Real Estate Litigation Engagements
345 California Street - We were retained by the developer of this world-class property in San Francisco to try a complicated commercial lease dispute with one of its major tenants. The dispute concerned the amount of excess rent the developer was entitled to receive on account of a lease assignment.
Concar Offices - We were retained by the developer of this 200,000 square foot office complex in the City of San Mateo to defend it against easement claims made by the owner of an adjacent and competing office complex that threatened to substantially limit ingress and egress to the property.
Constant Vineyards - We defended Constant Vineyards, a producer of luxury class cabernet sauvignon on Diamond Mountain in Napa, against claims by a neighboring landowner that it was entitled to several prescriptive easements across Constant Vineyards' property.
Foundry Square - We provided pre-litigation counseling and assisted the developer of this major mixed-use complex in San Francisco's South of Market area in resolving a dispute concerning one of its key property acquisition agreements.
Nut Tree - We represented one of three branches of the multi-generational family partnership that owned and operated, among other things, the Nut Tree restaurant and retail complex in Vacaville in partnership dissolution and fiduciary duty litigation. Through the litigation, we successfully ended years of money losing operations and were able to extricate our clients from the failing partnership at full fair market value levels, despite provisions in the partnership agreement precluding such actions and requiring a buyout at much lower book value prices.
RAF Enterprises v. Trident - In a case brought on behalf of a local restaurateur, we obtained a $9.89 million judgment (the largest in Marin County at the time) against a pair of landlords who owned and leased building in Sausalito. In response to our client's request to take over the lease in connection with his purchase of the current tenant, the landlords demanded that he sell half of the business to them before they would agree. The jury found that the landlords intentionally interfered with our client's agreement to purchase the existing tenant's business.
Ridgetop Partners - We were retained to represent this vineyard developer and winery in connection with a CC&R claim made against it by neighboring land owners. On behalf of the developer, we are working to ensure that the type of environmentally sensitive agricultural use it envisions will be permitted to continue and expand.
Silverado Resort and Country Club Lease - In connection with our Hospitality Group, we thwarted an attempt by the owner of this luxury Resort in Napa Valley to terminate our client's long-term management agreement. Since then, we regularly have provided pre-litigation counseling to our client on a variety of property management issues.