Morgan, Franich, Fredkin & Marsh offers a wide range of business services and counseling with the conviction that legal analysis and documentation of business issues must be clear and comprehensible, so that clients are able to anticipate and resolve the complex legal issues confronting the business community today.

The Firm's special areas of emphasis include business entity formation; capitalization through private debt and equity offerings; business sales, acquisitions, and combinations; business contracts, commercial leasing and real property purchase transactions; management, employment law counseling; and executive compensation and equity incentive plans.

Representative business clients are privately held companies with annual revenues from $2,000,000 to more than $200,000,000. Businesses represented are diverse, and include prominent local companies in the health care, construction, technology, food services, insurance brokerage, automotive, and petroleum industries.                                   

LITIGATION SERVICES

With more that 30 years of courtroom experience, the litigation team at Morgan, Franich, Fredkin & Marsh is distinctive in providing exceptional trial and litigation services in a cost-conscious manner. Firm litigators serve a variety of clients including individuals, domestic and multinational corporations and other ventures, and public entities within and outside of the Bay Area. While the Firm vigorously represents its clients, it remains aware of the high cost of litigation, and therefore, pursues litigation strategies which achieve client objectives efficiently and cost-effectively. To achieve this goal, the Firm takes appropriate cases under combination fee arrangements, providing for reduced hourly rates and a contingent interest in the outcome of the litigation. This flexibility often affords clients the ability to litigate a case that is otherwise too expensive to pursue.

Morgan, Franich, Fredkin & Marsh litigates disputes that involve the full spectrum of substantive legal issues, including breach of contract, warranty and UCC matters; business torts, such as unfair competition, trade secret, and professional malfeasance (accounting, medical, and legal); personal injury actions (including product liability and wrongful death); and cases involving employment, construction defect, real estate, and insurance coverage issues.

The Firm enjoys an excellent reputation with the judiciary in the Bay Area. In order to provide a local presence for outside firms and distant clients, the Firm often acts as replacement or associate counsel for cases to be tried in local courts.

Notable litigation results include; a multi-million dollar jury verdict on behalf of consumers in a case involving illegal billing practices; a multi-million dollar jury verdict on behalf of a corporate executive in a contract suit; favorable resolutions in defense of multi-million dollar contract and product defect claims brought against several publicly traded Silicon Valley corporations; a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of the family of an individual who suffered brain injuries; successful class action lawsuit on behalf of 95 single family homeowners claiming defects in the construction of foundations; a seven figure settlement on behalf of a corporate client subjected to improper claims handling by a major insurance company; defense verdicts and favorable settlements on injury claims filed against a large automobile rental corporation; and favorable six-figure settlements on sexual harassment claims
.

The Firm utilizes estate planning techniques designed to achieve client-specific goals, including the formation and operation of trusts, partnerships, corporations, limited liability companies, and charitable planning arrangements. Committed to a team approach, attorneys of the Firm work closely with clients' accountants or other professional advisors to assess estate planning and financial objectives.     Probate and estate administration is a companion area of expertise. The Firm handles a variety of claims and issues arising from estate administration, estate accounting, and estate distribution.

The overriding goal of estate planning at Morgan, Franich, Fredkin & Marsh is to provide a detailed analysis of a client's planning needs, implement effective strategies to address those needs, and ensure that clients are fully apprised of all steps taken to achieve their planning objectives.