Biography

Phil is a veteran corporate attorney who specializes in complex mergers and acquisitions and handles a wide variety of business transactions. Due to the longstanding nature of his relationships with many clients, Phil is often contacted in a general outside counsel capacity to advise on material developments in the clients’ business or industries as they arise.

Phil has developed and is best known for his deep knowledge in the insurance, construction, energy, and financial services industries. His clients include investment advisors and brokers and participants in the technology, wine, hospitality, media, and gaming industries. His work has addressed every facet of business law, including acquisitions, financings, executive compensation, antitrust, governance, and nonprofit work. Phil regularly works on complex shareholder, partnership, and operating agreements and enjoys the challenge of finding common ground for the different interests of the investors and management. The depth and breadth of his experience makes him an exceptionally knowledgeable, effective advisor to his clients.

Clients value the way Phil leads the legal work for them, whether as a strategist, counselor, or negotiator. He identifies and focuses on the key points that are critical to the deal and avoids devoting time, effort, and client expense on secondary issues. He applies his expertise in a calm, clear, highly result-oriented manner, and avoids over-lawyering, fixating over boilerplate, and other unproductive distractions. Phil has represented many of his clients for 30 years or more and has been told his approach is unlike any corporate attorney they’ve ever worked with.

Thanks to Phil’s unique approach, his clients achieve their business objectives with a minimum of contention, duplicative effort, or unnecessary expense. Consistent with the remainder of Farella’s business practice, he staffs his projects leanly for greater efficiency and prides himself on responsiveness.

Phil is the former chair of Farella's Commercial Department and served on the firm’s Partnership Admission Committee. Throughout his career, he has taken pride in assisting with the career development of junior attorneys and managing toward a truly diverse workforce.

Phil is the California liaison to the Corporate Laws Committee of the American Bar Association and is a former co-chair of the Corporations Committee of the Business Law Section of the California State Bar Association. He is the former author of The California Corporation: Legal Aspects of Organization and Operation, 31-3rd C.P.S. (BNA).

Distinctions

  • Super Lawyers, Northern California, 2004-2006

Firm Highlights

Publication

Nonprofit Quick Tip: State Filings in North Carolina and South Carolina

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Episode 75 is the tenth in a series of Quick Tip episodes focusing on the details of state registration of nonprofit corporations. With...

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News

Farella Announces 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity Pathfinders: Taylor Rottjakob and John Ugai

Farella Braun + Martel is proud to announce that senior associates  Taylor E. Rottjakob and John M. Ugai have been named 2024 Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinders. Pathfinders have been identified as...

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News

North Coast Industry Insiders Weigh In on Why California Cannabis Tax Revenue Slipped in 2023

Jeff Hamilton spoke to Susan Wood with the North Bay Business Journal for the article "North Coast Industry Insiders Weigh In on Why California Cannabis Tax Revenue Slipped in 2023." Read the article with Jeff's...

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Publication

Employment Law Update for Nonprofits With Holly Sutton

Welcome to  EO Radio Show - Your Nonprofit Legal Resource . Charities, foundations, and their founders often request help addressing employment practices and compliance questions. In this episode, host Cynthia Rowland is joined by Holly...

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News

Scraping Battles: Meta Loses Legal Effort to Halt Harvesting of Personal Profiles

Alex Reese spoke to Matt Fleischer-Black of  Cybersecurity Law Report about the Meta v. Bright Data decision and its impact on U.S. scraping case law. Read the article here (paywall or trial).

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Publication

Insurance Market Crushes Wineries and Wine Country Homeowners

We keep hearing about how difficult it is for winery and vineyard owners to get property insurance these days, both for their homes and their wine businesses in California’s wildfire-prone areas. Those who have...

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News

Farella Braun + Martel Earns San Francisco Green Business Recertification

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Publication

Corporate Transparency Act: A Guide on Beneficial Ownership for Nonprofit Executives

The Corporate Transparency Act, enacted as part of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021, represents a significant shift in regulatory requirements for entities across the United States. This act, set to...

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News

JPMorgan Chase Accuses TransUnion of Stealing 'Trade Secrets'

Intellectual property practice chair Eugene Mar provided expert commentary to American Banker for the article "JPMorgan Chase Accuses TransUnion of Stealing 'Trade Secrets'." In the article, he said: "By filing this as a trade...

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Publication

Corporate Transparency Act: State of the Law and Beneficial Ownership Reporting Requirements

Key Points: Despite ongoing legal challenges, the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) generally remains in effect and enforceable. Clients should continue to abide by its regulations. Initial reports for entities formed in 2024 are due within...

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