The Firm's Appellate Practice

The Firm regularly and successfully practices before all California appellate courts and the California Supreme Court, as well as the United States Circuit Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and its partners have handled appellate matters in numerous other jurisdictions, including the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Seventh Circuit, the Federal Circuit, and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.  We excel in conducting the highly detailed analysis of the facts and law forming the basis of an underlying trial court’s decision which is necessary for proper representation before an appellate tribunal.  The Firm’s emphasis on superior writing skills serves our clients well in our appellate practice where such skills are utilized to the fullest extent.  The Firm not only handles appellate issues arising out of its trial practice, but is also often called upon by other counsel to step in and handle difficult appeals.

 

Recently, the Firm represented one of the largest property developers in the United States in complicated, multi-party land use litigation which went to the California Supreme Court and forced a legislative amendment favorable to our client.  We also recently were engaged on appeal to represent the beneficiaries of a large estate who by virtue of an unfortunate trial result could have lost three-quarters of the estate to a “putative spouse” who claimed entitlement to the estate through a Mexican marriage.  The Firm successfully employed the doctrine of judicial estoppel to achieve a complete and final reversal of the trial court’s ruling, restoring the full benefit of the estate to the testator’s named beneficiaries.

 

In the past, partners of the Firm have handled a multitude of appeals, both as appellant’s counsel and as respondent’s counsel, with an enviable rate of success. In the matter of Jarrow Formulas, Inc. v. Nutrition Now, Inc., 304 F.2d 829 (9thCir. 2002), two of the Firm’s partners successfully defended a nutritional supplements manufacturer against a competitor’s claims of unfair competition which were pursued through a petition to the United States Supreme Court.  One of the Firm’s partners successfully represented entertainer Frank Sinatra in obtaining compensation for the misappropriation of his name and likeness by a combination of a Swiss health clinic, Clinique La Prairie, and the National Enquirer magazine, Sinatra v. National Enquirer, 854 F.2d 1191 (9th Cir. 1988).  In the case of In Re Willie Gault, 578 N.Y.S.2d 683 (Appellate Division, Supreme Court of New York), one of the Firm’s partners singlehandedly overturned an injunctive order barring implementation of an arbitrator’s award allowing athletes Willie Gault, Edwin Moses, and Greg Harrell to compete in qualifying rounds for the 1992 Winter Olympic bobsled competition, moving from an unfavorable ruling on an Order to Show Cause to a successful emergency appeal reversing that order in less than three days.

The Firm's Corporate & Business Transactions Practice

At FINNEY ARNOLD, LLP, our attorneys have decades of experience in the public and private energy sectors providing strategic general counsel guidance and advice to help our clients successfully develop, implement and manage startups, expansions, investor relations and acquisitions.

 Core Competencies

• Organize global businesses, including resolving Know Your Client compliance, international leasing and banking issues
• Drafting Private Placement Memoranda and SAFE Agreements to secure investor funds
• Conduct mergers and acquisitions
• Designing and implementing employee stock option plans, profit sharing and employment agreements
• Manage Securities and Exchange Commission and State securities compliance filings

Client Experiences

• Managed the design, construction, engineering, legal work, and funding for the Bay Bridge post-earthquake reconstruction project
• Assisted the City of Long Beach with land use permitting, entitlements, construction team, finance for the Desmond bridge construction project
• Successfully negotiated three land swaps between Long Beach and the CA State Lands Commission and acquired coastal development permits from the California Coastal Commission; managed bond counsel and financing for the Queensway Bay parking lot project, The Pike and the Pike Outlets
• Managed creation of the Harbor Community Benefit Foundation, a nonprofit to mitigate Los Angeles/Long Beach port impacts on Wilmington, San Pedro and Long Beach; repurposed containers to Accessory Dwelling Units and protective walls; installed air scrubbers in local schools to prevent asthma and other breathing anomalies
• Designed all OCIPs/CCIPs for AON insurance broker, worldwide
• Secured public/private land leases, drafted drill rig leases, construction, and insurance agreements, and conducted public outreach efforts

The Firm's Construction Law Practice

At FINNEY ARNOLD, LLP, our attorneys have decades of experience providing strategic guidance and general counsel advice to help our clients successfully develop, implement and manage complex construction related projects

Core Competencies

  • Construction agreements (partnerships, gap, bridge and permanent financing, construction)

  • Securing public/private land use entitlements, California tax credits and HUD funds

  • Crafting winning responses to Requests for Proposals

  • Designing Owner/Contractor Controlled Insurance Programs (OCIPs/CCIPs)

  • CEQA litigation, including Environmental Impact Report legal compliance issues (public/private clients)

Client Experiences

  • Negotiate and secure entitlements and draft design, engineering, construction and finance contracts for:

  • Churches to develop their land (Los Angeles)

  • Senior housing projects (Los Angeles, North Las Vegas)

  • Affordable housing projects (Los Angeles)

  • Stapleton Airport redesign to a multi-use project (Denver, Colorado)

  • Design and implement OCIPs/CCIPs for hospital, bridge, and skyscraper construction projects (California, Las Vegas)

  • Post-construction lease-up assistance (negotiations, leases, county service and property management agreements)

  • Provide support for obtaining welfare exemptions for affordable housing projects

  • CEQA compliance guidance and litigation support to cities, developers and community groups

  • Land use permitting, entitlements, construction, and finance legal assistance to the Desmond bridge construction project

  • Negotiated three land swaps between Long Beach and the CA State Lands Commission and acquired coastal development permits from the California Coastal Commission; managed bond counsel and financing for the Queensway Bay parking lot project, The Pike and the Pike Outlets

  • Helped the City of Long Beach; repurposed containers to Accessory Dwelling Units and protective walls

The Firm's Energy/Regulatory Practice

At FINNEY ARNOLD, LLP, our attorneys have decades of experience in the public and private energy sectors providing strategic guidance to help our clients successfully develop geothermal, wind, solar, waste management, biomass and other renewable energy projects. Our private sector clients include many First American Nations and multiple Great Plains, Southwest, Northwest and Alaskan Tribes. FINNEY ARNOLD is also uniquely positioned to provide prudent legal advice on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Environmental Impact Report (EIR) legal compliance issues.

Core Capabilities

  • Private/public partnerships

  • Contracts, leases, project financing and bank guarantees, Power Purchase and Transmission Agreements

  • Owner/Contractor-controlled insurance programs (OCIPs/CCIPs)

  • CEQA Litigation 

Client Experience

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power:

  • Member of the Seams Steering Group of the Western Interconnection (SSG-WI)

  • Participated in electricity market redesign to integrate functions between CAISO, RTO West and WestConnect to design the Market Monitoring Compliance Program, Transmission Upgrades Planning and Real-Time Market Open Access Same Time Information System (OASIS)

Los Angeles Unified School District:

  • Developed template energy audit agreements; negotiated parameters for Proposition 39 green energy audits of school premises

  • Drafted Design and Construction, Consulting and Solar Agreements with third-party vendors.

  • Reviewed and analyzed Environmental Impact Statements for regulatory compliance.

Iceland America Energy (Geothermal)/ Herhof Gmbh (Waste-to-Energy Conversion):

  • Represented international companies in launching new technologies and global project development

Represented public utility and private renewable energy clients before regulatory commissions, including, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California State Lands Commission (CSLC), California Energy Commission (CEC) and the California Independent Systems Operator (CAISO)

The Firm's Entertainment Law Practice

The Firm’s diverse entertainment law practice is well established through our representation of high-profile clients in negotiations, complex business transactions, and high stakes litigation.  The Firm is sensitive to the unique needs of the entertainment industry community while providing aggressive and effective advocacy in court when necessary.  Our transactional and litigation departments work very closely together to provide the integrated services our entertainment industry clients require to achieve the best possible result.

 

The Firm’s partners have represented well known recording industry personalities, including Frank Sinatra in a number of litigation matters; Warner/Elektra/Asylum Records in massive antitrust litigation against independent record promoters, including Joseph Isgro; a recent multi-million dollar dispute between shareholders and principal directors that involved major recording industry labels, including Virgin Records; numerous film production companies, including Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Lorimar Productions, Sony/Tristar Productions, New World Entertainment, Reeves Entertainment, Marvel Productions, and Fries Entertainment, in copyright, trademark, unfair competition, and other types of intellectual property litigation; professional and internationally acclaimed athletes, in litigation related to misappropriation of name and likeness, and as well in connection with legal issues arising in connection with competitive activities; a major production company in litigation with Michael Jackson and the Jackson family; and numerous best selling writers and television personalities.

 

Partners of the Firm also spent years representing Las Vegas Casinos, including the Aladdin Hotel, the Stardust Hotel, the Royal Americana Hotel, the Fremont Hotel and the Sundance Hotel and Casino, both with respect to tax licensing matters as well as all aspects of labor and employment law.

 

Most recently, the Firm serves as counsel to a new feature film and television production studio, a related television network and distribution company, as well as several independent television and video production and distribution groups. Partners of the Firm also served as liaison to the California Film Commission, the major Hollywood studios and talent agencies, and to the cable and digital media industries on behalf of the Governor of the State of California.

 

The Firm is well versed in the newest legal developments in the entertainment industry, including the formation and management of film funds; bridge, gap, and super gap financing; the protection of intellectual property from online and other piracy; economic and labor policy as it relates to the flight of production; and land-use, regulatory, and environmental restraints to the development of new production facilities.

The Firm's Environmental Law & CEQA Practice

The Firm is particularly well known for maintaining a strong statewide environmental practice that rivals the environmental practice of any other law firm in California.  At any one time anywhere from three to five of the Firm’s partners, and most of the Firm’s associates, are engaged in high profile environmental litigation or environmental regulatory matters.  The Firm has extensive expertise and experience in handling environmental matters for both private companies and public entities throughout California, ranging from multi-million dollar hazardous waste removal and remediation actions to personal injury and property damage claims involving mold.  We have good working relationships with numerous state and federal environmental regulators, as well as many prominent elected officials. The Firm also has experience negotiating and litigating against all of the prominent environmental non-profit plaintiff groups in California.  In addition, the Firm’s partners are highly sought after and speak regularly to business and legal groups on trends in environmental law in California.

––         Regulatory Compliance/Governmental Advocacy

The Firm regularly advises clients with regard to regional, state, and federal environmental compliance matters, including assistance with hazardous waste treatment permits, air emission limits, toxic chemical inventory reporting, hazard communication reporting, waste water and storm water discharge permits, and other permits, notices, and licenses under federal and state law.  The Firm is widely recognized for effective advocacy in administrative proceedings before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Integrated Waste Management Board, the California State Water Resources Control Board, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and other state and local agencies.

We have also been involved in the development, interpretation, and application of environmental statutes and regulations through appearances before the California Senate and Assembly, the United States Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency, the California State Water Quality Control Board, and various other state and regional environmental agencies.  The Firm’s attorneys have appeared before the California State Assembly to present its clients’ views regarding the landmark Wright-Polanco-Lempert hazardous waste tiered permitting bill, also known as “AB 1772,” on AB 2019, the Storm Water Enforcement Act of 1998, and on the proposed revisions to the General Industrial Storm Water Permit.  One of the Firm’s partners received numerous appointments specifically regarding his environmental expertise, including appointments from the California Insurance Commissioner, the Los Angeles District Attorney, and the Los Angeles City Attorney.  Another Firm partner served as General Counsel to the California State Controller, General Counsel to the Lieutenant Governor, the Director of Policy for the Governor, and the Director of the California Office of Administrative Law.

–         Stormwater

The Firm has a broad reaching, well-respected, and expanding stormwater practice.  The Firm is one of only a handful of California law firms specializing in this area of law.  The Firm has long been a leader in the field, representing private entities facing enforcement actions brought by Federal, State, and local regulatory agencies. The Firm has also been active in addressing the ever-changing and ever-controversial regulatory framework on which California’s stormwater rules are based.

We have substantial experience in representing clients in a variety of stormwater contexts, although the foremost aspect of the practice is representing private parties who have been accused of violating stormwater regulations.  We have represented a broad variety of clients, ranging from Northern California wineries to Chula Vista auto recyclers, and have represented clients in enforcement actions brought by local agencies to the US Environmental Protection Agency, with most of California’s Regional Water Quality Control Boards in between.  Recently, we represented one of the Firm’s clients in the first US EPA stormwater enforcement action ever brought in California, addressing nine different sites.  After an exhaustive investigation by the EPA, we were able to negotiate an amicable resolution whereby the client paid only a relatively small fine and agreed to implement a Supplemental Environmental Project (“SEP”).  After the SEP was completed, the EPA and the Firm’s client held a joint press conference outside one of the client’s facilities to announce the success of the client’s SEP, to praise the client’s efforts, and to inform the public of the substantial environmental benefits that were expected to flow from the client’s actions.  We also represented two construction industry trade associations in a pending dispute with the NRDC and the Waterkeeper Alliance over the scope of the EPA’s obligations under the Clean Water Act, and whether the EPA had authority to refuse to impose numeric effluent limits on stormwater discharges from construction sites.

The Firm’s partners are also active participants in the crafting of stormwater policy and regulation in California.  We were instrumental and successful in the original effort to create a stormwater monitoring group program whereby industry members can band together to meet their collective stormwater monitoring and training requirements.  The Firm is currently counsel to two of California’s longest standing and most successful stormwater monitoring groups: the Metal Recyclers Monitoring Group (“MRMG”) and the California Wineries Monitoring Group (“CWMG”), regularly counseling its members as to their stormwater obligations, options, and strategies, as well as representing the individual group members in their dealings with the stormwater regulatory community.

At a recent California Bar Association Environmental Conference in Yosemite, California, Tal Finney served as the moderator for a panel discussion on the issue of numeric effluent limits on stormwater dischargers.  The panel featured Jason Booth of the Firm, who represented the interests of the regulated communities, as well as counsel for the NRDC, and a member of the State Water Resources Control Board.  We have also appeared before the State Water Resources Control Board and have given testimony on numerous occasions on behalf of industry members subject to California’s stormwater regulations, arguing in favor of a more practical, financially feasible approach to stormwater regulation, and against the imposition of unworkable and potentially devastating numeric effluent limitations.  The Firm regularly contributes to the ongoing debate of the numeric limit issue currently pending before the State Board, as it determines whether numeric limits should be included within the long-ago expired General Industrial Stormwater Permit.

-         Clean Water Act/Proposition 65 Litigation

 

The proliferation of lawsuits brought by private attorneys general, or citizen suits, has created an unmet need for medium and large businesses alike, as well as public entities.  With little recourse to financing the defense by insurance, companies and public entities are often left to face citizen suits at enormous costs.  The Firm is among the most experienced in the State of California at handling Clean Water Act and Proposition 65 suits.

 

Such claims regularly call for the Firm to approach government entities, such as the attorney general’s office, the district attorney, the city attorney, or the EPA, in an effort to pre-empt the suits and to build working relationships and trust among the prosecutors and authorities that can take such action.  With these tools, the client receives a multi-faceted defense approach that keeps in mind the need to prepare the matter for trial, while still exploring possible settlement options and putting the client in a position to negotiate from strength.

 

The Firm is thoroughly experienced in counseling clients under the Clean Water’s Act National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).  The Firm is also preeminent in NPDES storm water permitting compliance and regulation, having represented industrial and transportation interests at every major national legislative and regulatory level.

 

–         The Firm’s Approach To Handling Complex Environmental Litigation and Regulatory Matters

 

  • Utilizing its Wealth of Experience

 

Contributing to the Firm’s success is not only knowing when to proceed in a cost effective manner, it its knowing when to utilize its attorneys’ wealth of experience.  To do this, the Firm’s attorneys who are assigned to various environmental matters meet on a weekly basis.  This includes both partners and associates, which is unusual for most firms.  At these meetings, we generally discuss the status of each case, pending filings and deadlines, as well as the overall case status.  After discussing these issues in this open forum, the attorneys then discuss the litigation strategy for each case and how best to implement that strategy.  We value this type of team approach to handling most matters and, in particular, complex cost recovery actions.  Not only does this foster creative alternatives to handling such matters, it promotes the sense of purpose and dedication from all our attorneys necessary to obtaining the ultimate goal … achieving the best result for our client.

 

  • A Thorough Investigation and Understanding of the Facts and Circumstances Surrounding Such Claims

The Firm’s success is also due, in part, to its emphasis on performing a thorough, up-front factual investigation intended to assess realistic liability and damage exposures, to explore the potential for early settlements, and to locate other possible sources of contribution to contamination cleanup.  Where possible, the Firm takes advantage of the interrelated nature of environmental claims and actions by local, state, and federal governmental agencies, and works with and among the involved agencies to craft effective, and sometimes innovative, solutions to complex environmental issues.  The Firm draws upon its experience to establish a foundation for an effective relationship between the governmental entity or entities and our clients.

 

This approach leads to increased control over, and the ultimate reduction of, client costs.  For example, time-consuming discovery may be narrowed to the particular issues identified during the factual investigation and early consultation with agency representatives.  This provides the client with information that may lead to favorable, early settlement negotiations, and greater certainty regarding the potential liability exposure in a case or the allocation of risk.  The Firm appreciates that today’s competitive environment demands quick, accurate, practical work, and then provides it.

 

  • Efficient Management

The Firm’s success in this area is due, in part, to its ability to efficiently manage what are usually extremely complex matters.  To do this, the Firm typically assigns one partner and one mid-level associate to the matter.  Depending on the complexity of the case and the progress of the litigation, however, the evolution of such matters typically requires the assistance of junior level attorneys and/or paralegals.  For example, in pursuing historical PRPs responsible for contaminating a particular site, it is cost effective to utilize our junior associates and/or paralegals to coordinate with the numerous regulatory agencies that maintain the records we typically rely upon.  In so doing, we are able to effectively identify the documentary evidence necessary in deciding which, and how many, PRPs to pursue, in an efficient, cost-effective manner.

The Firm's Real Property Practice

The Firm’s real property practice draws on our expertise in many areas, including environmental law, administrative law, litigation, and business transactions.  We represent clients in transactions involving real property and in litigation concerning real property.  We have extensive experience in the purchase and sale of real property and in the preparation of lease agreements.  The Firm’s Real Property Practice clients range from individual real property investors to a nationwide developer and manager of market-dominant communities operating more than 500 shopping centers in over 40 states. We currently represent the trust department of a major national financial institution and handle the diverse real estate related legal needs of their trust clients.

–         Land Use and Development

Our clients regularly rely upon us for our real property development experience.  We obtain land use approvals for our clients, including zoning permits, conditional use permits, and variances. We assist our clients in the development process from start to finish, from the financing and creation of appropriate business structures and conducting pre-acquisition due diligence to obtaining final certificates of occupancy and preparing lease agreements.  We utilize our extensive regulatory and political experience in working with cities and counties to achieve our clients’ objectives through legislative, administrative, and political processes. When required, we represent clients in litigation to obtain their goals, or to defend against challenges to development, including those seeking to set aside approvals.

–         Litigation

Our real estate litigation experience includes the representation of clients in disputes concerning title to commercial or residential real property, financing for real property, and the acquisition of real property.  These disputes include issues arising from disclosure statements, estopppel certificates, delays in transfer, and failure to obtain conditional use permits.  We also have experience in commercial lease disputes, including unlawful detainer actions, disputes over the exercise of options to extend leases, improperly constructed improvements, and delays in the provision of improvements.  We regularly represent clients in litigation concerning permits, variances, obstruction of views, improper use of easements, and boundary disputes.

–         Brownfields Policy and Legislation

The Firm has also been intimately involved in the development of Brownfields policy and legislation over the past decade.  From the creation of the state’s Brownfields Clean Loan Fund to the progressive evolution of immunity law with respect to Brownfields ownership and development, the Firm’s attorneys have been integral to California’s treatment of these issues.  The Firm’s clients in this area include one of the largest environmental engineering, design, and development firms in the world (which, along with the Firm, recently won the bid to redevelop the waterfront for the City of Antioch along the Sacramento River which connects the State’s capitol with the San Francisco Bay), one of the nation’s largest homebuilders, a specialized Brownfields developer focused on rehabilitating one acre to five acre sites, and a public entity seeking to remediate and reuse a high profile abandoned landfill surrounded by a pristine environment.

Last fall, the Firm organized and hosted a major conference on the current state of Brownfields law and opportunities, along with Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown (nationally renowned for his innovative Brownfields development policy and accompanying successes), the Director and Chief Counsel of the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, the Assistant Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency (responsible for Brownfields development policy, regulation, and enforcement), the Director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, and most of the state’s leading developers and builders.  The Firm’s strong relationships with the state’s administrative agencies provide our clients with unique opportunities to develop immunity plans through working directly with their regulators in a cooperative environment.  In the end, we are uniquely adept in maximizing sources of public funding to assist our clients before, during, and after the development of their properties.

The Firm's Regulatory Advocacy Practice

The Firm is well recognized for its regulatory experience.  This is due in part to several of the Firm’s attorneys having served the public in various capacities at the local, city, and state-wide government level.  The Firm’s regulatory experience has enabled it to provide a more complete and comprehensive representation to its clients, as many of the regulatory issues apply to a number of different industries and are national in scope.

 

We utilize our extensive regulatory and political experience to achieve our clients’ objectives through legislative, administrative, and political processes.  The Firm has multi-decade relationships representing clients on regulatory and enforcement matters before, and, when necessary, litigating against, a host of federal, state, and local public entities, including the California Insurance Commissioner, the California Department of Insurance, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor, the California Department of Labor, the California Attorney General, the California Corporations Commissioner, the Franchise Tax Board, the Board of Equalization, the California Department of Housing and Community Development, the California Business, Transportation & Housing Agency, the California State Lands Commission, the California Department of Fish and Game, the California Air Resources Board, the California Coastal Commission, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, the California Environmental Protection Agency, the California State Water Resources Control Board, the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, the California State Legislature, the California Governor’s Office, and multiple local government departments and agencies across the state, including regional water quality control boards, air quality management districts, planning and zoning departments, and city councils.

 

The Firm prides itself on its ability to negotiate fair resolutions of disputes with such entities and in enhancing its clients’ relationships with such entities through proactive relationship building and advisory activity.

 

The Firm has handled administrative law matters and hearings before many of the same federal, state, and local departments and agencies for a variety of corporate and public entity clients.  We have also helped to develop regulatory and administrative law policy at the state government level for over 15 years in the California Legislature, throughout the State Administration, including the Office of Administrative Law, and in many local governments.  Members of the Firm served as the heads of state departments, chief counsel to state constitutional officers, state and local board and commission members, and senior staff to the California State Controller, Lieutenant Governor, and Governor.