SAN FRANCISCO, April 19, 2006 – Farella Braun + Martel Partner Richard Van Duzer has been appointed to the Board of Directors for Hearthstone, the nation’s largest institutional investor in for-sale residential development.  Van Duzer's addition to Hearthstone's Board is part of an overall growth plan for the San Rafael, Calif.-based company.

Van Duzer, who joined Farella Braun + Martel in 1988, has a complex civil litigation practice, emphasizing the construction, real estate and wine industries.  He currently leads the firm’s litigation practice in its St. Helena office and is a member of its Advisory Board.  He is also a past member of the firm’s Executive Committee.  Van Duzer represents contractors, public and private owners, subcontractors, and design professionals in large construction claims and complex construction defects disputes.  He also counsels parties in a variety of real estate and land use matters, including commercial and residential sales disputes, partnership disagreements and dissolutions, partition actions, commercial landlord/tenant suits, easement and boundary claims, CC&R enforcement actions, and local land use entitlement and fee protests.  In addition, Van Duzer has represented numerous wineries, grape growers, nurseries and other wine industry businesses.

Van Duzer obtained his J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School (1987) and a B.A., with honors, from College of Wooster (1984).  He was a law clerk for The Honorable Thomas A. Wiseman, then Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Hearthstone is the largest institutional investor in residential development projects in the United States with more than $10 billion committed to the industry.  Founded in 1992, Hearthstone has financed more than 430 communities in 80 markets in 20 states representing nearly 75,000 homes and lots and 40 builders.  It manages a substantial source of investment capital from public and private pension plans, university endowments, Fortune 100 companies and large private trusts.

Since its founding in 1962, Farella Braun + Martel has achieved a national reputation for the acumen of its business practice, the high-profile cases of its complex commercial litigation practice and its prestigious client base. Based in San Francisco, the firm serves a diverse group of clients from multinational corporations to emerging businesses. The firm also has an office in the Napa Valley focused on the wine industry and related businesses.

Press Contacts:
Melinda Faith / Traci Stuart                                            Cheryl Loof
Allison Blattel Professional Services Group              Farella Braun + Martel
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