Representative Matters
- Clear brands and prosecute trademark applications for restaurants, wineries and other food and beverage companies to ensure brand integrity
- Represent Hispanic seasoning company in sponsorship agreement with MLB team; represent restaurant group in sponsorship agreement with NHL team
- Represent purchaser of hundred site restaurant chain; represent restaurant group in acquisition financing term loan and line of credit facility
- Represent a prominent celebrity restaurant in a wage and hour class action, prosecution of trademark violations, and general employment matters
- Serve as outside general counsel in IP, leasing, finance, licensing for branded consumer products and employment matters for restaurant chain
- Drafted promotional contest rules and assisted in structuring a legally-compliant promotional contest for a restaurant chain.
- Negotiate lease agreements for single unit and multiunit restaurants, as well as resolve lease disputes
- Advise investors in restaurants and serve as finance counsel for restaurant operators
- Resolve several disputes between co-owners of restaurants, including dissolution of corporations and LLCs, and settling real estate and business operations issues
- Successfully resolved dispute between minority shareholder/member and officer of two corporations and a limited liability company through action for dissolution that resulted in mediated multi-million dollar buy-out agreement
- Successfully resolved action by former shareholder of corporation claiming interest in real property acquired by shareholders for benefit of the corporation, but held in their individual names. Obtained agreement by former shareholder to deed and release any interest in real property to the corporation
- Represent seafood supplier in various corporate matters including credit facility work and recapitalization
- Negotiated asset purchase agreement and seed supply agreement for fresh fruit company
- Obtained emergency (ex parte) seizure order in federal court trademark infringement action on behalf of leading food manufacturer
- Represented an international restaurant company in lease disputes across the U.S.
- Represented franchisors against non-complying franchisees; leasing and construction issues
- Represented the minority shareholders of Mrs. Cubbinson's Inc. in the sale by Hostess, Inc. of substantially all assets of the company to Sugar Foods, Inc.
- Represented Mandarin Holdings in obtaining a senior secured credit facility and in acquisition of the Leeann Chin restaurant group
- Represented Stix Holdings in acquisition of Pick Up Stix restaurants
- Represented Corazonas in sale of assets to private equity group
- Represented Lioco Wine Company and unsecured creditor in conversion of debt to equity and purchase by creditor of a portion of co-founder's equity interest in entity
- Represented Mandarin Holdings, Leeann Chin and Stix Holdings in term note and revolving credit facility refinancing
- Represented Certi-Fresh Foods, Inc. in connection with a secured credit financing
- Represented Chief Executive Officer of Contessa in connection with the sale of the company's assets under Section 363 of the Bankruptcy Code
- Represented controlling shareholder of Santa Monica Seafood in company share repurchase
- Represented an international bottled water brand in its California-based litigation matters and acted as counsel in connection with the subsequent sale of assets and securities to a Southern California conglomerate
- Assisted a health-oriented meal delivery, food products and catering company with its employee handbook and provided general employment law advice
- Defended a restaurant against a copyright claim related to images used by the restaurant
- Assisted a manufacturer of food ingredients, flavoring, colorings and other products with trademarks and a business agreement with distributors of their product
- Represented a global food manufacturer in a weights and measures investigation into the packaging of various foods. The investigation was headed by the District Attorneys of several counties in California.
- Provided legal counsel to a large-scale cosmetics company regarding a weights and measures investigation into the packaging of mascaras.
- Represented Nutro Products, a dog food manufacturer, in two mass civil actions alleging environmental nuisance, one of which was dismissed soon after filing a motion for summary judgment, and the other of which was a complete victory at trial.
- Represented a café in Venice, CA to form an LLC to operate its business