Our firm focuses principally on representation in the trial courts, some of which has been high profile and has gained the attention of the Bay Area's legal community and press. However, we have also handled a number of notable appellate cases, some of which are described below.

Artal v. Sharp -. In an appeal, Artal established a lessor's right to refuse the additional occupancy by a new spouse in the face of constitutional, statutory, and common law discrimination and privacy claims which had previously been upheld by the San Francisco trial courts on at least three different occasions. In Artal, portions of San Francisco Housing Code §§ 503 were declared unconstitutional and commitments were obtained from the San Francisco City Attorney's Office and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission that they would no longer seek to enforce the aforementioned code section. Artal received a substantial amount of media coverage including a front page article in the San Francisco Examiner.

Chan v. Antepenko - In a reported decision , the appellate court held that resident managers were not protected parties under the San Francisco Rent Stabilization and Arbitration Ordinance. This case of first impression has substantially assisted property owners in the management of their properties and in the retention and termination of resident managers. As a result of Chan, we have remained involved in the complexities of terminating resident managers and other employees.

Chew, et al. v. Shearson-Lehman\American Express - Chew involved a successful class action lawsuit against a major securities and investment brokerage firm. It received the attention of the Bay Area press.

Coalition for Better Housing v. Municipal Court - Obtained a writ of prohibition preventing the San Francisco Municipal Court (now the San Francisco Superior Court-Limited Jurisdiction) from enforcing a local rule of court which prevented the setting of trial dates in unlawful detainer proceedings until the completion of discovery. Additionally, the reviewing court ordered the lower court to pay all of the Coalition's attorney fees. Over the years, this case has saved San Francisco's income property owners countless sums in rents and attorney fees by advancing the trial date in unlawful detainer proceedings and minimizing tenant-defendants' incentive to delay the process with unnecessary discovery demands. 

Kim v. City of Oakland - We are currently representing Kum Sam Kim and assisting the Rental Housing Association of Northern Alameda Country [RHANAC] in an attack on Oakland’s Measure EE in which the Oakland electorate adopted a very restrictive eviction control scheme. Kim involves a number of constitutional challenges to Measure EE. Because of the variety and scope of the various challenges being made in Kim, we believe that it will become the most important California decision in the area of municipal eviction controls.

Lucas, et al. v. Mary F. Driscoll, et al., Tick v. Smull, Lew v. Debbane, Williams v. Rossi - In each of these cases, we set new records, by either verdict or settlement, in the representation of tenants in wrongful eviction actions.