Litigation

› Litigation and Employment Representative Cases

Goldfarb & Lipman is skilled in civil litigation at both the trial and appellate levels. The firm’s broad litigation practice relates to issues common to the housing, redevelopment/community economic development, municipal law, and employment practice areas. The firm has extensive experience in writ challenges to government agency actions and litigation in the areas of eminent domain, land use (including the Housing Accountability Act), housing elements, fair housing, public records, inclusionary ordinances, CEQA, inverse condemnation, and redevelopment agency challenges. Our practitioners also have expertise in the areas of insurance, low-income housing finance, property management, landlord/tenant law, and other matters of concern to both our public agency and private sector clients. Our litigation work has resulted in significant published opinions in the areas of redevelopment, eminent domain, and nonprofit housing ownership.

Our attorneys also frequently advise and counsel clients during the pre-litigation stage with regard to administrative disputes and investigations. We strive to achieve resolution prior to litigation if possible, but are well-prepared to handle litigation when it is unavoidable.

Employment

Our employment practice emphasizes counseling, prevention, and informal resolution of employment matters. The attorneys in Goldfarb & Lipman’s employment practice have extensive experience representing public and private employers in all facets of employment law in state and federal courts, before administrative agencies, and in alternative dispute resolution proceedings, including arbitrations and mediations. We have litigated cases involving state and federal anti-discrimination laws, sexual harassment, whistleblower, and retaliatory discharge claims, as well as common-law tort and contract claims, in state and federal courts throughout California.

The firm’s attorneys also counsel employers regarding employment law, lecture on employment law issues, conduct employee training sessions, review and revise employee handbooks and prepare employer responses to state and federal anti-discrimination agencies.

Related Attorneys

Brandon V. Stracener

Contact Information

Brandon V. Stracener Attorney bstracener@goldfarblipman.com 510-836-6336

Brandon Stracener helps clients navigate an array of complex disputes across the full range of civil litigation in state and federal courts, as well as arbitration and mediation. Mr. Stracener has experience representing public agencies, non-profits, and private entities in land use, real estate, municipal law disputes, and constitutional law claims, including novel legal issues.

His past experience includes the spectrum of complex commercial litigation, representing clients working on innovative technology and in the fields of data privacy, trade secrets, trademark, copyright, contract, anti-trust, and business torts.

His past successes have included securing judgment on and defending against claims exceeding $1 million, obtaining a full grant of or defending against requests for preliminary injunction, filing amicus briefs for winning parties at the appellate level, and obtaining all of a client’s requested relief through pre-litigation negotiation without the need for a lawsuit.

As an author of several publications on constitutional law issues, including California constitutional law, Mr. Stracener has become a resource for media comment and interviews throughout the state for insight on a variety of legal topics. He has appeared on television news and talk radio, including NPR. His work has appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles & San Francisco Daily Journal, an Icelandic newspaper, multiple law journals, and on law.com. He contributes to SCOCAblog, covering the California Supreme Court, and he maintains a role as Senior Research Fellow at the California Constitution Center.

Mr. Stracener’s familiarity with the courtroom is rooted in his past experiences working for judges at several courts. He served as a law clerk for the Honorable Kimberly J. Mueller, District Judge at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, and the Honorable Lucy H. Koh, District Judge at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Mr. Stracener also externed for the Honorable Consuelo María Callahan, Circuit Judge at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Honorable Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of California.

Recognizing the importance of effective written advocacy, Mr. Stracener has shared his insights as a Lecturer in Advanced Legal Writing at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. He promotes clear, brief, and powerful writing that actually persuades the decisionmakers in a given matter.

Education

B.A., University of California, Berkeley
J.D., University of California Berkeley School of Law

Professional and Volunteer Affiliations

State Bar of California
Senior Research Fellow, California Constitution Center
Supreme Court of California
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
U.S. District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California
Member of the Public Law, Privacy Law, Real Property Law, and Litigation sections of the California Lawyers Association

Celia W. Lee

Contact Information

Celia W. Lee Attorney clee@goldfarblipman.com 510-836-6336

Celia Lee is a partner in the firm with over twenty-five years of litigation experience. Her practice encompasses a broad range of civil litigation, investigations, and advice on behalf of public agencies, nonprofit, and private entities in municipal, real estate, housing, land use, and business law disputes.

Immediately prior to joining the firm, Ms. Lee served as a Deputy City Attorney in the Office of the City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco for a decade. She was a member of both the Neighborhood and Resident Safety/Code Enforcement Team, representing the City and County and its departments and employees in its civil enforcement of state and local public safety and public nuisance laws and the intersection of those laws with land use concerns, and the Trial Team, where she litigated and tried to a jury a wide variety of matters for several City departments. From 1994 to 2004, she practiced commercial litigation and insurance litigation at two San Francisco law firms.

Ms. Lee has spoken on several panels for the California Lawyers’ Association, Real Property Law Section annual conferences on various topics, including the Housing Accountability Act and ethics in real estate transactions.

Ms. Lee actively engages in community service around the Bay Area.

In 2009, Ms. Lee was a recipient of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association’s (NAPABA) “Best Lawyers Under 40” Award.

Education

B.A. University of California at Berkeley; magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
J.D., University of Michigan Law School

Previous Employment

Goldfarb & Lipman LLP, Oakland, California, Jan. 2014 – present.
Office of the City Attorney for the City and County of San Francisco.

Professional and Volunteer Affiliations

State Bars of California and New York
Asian American Bar Association of the Greater Bay Area (AABA), (President 2008-2009)
AABA Law Foundation Board (2014-present)
Chair, Board of Trustees for Chinese for Affirmative Action/Asian Americans for Civil Rights and Equality (CAA/AACRE), a civil rights organization based in San Francisco’s Chinatown that advocates for the Asian Pacific American community, 2009-present
Member, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights for the San Francisco Bay Area, 2011-present

Dolores Bastian Dalton

Contact Information

James T. Diamond, Jr.

Contact Information

James T. Diamond, Jr. Attorney jdiamond@goldfarblipman.com 510-836-6336

James T. Diamond, Jr’s. practice emphasizes employment law litigation and counseling, municipal government advice and litigation, and commercial litigation. He has represented public entities, Fortune 50 corporations, small businesses and nonprofit entities. Mr. Diamond represents the firm’s clients in state and federal trial, appellate and bankruptcy courts, and in arbitrations, mediations and administrative hearings.

In his employment practice, Mr. Diamond has defended clients in state and federal courts throughout California in discrimination, sexual harassment, prevailing wage, whistleblower, retaliatory discharge claims and employment-related common-law tort and contract claims related to employment. He has represented clients in administrative proceedings before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Mr. Diamond provides employment law counseling to his clients in preventing litigation through properly documented disciplinary actions, handling Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and California Family Rights Act (CFRA) leave issues, pregnancy leave issues, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) reasonable accommodation issues, and wage and hour issues. He provides employment and labor counsel on issues including the duty to meet and confer under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, counseling on reasonable accommodation rights and duties under state and federal law, Skelly hearings, grievance resolution, interpretation of labor contract issues, and labor negotiations.

Mr. Diamond has litigated commercial and business matters on behalf of his clients in contract disputes, common law tort matters including claims of fraud, whistleblower and False Claim Act cases under state and federal law, intellectual property, and trade secrets.

Education

B.A., cum laude, University of San Francisco
J.D., University of California College of the Law, San Francisco

Professional and Volunteer Affiliations

State Bar of California
American Bar Association, Employment Law Section
Alameda County Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Section, Executive Committee Member
Oakland African American Chamber of Commerce

Vasudha Purohit

Contact Information

Litigation

Employment

Related Attorneys

Brandon V. Stracener

Attorney

Celia W. Lee

Attorney

Dolores Bastian Dalton

Attorney

James T. Diamond, Jr.

Attorney

Vasudha Purohit

Attorney

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