Criminal Law

• Fraud
  Elder financial abuse, breach of fiduciary duty, real estate fraud, securities fraud, wrongful distributor termination, bankruptcy fraud, legal malpractice, wrongful banking practices, breach of commercial leases and contracts, construction defects

Business and Corporate Law

• Trade Secrets
• Intellectual Property
  Federal and state court litigation of complex business, financial and real estate disputes, corporate and partnership governance or dissolution litigation, trade secret and intellectual property disputes, creditor rights and bankruptcy matters; business arbitrations and appeals
• Unfair Competition

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
  ®, who added complex business and real estate litigation to the firm's practice. Ryan Meckfessel, who joined the firm in 2017, is certified as specialist in Trust, estate litigation and Conservatorships. Robert White, an Of Counsel of the firm since February 2020, has extensive experience in the fields of creditors rights, real estate litigation, corporate and partnership litigation, secured transactions and insurance coverage disputes.
• Construction Litigation
  Practice Areas: Trust and estate litigation; Conservatorships; Business Litigation including commercial, contract, business tort, entity control, trademark, and unfair competition disputes in state and federal courts and arbitration tribunals; Real Estate and Construction Litigation

Trusts and Estates

• Estate Planning
  Our clients include individuals of substantial net worth and their businesses, institutional and individual trustees and estate representatives, private professional fiduciaries, and trust and estate beneficiaries.
• Wills
  Practice Areas: Trust and estate litigation in probate and civil courts, including will and trust contests, undue influence, conduct of trustees, elder financial abuse, spousal property characterization, and disputes concerning estate assets and disposition
• Trusts
  Co-counsel with Skootsky & Der representing bank trustee in successfully defending against beneficiary claims of breach of fiduciary duty following multi-week trial in Probate Court; co-counsel with Skootsky & Der in successfully recovering monies from former living trust attorney.
• Probate
  The founding partners of Skootsky & Der LLP, Ernest Der and Seth Skootsky, are certified as specialists in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. They are also recognized annually as Northern California SuperLawyers

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
  (1) Appellate counsel in David v. Hermann, 129 Cal. App. 4th 672 (2005) (rev. den.), an officially published decision of the California Court of Appeal holding that a lawyer-drafted trust can be invalidated based on circumstantial evidence of fraud and undue influence exerted by a family member; (2) Appellate counsel in the " Colortran Trilogy," (In re Colortran, Inc., 9th Cir.BAP (Cal.) 1997, 218 B.R. 507; In re CFLC, Inc., 9th Cir.BAP (Cal.) 1997, 209 B.R. 508, affirmed 166 F.3d 1012; In re Colortran, Inc., 9th Cir.BAP (Cal.)1997, 218 B.R. 507) involving the interface between possessory liens and bankruptcy law; (3) A.M. Castle & Co. v. Franchise Tax Board, 36 Cal. App. 4th 1794 (1995), involving the application of California franchise tax to a multi-state corporation with California business units
• Tax Law
  "Update on Federal Tax Law Developments Concerning Trustee Power to Adjust under California Probate Code § 16336," 22 CEB Estate Planning and California Probate Reporter, 177, June 2001;