BACKGOUND AND PHILOSOPHY
This regionally recognized trial group is generally called in to take over cases that are heading into trial. There is a significant difference between “litigators” and “trial lawyers,” a critical distinction that many consumers of legal services do not recognize, or recognize too late. When we settle cases, we do so because we were ready and prepared to take the case to trial. When we try cases, we do so because, in a number of cases, settlements are just not possible. Cases are won in trial because of rigorous attention to detail in the pre-trial phase and because of an understanding of the complex subtleties of courtroom work.
Our trial teams are shaped by the size and complexities of each case. Where called for by the circumstances of each dispute, we assign between one to five associates or Special Counsel to work with lead trial counsel. Our paralegal staff manages electronic discovery, demonstrative trial evidence, the myriad of pretrial and trial deadlines and all document productions and in-house document management programs.
Jeffrey G. Nevin leads all cases. He tries all of our cases. Some of our associates are specialists in discovery. Others are dedicated to legal research, motion practice and appellate work. Some specialize in mediation strategies and practices. Our cases are run on a team and pyramid structure so that we can bring the maximum specialized talent into each case, depending on its subject matter, venue and level of complexity. Our opposition frequently includes some of the best and largest law firms in the country and in certain instances, state and federal prosecutors.
PRESS AND MOST RECENT PUBLICATIONS Mr. Nevin has been chosen by the San Francisco Recorder for inclusion in their June 28, 2010 Special Report on the “Top California Verdicts of 2009.” This Special Report is dedicated to the “elite list” of top-rated trial lawyers who “shaped the California legal landscape” last year.
He is a contributor to Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section, the State Bar of California, California State Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law. (Mathew Bender & Co. 2009).
Over the years his work has been reported by or featured in the Wall Street Journal, TFI, (the French National Television Network), The Dallas Morning News, ABC’s 20/20, San Francisco KGO Radio AM 81 as a talk show guest, Sacramento television station KCRA, Seattle Portland Public Television Station KCTS, numerous Associated Press articles throughout the nation including but not limited to the San Jose Mercury, the Oakland Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Francisco Examiner, the San Francisco Recorder, the East Bay Express and the Sacramento Bee. Year after year he is nominated by his peers for inclusion into the “Northern California Super Lawyers” ™ Magazine published by San Francisco Law and Politics (Super Lawyers is a registered trademark of Key Professional Media, Inc.), which represents the “Top 5%” of all Northern California lawyers. He is a Life Member of the Million Dollar Advocate Forum, an invitation-only group of “The Top Trial Lawyers in America.”™ One of his clients, Farmers Insurance, awarded him the “Gladiator’s Award” in 2008 in “Recognition of Outstanding Trial Results”. Mr. Nevin has had an “AV” rating through Martindale Hubble for fifteen years.
ACADEMIC TRAINING Mr. Nevin is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (A.B. Highest Honors) where he was a Regents’ Scholar, a California State Scholar, and a member of the Graduate and Undergraduate Honor Students' Society for every academic term. He was invited to be the commencement speaker at the Department of Rhetoric’s 1978 Commencement Exercises. He was invited to apply to the Doctoral Programs in Rhetoric at Berkeley and in Jurisprudence at Boalt Hall but chose law school, attending the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law because of its top-flight Trial Advocacy program and its well-known extremely rigorous and intense Juris Doctorate Program.
ASSOCIATES AND SPECIAL COUNSEL
Our lawyers are graduates of Hastings, George Washington Law Center, University of San Francisco and most recently Golden Gate Law School. Their 45 combined years of experience in litigation brings extremely high quality support to all of our cases.
TRIAL SUBJECT MATTER Our case subject matter is and has been extremely diverse and interesting. We believe that a trial attorney should be able to succeed in the courtroom; almost no matter what the dispute. Few boutique litigation firms have opposed cases initiated by Scotland Yard, Interpol, the FBI, the Department of Justice, Fortune 500 companies, and countless national law firms and regional District Attorney’s Offices in a wide range of civil and criminal cases. For instance, we have tried cases involving intellectual property, unfair competition , insurance coverage, attorneys fees, breach of contract, construction defect, breach of fiduciary duty, product liability, employment, assault and battery, Federal Employer’s Liability Act, Railroad Grade Crossings, shareholder rights, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, fraud, wrongful death, claims against decedents' estates, construction accounting, private nuisance, catastrophic personal injuries and trade secrets, premises liability, large-scale real estate developments, copyright infringement involving computer software, patent infringement, fraudulent construction accounting, and design professional liability. Mr. Nevin has prepared well over 100 cases for jury trial, many of which were in federal courts, and throughout Northern and Central California state courts.
He is a contributor to Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law Section, the State Bar of California, California State Antitrust and Unfair Competition Law. (Mathew Bender & Co. 2009).