Biography

Rick Van Duzer is chair of Farella’s Construction Practice Group and maintains a multifaceted civil trial practice, with an emphasis on the construction, real estate, and wine industries.

Over the past 30 years, Rick has represented wineries, grape growers, vineyard nurseries, and many other wine industry businesses in a variety of matters, including grape contract disputes, defective cork and rootstock litigation, negligent wine processing claims, trademark infringement actions, and ABC/TTB trade practice negotiations and litigation, as well as partnership dissolution and real estate disputes. His practice is a general one, and encompasses the full spectrum of legal issues related to the wine industry.

In his construction practice, Rick has represented contractors, owners, subcontractors, and design professionals in connection with disputes over delay and cost overrun claims and construction defects arising out of a variety of projects, including commercial office buildings, hospitals, mixed-use developments, hotels and resorts, underground subway stations, rail systems, dams, and cogeneration power plants. Although every case is different because every project is different, Rick has a particular knack for understanding how projects are built, working with experts to marshal the facts and analyze important technical issues, and distilling every dispute, regardless of project size, to a handful of key bones of contention which will drive the outcome. Rick’s approach is to identify and focus on the key issues as early as possible, so as not to waste his clients’ time and money pursuing needless or irrelevant details.   

Outside of the Wine Country, Rick is experienced in counseling clients throughout the San Francisco Bay Area in a variety of real estate matters, including sales/purchase disputes, partnership disagreements and dissolutions, partition actions, commercial landlord/tenant claims and disputes, easement and boundary claims, CC&R enforcement actions, and entitlement protests.

Rick sees himself as a practical problem-solver and a “peddler” of good judgment. Although some cases need to be tried and Rick is very capable of trying them, he believes that if you reach the point of having to try a case, someone has in all likelihood failed along the way. Through the exercise of sound business judgment, common sense, and legal skill and acumen, Rick helps clients get what they need, even if it is not always exactly what they want.

Rick regularly speaks on construction and wine industry issues of interest. He is a past member of Farella’s Advisory Board.

Distinctions

  • Chambers USA: Construction - California, Band 4 (2020-2022)
  • Northern California Super Lawyers in Construction Litigation since (2011-2022)
  • Best Lawyers in America, Construction Litigation and Construction Law (2013-2023)
  • Legal 500 United States (2016-2021) in the Construction practice area

Memberships and Affiliations

  • ABA Forum on the Construction Industry and Litigation Section
  • Building Futures Council
  • Western Council of Construction Consumers

Firm Highlights

Publication

I Always Feel Like AI Is Watching Me: Artificial Intelligence and Privacy

ChatGPT got the early press, and every day we learn of new generative artificial intelligence products that can create new and creative visual and text responses to human input. Following on ChatGPT’s fame, Google’s...

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Event

The Fine Print: A Litigator’s Perspective on Boilerplate Contract and Insurance Provisions

Join Carly Alameda and Amy Briggs in the discussion on "The Fine Print: A Litigator’s Perspective on Boilerplate Contract and Insurance Provisions" to the ACC Bay Area Chapter. Corporate counsel are often tasked with negotiating...

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News

Profile in Women Leadership - Mary McCutcheon

Mary McCutcheon Headshot
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News

Farella Advises TILT Holdings Inc. on $86.7 Million Debt Refinancing

Northern California legal powerhouse Farella Braun + Martel advised TILT Holdings Inc. , a global provider of cannabis business solutions that include inhalation technologies, cultivation, manufacturing, processing, brand development, and retail, on a series of...

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Publication

Nonprofit Basics: Best Practices for Approving Insider Compensation Decisions

Welcome to  EO Radio Show – Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . This episode is the third in a series discussing insider transactions by exempt organizations. In this episode, I'll look closely at best practices...

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News

WhatsApp and Facebook Take the NSO Group to Court

Kyle McLorg was interviewed for the  Shoot The Messenger: Espionage, Murder, & Pegasus Spyware  investigative podcast episode “WhatsApp and Facebook Take the NSO Group to Court” produced by Exile Media in collaboration with The...

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Publication

Nonprofit Basics: Conflict of Interest Policies and Best Practices for Approving Insider Compensation

Welcome to  EO Radio Show – Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . This episode is the second in a series discussing insider transactions. In episode 32, I gave a general overview of the federal laws...

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Publication

State Minimum Fire Safe Regulations Go Into Effect April 1, 2023

The State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection has been actively pursuing comprehensive new wildfire protection standards for development in Very High Fire Hazard Severity Zones and State Responsibility Areas where the State of...

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Event

Insurance 101 for Non-Insurance Attorneys

Jennifer Bentley and Patrick Loi are speakers at the Bar Association of San Francisco's MCLE program "Insurance 101 for Non-Insurance Attorneys." Session Overview: A primer for non-insurance lawyers on common insurance terminology, insurance products, exclusions, and pitfalls. Topics...

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Event

The Fine Print: A Litigator’s Perspective on Boilerplate Contract and Insurance Provisions

Join Carly Alameda and Amy Briggs in the discussion on "The Fine Print: A Litigator’s Perspective on Boilerplate Contract and Insurance Provisions" to the ACC Bay Area Chapter. Corporate counsel are often tasked with negotiating...

Read More