Coblentz’s international legal alliance, TAGLaw®, has again been recognized by Chambers & Partners as “Elite – Band 1” for 2025—the highest ranking awarded to legal networks and alliances. This is the twelfth year TAGLaw has received the distinguished “Elite” designation since Chambers & Partners began ranking legal networks and alliances in 2013, and the fifth consecutive year ranked as “Band 1” since Chambers expanded their rankings of legal networks in 2020.

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. TAGLaw, with a global footprint in over 90 countries, has over 150 leading firms 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 numerous industry sectors, TAGLaw offers a substantial capability to its members’ clients. This capability is expanded by TAGLaw’s unique relationship with its sister alliances of accounting firms (TIAG®) and strategic partners (TAG-SP®), which together provide exceptional multidisciplinary service and a competitive advantage to businesses that cross geographical borders.

As the Northern California law firm representative to TAGLaw, Coblentz has access to a network of exemplary regional, national, and international legal resources to help us better serve our clients. Coblentz partner Paul Tauber is a member of the Advisory Board and chair of the Global Strategy Committee of the TAG Alliances, assisting in reviewing prospective new members, offering feedback for the planning of international conferences, and providing valuable guidance on future plans and initiatives.

Partner Sabrina Larson has been recognized as a leading trademark professional in the 2025 edition of the World Trademark Review’s WTR 1000 guide.

Sabrina focuses on trademark and copyright clearance, prosecution, and enforcement, as well as complex litigation, with an emphasis on intellectual property and commercial litigation. She represents clients in domestic and international trademark clearance, prosecution, and enforcement, including in proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, in Uniform Dispute Resolution Proceedings, and in federal court. She helps clients navigate international trademark clearance and selection; creates, implements, and manages trademark portfolio strategies; and secures and enforces her clients’ trademark rights around the world.

The WTR 1000 is a guide that recognizes top trademark professionals around the globe. For more details on the guide, please click here.

San Francisco, CA January 1, 2025 – Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is pleased to announce the election of Bina Patel to the firm’s partnership, effective January 1, 2025.

“We are thrilled to welcome Bina to the partnership,” said Sara Finigan, Managing Partner of the firm. “Bina exemplifies the core values that Coblentz is known for – commitment to our clients, community, and firm. We are proud to call her our partner and look forward to her future contributions.”

Bina’s practice focuses on complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on intellectual property and appeals. She has extensive experience in all stages of litigation and has practiced before federal and appellate courts across the country. She has successfully represented both plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes technology disputes related to patents, copyrights, trade secret misappropriation, breach of contract, fraud, unfair competition, and false advertising.

Bina has litigated cases involving a wide range of industries and technologies, including wireless and cellular networks, online advertising systems, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, food and beverage, medical devices and diagnostics, and biotechnology. She also counsels clients on data privacy and cybersecurity issues and regulatory compliance with federal and state privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act and California Privacy Rights Act.

Bina clerked for the Honorable John T. Noonan, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She is a member of the Copyright Society and the South Asian Bar Association of Northern California. She earned her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law with a Certificate in International Law. During law school, she served as Senior Book Reviews and Essays Editor of the California Law Review and was a recipient of the William K. Coblentz Civil Rights Research Fellowship. She earned her B.A., with honors, in Rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley.

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP partner Harry O’Brien was honored as Member of the Year by the Golden Gate – San Francisco chapter of the Lambda Alpha International (LAI) Land Economics Society. LAI awards honor nominees who have advanced the field of land economics through their achievements and service to their profession, community, and chapter.

Harry O’Brien has played a pivotal role in shaping the Bay Area’s urban landscape. He has represented both the San Francisco Giants in the development of Oracle Park and the San Francisco 49ers in the development of Levi’s® stadium in Santa Clara, California. He has also been recognized for his work with the Tejon Ranch Conservation and Land Use Agreement, one of the most significant land use and conservation agreements in California history. Known as a top Land Use & Zoning lawyer in Chambers USA, Harry’s clients describe him as “outstanding in providing good business counsel” and “a remarkably smart and experienced real estate attorney.”

Lambda Alpha International’s mission is to encourage and support the study of land economics, expand the world’s knowledge and understanding of the principles of land, and advance a close working bond and mutual understanding among those engaged in all disciplines and activities related to land economics.

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP partner Fred Alvarez was honored as the recipient of the 2024 Cruz Reynoso Lifetime Achievement Award by the San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association. The annual award is named for Justice Cruz Reynoso, the first Latino state Supreme Court justice in California history.

One of the preeminent employment lawyers in the United States, Fred combines a distinct blend of employment law experience, public service, and legal profession leadership. Fred is a former chair of the ABA Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession, has served on the ABA Commission on Women in the Profession, and is a former president of the Bar Association of San Francisco. Fred serves on the board of directors of Equal Rights Advocates and the Latino Community Foundation. He is also a member and former chair of the board of governors of Public Advocates Inc.

San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association’s mission is to serve the public interest by cultivating the science of jurisprudence, promoting reform in the law, facilitating the administration of justice, advancing the standing of the legal profession, and preserving the high standards of professionalism among Latino attorneys.

2025 Best Lawyers® has ranked Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP among its list of 2025 “Best Law Firms,” including National Tier 1 recognition for Appellate, Land Use and Zoning Law, and Litigation and Controversy – Tax and national rankings in six additional practice areas. The firm was also named a Tier 1 “Best Law Firm” in 13 practice areas in the San Francisco Metropolitan market, with 19 San Francisco Metropolitan rankings overall.

Thirty-two Coblentz attorneys are also recognized in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®, including two as “Lawyers of the Year.” Employment partner Fred Alvarez was awarded the Best Lawyers® 2025 Labor Law – Management “Lawyer of the Year” and tax partner Jeff Bernstein was awarded the Best Lawyers® 2025 Litigation and Controversy – Tax “Lawyer of the Year” in San Francisco.

The 15th edition of Best Law Firms, independently produced by Best Lawyers, serves as a benchmark for excellence, providing a comprehensive and reliable guide of the top-performing law firms. The rankings are meticulously compiled based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes client feedback, peer reviews, industry leader interviews, and detailed analysis of law firm data. More details are available here.

Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP has been named a 2025 Commercial Litigation Leader by BTI Consulting Group as part of its BTI Litigation Outlook 2025. BTI is an industry leader in conducting independent research on how clients acquire, manage, and evaluate their professional services providers. More details are available here.

San Francisco, CA – October 2, 2024 – Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is pleased to announce that the firm has achieved Mansfield Rule Certification for 2023-24.

Mansfield is a year-long, structured certification process that we have committed to since 2021 to ensure talent at our firm has a fair and equal opportunity to advance into leadership. We know that with diverse leadership comes more inclusive and equitable decisions that reflect the needs of our diverse workforce for the benefit of our talent and clients. We are proud to stand with the 360+ firms that have achieved Mansfield Certification to advance a core value in the legal profession: the belief that everyone should have a fair opportunity for career advancement.

For the list of Mansfield Certified firms and to read Diversity Lab’s press release, please click here.

In its listing of the nation’s top legal talent, The Best Lawyers in America® 2025 edition recognized 32 Coblentz attorneys, including two as “Lawyers of the Year” and 10 as Ones to Watch®.

Employment partner Fred Alvarez was awarded the Best Lawyers® 2025 Labor Law – Management “Lawyer of the Year” and tax partner Jeff Bernstein was awarded the Best Lawyers® 2025 Litigation and Controversy – Tax “Lawyer of the Year” in San Francisco. Fred Alvarez is one of the preeminent employment lawyers in the United States. He combines a distinct blend of employment law experience, public service, and legal profession leadership and provides strategic and compliance advice to employers. Jeff Bernstein is one of the most well-known and preeminent tax attorneys in California. He brings extensive experience and close, personal attention to the representation of businesses, individuals, and families in highly sophisticated income, estate, and property tax matters, both as an advisor and as an advocate.

Categories of recognition are listed below.

2025 Best Lawyers in America Recognitions

• Fred Alvarez: Employment Law – Management, Labor Law – Management, Litigation – Labor and Employment
• Jon Bass: Commercial Litigation, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning, Litigation – Real Estate
• Jeff Bernstein: Litigation and Controversy – Tax, Tax Law
• Matt Bove: Land Use and Zoning Law
• Tim Crudo: Criminal Defense: White-Collar
• 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
• Robert Hodil: Real Estate Law
• Miles Imwalle: Land Use and Zoning Law
• Megan Jennings: Land Use and Zoning Law
• Danna Kozerski: Real Estate Law
• Jacob Lager: Tax Law, Trusts and Estates Law
• Jaime Mannon: Trusts and Estates Law
• Jim Mitchell: Trusts and Estates Law
• Allison Moser: Employment Law – Management
• Harry O’Brien: Land Use and Zoning Law, Real Estate Law
• Richard Patch: Appellate Practice, Litigation – Antitrust
• Frank Petrilli: Land Use and Zoning Law
• Doug Sands: Real Estate Law
• Tay Via: Land Use and Zoning Law, Litigation – Land Use and Zoning, Real Estate Law

2025 Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America Recognitions

• Kiana Araghi: Real Estate Law
• Leah Collins: Real Estate Law
• Jeff Dodd: Environmental Law
• Eric Hieber: Construction Law, Real Estate Law
• Laura Seegal: Litigation – Labor and Employment
• Laura Srebro: Trusts and Estates
• Matthew Stone: Real Estate Law
• Marcia Valadez Valente: Commercial Litigation
• Ashley Weinstein-Carnes: Land Use and Zoning Law
• Jessica Wilson: Tax Law

Best Lawyers lists are based entirely on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. To view the full rankings, please visit the Best Lawyers website linked here.

A Santa Clara superior court jury awarded $14.2 million in damages to Sutter’s Place, Inc. dba Bay 101 (a California cardroom operating in San Jose) against its landlord, S.J. Bayshore Development LLC for breaching the parties’ lease agreement, while also rejecting all of S.J. Bayshore’s damages claims for concealment against two of Bay 101’s shareholders (Timothy Bumb and Ronald Werner) and S.J. Bayshore’s former general counsel (Loren Vaccarezza).

Bay 101 had claimed that S.J. Bayshore had refused to select an appraiser or conduct an appraisal of the underlying property on which the cardroom is located, thereby delaying Bay 101’s ability to exercise the option and buy the property. S.J. Bayshore had claimed that Timothy, Werner and Vaccarezza allegedly conspired against it to form what it claimed was an unfair lease and was seeking $54 million in damages.

Following a 26-day trial, which included both a four-day bench trial on equitable issues, and a nineteen-day jury trial on damages claims, the jury found that S.J. Bayshore’s conduct caused Bay 101 harm and awarded it $14.2 million in damages. The same jury also held that S.J. Bayshore was not entitled to any recovery on any of its claims. The jury deliberated for seven hours before returning its verdict.

“Bay 101 is grateful to the jury which was extraordinarily attentive and patient and is pleased that the cross-defendants, Timothy Bumb, Ron Werner and Loren Vaccarezza, have been vindicated from the personal and professional attacks that were advanced against them,” says Richard Patch of Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP.

Bay 101 and Timothy were represented by Richard Patch, Clifford Yin, Christopher Wiener, Ben Pulliam and Sarah Peterson of Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP.

S.J. Bayshore was represented by Michael Celio, Jessica Valenzuela and Elizabeth Dooley of Gibson Dunn.

Loren Vaccarezza was represented by Alison Buchanan and Laura Riparbelli of Hoge Fenton.

Ronald Werner was represented by James McManis and Matthew Schechter of McManis Faulkner LLP.

The case is Sutter’s Place, Inc. dba Bay 101 v. S.J. Bayshore Development, LLC et al., case number 22CV397119, in Santa Clara Superior Court.