Business Litigation

Our litigators are prepared to pursue and promote our clients’ interests aggressively in any dispute. We regularly take cases to trial, and win. We work closely with our clients to devise effective case management strategies and assist our clients in selecting and implementing the most cost-effective form of resolution, whether through court procedures, negotiation, or alternative dispute resolution.

Our commercial litigation attorneys represent regional, national, and international clients throughout state and federal courts systems. The many legal challenges our litigation team handles include commercial lease and contract disputes, corporate governance matters, embezzlement cases, trade secret and other intellectual property matters, as well as lender liability litigation, and unfair competition claims.

Our litigators have the resources and experience to handle complex matters in such distinct fields as real estate and land use, intellectual property, communications, construction, and technology law. The firm also has considerable experience conducting internal investigations for corporate clients, representing clients in administrative and grand jury investigations, and litigating white-collar criminal cases.

We pride ourselves on being advocates, but a true advocate must know the client’s objective. Therefore, our client philosophy starts with the simplest of concepts – listening to the client and understanding their objectives – is the foundation to successful representation.

Melding together courtroom experience, substantive expertise, and innovative and diligent factual investigatory techniques, while maintaining focus on the client’s objectives is a winning formula. We listen to and know our clients’ expectations and communicate clearly about costs, fees, and case management issues.

TRADE SECRETS

Disputes involving trade secret and other confidential information require decisive action from an experienced team. The firm’s record of successes representing plaintiffs and defendants in complex, high-exposure cases includes claims related to licensing, non-compete agreements, non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, employee defections, and industrial espionage. Our experience includes a detailed understanding of the often-nuanced differences between each state’s existing trade secret laws and the specific case strategies those differences require. We have litigated claims in state and federal courts across the country. No matter the locale or venue, our trade secret attorneys know what it takes to protect clients’ proprietary information and processes through all stages of litigation, including rapid-response or accelerated timeline efforts like temporary restraining orders and preliminary injunctions.

We also help clients of all sizes build comprehensive protection plans and preempt and defend against allegations of trade secret misappropriation. We recognize the heightened importance of protecting the secrecy of innovation and the critical role effective trade secret representation plays in our clients’ continued success.

Our trade secret lawyers have experience implementing protection strategies and asserting and defending claims of confidential information, misappropriation, and misuse in a variety of venues and under multiple applicable laws. We also:

• Survey and identify trade secret holdings and design programs to maintain requisite secrecy, including necessary physical-security measures
• Counsel clients on industry-specific strategies for avoiding trade secret claims
• Work with inventors, start-ups, and other innovators to minimize risks related to trade secrets claims
• Develop and negotiate confidentiality agreements with employees, partners, suppliers, and customers for identifying and protecting clients’ confidential information

We assert and defend actions involving trade secret and other confidential information across multiple industries, including:

GOVERNMENT CONTRACT DISPUTES

Our Government Contracts & Disputes practice has vast experience in all aspects of government contract formation and performance. Our team includes highly experienced lawyers who are seasoned in working through the complexities of competing for and winning contracts. Our lawyers have advised clients at every stage of government contracting process, from solicitation through final audit, and have decades of experience in advising and representing local, national and international businesses at the federal and state levels.

• The firm’s attorneys guide clients through all phases of the procurement process, from identifying marketplace opportunities through responding to solicitations to drafting and negotiating contracts and compliance with contractual requirements and the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR).
• The firm also provides clients with deep experience in handling bid protests, prime/subcontractor litigation, claims and disputes, and defense of enforcement matters, including suspension and debarment matters, False Claims Act litigation, FCPA compliance, and government audits and investigations.
• We offer representation to government contractors of all sizes, including some of the largest aerospace and defense contractors, as well as medium- and small-sized businesses. The firm’s attorneys draw on the regional and substantive reach of practitioners across the firm in complementary areas such as state and local procurement law, international law, cybersecurity, labor and employment, white collar defense, and construction.

DIRECTOR AND OFFICER COMPLIANCE AND DISPUTES

The firm represents corporations, boards of directors, individual officers and directors, special board committees and large investors. In addition to counseling on corporate and governance issues, this practice involves advising on deal structure and compliance with fiduciary duties. The litigation aspect of the corporate practice covers class actions and derivative breach of fiduciary claims, corporate control disputes, merger and acquisition litigation, actions involving the interpretation of charter provisions and bylaws, actions by directors and/or officers seeking advancement and/or indemnification, stockholder appraisal actions, stockholder requests for books and records, internal corporate investigations, litigation arising out of transactions involving subsidiaries, tender offers, asset sales, capital restructurings, stockholder meetings and votes, dissolutions, corporate reporting and compliance programs and other matters involving corporate governance and General Corporation Law.

Our corporate litigation team also includes lawyers who focus on the corporate and limited liability company laws of California, Nevada, and the District of Columbia, among other jurisdictions. Our practice covers virtually any matter arising under state corporation law or otherwise concerning internal corporate affairs. We represent and counsel public and private companies, boards of directors, officers, directors and managers, special board committees and large investors in matters concerning:

LENDER FORECLOSURE

The firm assists both institutional clients and other lenders in defending claims made by borrowers seeking to stall or avoid foreclosures, whether a non-judicial foreclosure or a court supervised foreclosure, for commercial or residential real property. The firm also assists its clients in working through the loan modification process and provides advice on foreclosure alternatives or deficiency judgments.

CONTRACT DRAFTING AND NEGOTIATION

The firm has broad experience in negotiating, drafting, and reviewing business contracts, thereby helping its clients avoid disputes before they occur.
The firm’s attorneys draft and review all types of business contracts, including: