James has represented a variety of clients in matters relating to construction and general litigation. His experience includes all phases of civil litigation, including handling of pre-litigation claims, discovery, law and motion, depositions, dispositive motions, expert meeting and mediation proceedings, trial preparation and post-trial motions.

Before joining Wendel Rosen, James worked for Haight Brown and Bonesteel’s San Francisco office and Boornazian, Jensen & Garthe in Oakland where he focused on construction defect and general civil litigation in a variety of practice areas.

James serves on the board of directors for Operation Dignity, a non-profit organization that provides housing and support services to veterans in the Bay Area. He regularly serves as an alumni coach and judge for UC Hastings Moot Court intercollegiate competition teams.

Michele Kirrane is a Partner at Wendel Rosen. She is an experienced litigator who has handled large exposure matters in both state and federal courts, from intake to trial. Michele has a diverse litigation practice that includes commercial, products liability, premises liability and catastrophic loss actions. She is trusted by a wide range of clients including product manufacturers and suppliers, business owners, municipalities, schools, individuals, community organizations, and retailers.

Michele understands the high stakes of litigation and takes a tailored approach to each matter she handles. She is tenacious in her investigation and development of strategies carefully designed to protect her clients’ interests.

Robin, who chairs the Eminent Domain Practice Group, has nearly 20 years’ law firm experience, including thirteen years practicing in eminent domain and public agency law.  She has represented public and private entities and individuals in a variety of contexts, including appellate matters, trials, administrative hearings, alternative dispute resolution proceedings, private negotiations, and in advisory capacities. In addition to condemnation law, Robin also practices general civil litigation, property tax, real property, insurance coverage, and employment law.

She is best known for her representation in the Richmond Refinery case, which was among the most complex assessment appeals matters in California’s history. Additionally, she has worked on mediations, arbitrations, court and jury trials in Alameda, Solano, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, and Orange Counties.

Notable public projects include the Interstate 80 / Interstate 680 / State Route 12 Interchange and the North Connector in Solano County, Caltrans Truck Scale project in Cordelia, and the State Route 4 Bypass in Brentwood and Oakley.

Richard Sipos is a partner at Wendel Rosen and has over three decades of experience in complex litigation and real estate business transactions. Richard has successfully tried numerous jury and bench construction cases involving hotels, schools and prisons; and other business litigation matters including legal malpractice, securities fraud and partnership disputes. He has expertise in high-stakes transactional real estate and business matters including leasing, sales, disability access and hazardous materials contamination. Richard has facilitated clients’ business purchases and sales of wineries, a waste transfer station, a fire suppression company and a trucking brokerage.

Richard’s ability to advise businesses and to understand all facets of commercial real estate was enhanced by his 20 years of service as a Director and Chairman of the Board for Beard Land & Improvement (an industrial developer) and Modesto and Empire Traction (a short line railroad). After retiring from those Boards, Richard’s most recent Director role is for Axonis Therapeutics which is developing some of the most promising treatments for spinal cord injuries and other neurological diseases.

Experience

Since his graduation from Boston College Law School, Miguel has honed his interests in a broad range of litigation — from bankruptcy law to real estate, product liability to commercial disputes – while working as an associate at two California law firms and as a law clerk to a bankruptcy court judge. This blend of practice and judicial perspectives has helped develop his skills in research and writing, client interaction and negotiation, and settlement of cases.

Litigation

As an associate in the San Francisco law firm of Gordon & Rees, Miguel was involved in complex litigation, including high-stakes consumer class action cases. He also has worked in drug and medical product liability cases. These cases involved extensive levels of discovery disputes where Miguel drove cases toward mediation and settlement whenever possible.

Bankruptcy

He served as a law clerk for the Honorable William J. Lafferty III in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California and as an extern for Judge Maureen Tighe with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California. Miguel has been involved in hearings, trials, and settlement conferences dealing with complex legal issues such as U.C.C. Article 9 title disputes, fraudulent conveyances, and real estate transactions. He has extensive experience with sale motions, non-dischargeability actions, requests for relief from the automatic stay, claim objections and attorney’s fees.

Todd, chair of the firm’s Land Use and Environmental Practice Group, represents clients in the broad spectrum of land use, real estate and environmental issues in both litigation and administrative proceedings.

He works with private clients and public entities, including landowners and developers of residential, infill, commercial and industrial property, as well as local agencies, providing property entitlement processing and local government land use approvals; CEQA compliance and litigation; planning and zoning law advice; and real property litigation. He also has experience with infill project streamlining, density bonus and housing laws, affordable housing and historic preservation regulations, as well as advising clients on public-private partnerships, the Subdivision Map Act, the Williamson Act, and cannabis land use regulations, along with easement and boundary dispute matters.

A contributing editor on the 2010 – 2011 edition of State and Local Government Land Use Liability, and a reviewer of the 2012 and 2013 editions of the Municipal Law Handbook, Todd also has spoken throughout the state on land use law, with particular emphasis on CEQA.

Steve, an experienced business litigator, represents clients involved in real estate and complex business disputes. He has particular expertise in the areas of mortgages, deeds of trust, foreclosure and antideficiency issues, as well as guarantees and U.C.C. personal property-secured transactions. He has also taught at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law and has provided expert testimony involving real estate secured transactions and guarantees as well as title insurance, escrow and related disputes. He works with all aspects of civil litigation and discovery through trial and appeal.

Mr. Morger has counseled cannabis industry clients on lease and financing transactions and defended property owners in claims brought by federally-chartered banks based on medical dispensary uses.

An experienced counselor and litigator, Eugene provides strategic advice to his clients in both transactional and litigation matters. He acts as outside general counsel to many of his clients, and specialized intellectual property and litigation counsel to others. Eugene is a trusted advisor and vigorous advocate for his clients, helping them build and protect their businesses and brands, and to structure favorable deals and agreements.

Eugene’s clients include apparel companies, craft breweries, computer gaming companies, food and beverage companies, technology companies, and many others. He brings a diverse background to his work, having worked at large and small firms, as in-house counsel at a technology company, and at a nonprofit public interest firm.

Intellectual Property Development, Protection and Litigation

For more than fifteen years, Eugene has advised companies in the selection, registration and maintenance of their trademarks and copyrights both domestically and abroad. He has filed or managed thousands of trademark and copyright applications and registrations worldwide. He advises companies with large, well-established international trademark portfolios, as well as newer companies that are just developing their brands.

Eugene also represents clients in related areas such as advertising and marketing issues, social media issues, software licensing, website terms of use, privacy policies, DMCA policies and compliance, and trademark licenses and co-existence agreements. Eugene is also an experienced IP litigator, having litigated numerous IP cases and disputes in federal and state courts. His experience includes disputes involving trademarks, trade dress, copyrights, domain names, anti-counterfeiting, patent, trade secrets, and false advertising issues.

Craft Beer Law and Alcohol Beverage Law

Eugene leads the Craft Breweries & Brew Pubs practice at Wendel Rosen, advising craft breweries and others in the alcohol beverage industry. He serves as outside general counsel to many of his clients, advising them on a wide range of issues from entity formation, trademarks and copyrights, distribution and other contracts, employment issues, alcohol beverage (ABC) and labeling regulations, as well as marketing and advertising issues.

Eugene frequently speaks at beer conferences and has been quoted in Brewbound, All About Beer, The Daily Journal, and other media outlets. He ‘tweets’ on legal and business issues facing craft breweries as @beerattorney.

Business and Employment Advice and Litigation

Eugene is also an experienced business and employment law attorney. He has represented companies in a wide range of business and commercial matters, including antitrust issues, broker-dealer disputes, class action cases, investment fraud, bid disputes, real estate disputes, unfair competition matters, California Business & Professions Code §17200 claims, and Commerce Clause issues involving state and federal beverage laws and regulations. In the employment law field, he has advised and represented clients in matters involving non-compete agreements, misappropriation of trade secrets, employment discrimination, independent contractor versus employee status, and wage and hour laws. In addition to representing clients in court, he has represented clients in employment disputes before administrative agencies such as the California Labor Commissioner and New York Stock Exchange (arbitration).

Dan is the firm’s managing partner. As one of Wendel Rosen’s senior litigators, he handles a wide array of complex business litigation, including unfair competition, trust and estate disputes, director and officer liability, and real estate disputes. He represents small and large companies, high net worth individuals, manufacturing concerns, distributors, real estate companies and public entities.

He is equally comfortable in the courtroom representing his clients’ interests or in the boardroom providing advice designed to avoid litigation. His ability to find creative resolutions of complex disputes often presents the best solution for clients.

Litigation

Dan litigates in varied substantive areas. In the last ten years he has successfully represented bankruptcy trustees in actions against debtors, officers, directors and other professionals for misconduct. He has also represented manufacturing companies against entities who have damaged them through unfair competition, contract disputes, and trade secret theft. He is often called upon to represent shareholders, officers and directors of closely held agricultural, real estate, manufacturing and technology companies that have internal conflicts.

Conflict Resolution

A stalwart problem solver, Dan focuses on efficient solutions and delivering results that impress his clients. He represents trustees, fiduciaries and beneficiaries of substantial estates and trusts in all types of fiduciary disputes. He represents public and private entities in contract disputes over real estate, land use, construction, and general commercial operations. He is frequently called upon to represent companies that manufacture regulated products for sale to consumers, regarding advertising and regulatory compliance with California and federal law. He also represents companies that sell products to consumers, regarding Proposition 65 compliance matters.

Kevin is a partner and Chair of the firm’s Trust & Estate Litigation Practice Group, with over a decade of experience representing fiduciaries, beneficiaries and nonprofit organizations in contested trust, estate, conservatorship, and elder abuse matters. Kevin represents his clients in all phases of litigation, from pre-litigation avoidance to mediation, trial and, if necessary, appeal.

While Kevin now focuses his practice exclusively on litigation matters, he also has an LL.M. in Taxation and has an extensive background in estate planning, trust and probate administration, and estate and gift taxation.