law “Lawyer of the Year,” all in San Francisco.

Congratulations to these Coblentz attorneys for inclusion in the Best Lawyers in America® 2019 guide in the following categories in San Francisco:

• Jon Bass: Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning, Litigation – Real Estate
• Jeff Bernstein: Litigation and Controversy – Tax, Tax Law
• Tim Crudo: Criminal Defense: White-Collar
• Pam Duffy: Environmental Law, Land Use and Zoning Law, Litigation – Environmental, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning, Real Estate Law
• Phil Feldman: Litigation – Trusts and Estates, Trusts and Estates Law
• Gregg Ficks: Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law, Litigation – Bankruptcy
• Karen Frank: Copyright Law, Litigation – Intellectual Property
• Alan Gennis: Real Estate Law
• William Hutton: Tax Law
• Jeff Knowles: Commercial Litigation
• Danna Kozerski: Real Estate Law
• Barbara Milanovich: Real Estate Law
• Jim Mitchell: Trusts and Estates Law
• Harry O’Brien: Land Use and Zoning Law, Real Estate Law
• Richard Patch: Litigation – Antitrust
• Doug Sands: Real Estate Law
• Bob Stein: Real Estate Law
• Tay Via: Land Use and Zoning Law, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning

The Best Lawyers annual guide is based on peer review and feedback from tens of thousands of leading attorneys who confidentially evaluate their professional peers. For the 2019 Edition of Best Lawyers, 7.8 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in almost 60,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition.