Home >

Attorneys >

Expertise >

Contact Us >

Schwartz & Cera LLP is a five-attorney law firm which serves clients nationwide through offices in San Francisco and New York City. Our attorneys have a broad array of expertise in criminal law and civil litigation, including commercial, professional liability, employment, insurance, maritime and personal injury actions, in combination with expertise in business transactions, intellectual property and real estate.

The attorneys at Schwartz & Cera deliver the expertise of a large firm, with the boutique-style attention and responsiveness traditionally associated with smaller firms. The attorneys at the Firm take pride in their integrity, expert legal representation and client-centered approach to the practice
of law.

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR ATTORNEYS BY READING THEIR BIO'S BELOW

Douglas R. Schwartz
Kenneth B. Cera
Frank J. Gilbert
Petra M. Reinecke
Robert L. Elam

DOUGLAS R. SCHWARTZ Douglas R. Schwartz, the senior founding partner of the Firm, has tried well over 100 cases in the last 33 years throughout the United States, the Virgin Islands and Europe. He and Kenneth Cera founded Schwartz & Cera with the goal of creating a successful smaller firm with the independence to choose challenging and meritorious cases. During his legal career, Mr. Schwartz has tried complex, sensitive and high profile cases, both civil and criminal, achieving excellent results.  His focus has been on complex commercial litigation and white-collar criminal defense with a common nexus of fraud-related issues, and within those areas he has handled a wide range of cases.  With his expertise in both the civil and criminal arenas, Mr. Schwartz is uniquely suited to represent clients concurrently facing criminal prosecution and related civil and administrative proceedings.  In addition to successfully representing numerous clients (both corporate and individuals)  against criminal charges such as environmental pollution (both land and sea-based), bribery, bank fraud, anti-trust and securities violations, Mr. Schwartz has appeared in numerous proceedings before the Securities & Exchange Commission and other administrative agencies.  He is one of the few attorneys in the United States who routinely represents shipping companies and their crew and employees in federal criminal investigations involving alleged MARPOL and APPS related conduct.  He has also achieved favorable results for plaintiffs in civil litigation, including multi-million dollar settlements in a wrongful death case resulting from an explosion in a gas-mixing facility, a successful legal malpractice case against a prominent local law firm, and a significant recovery for a client who faced construction defect and mold issues.  He also obtained a multi-million dollar federal jury verdict in Alaska on behalf of an insurance company against a prominent Washington State law firm for legal malpractice.  Mr. Schwartz also utilizes his expertise in defending clients in a diverse range of cases, including shareholders’ disputes, construction defect cases, business dissolutions, intellectual property disputes and wrongful termination actions. 

Mr. Schwartz began his career as a legal aid attorney and then a state prosecutor in Virginia, and subsequently became an assistant United States Attorney in the Virgin Islands and then San Diego.  As a prosecutor, he was responsible for leading a special joint FBI-Virgin Islands strike force on violent crime.  His investigation and trials resulted in eight criminal convictions, earning him an Outstanding Service Award from the United States Department of Justice in 1980.  In 1982, while in San Diego, Mr. Schwartz received a further commendation from FBI director William Webster for his handling of an international car theft ring that reached into the high echelons of the Mexican government. Mr. Schwartz joined the San Francisco firm Lillick & Charles LLP in 1982, concentrating on complex commercial litigation while continuing his involvement in white-collar criminal law.  He became a partner three years later, and practiced at Lillick until he left to form Schwartz & Cera in February 1997.   

Mr. Schwartz has taught regularly for the Federal Advocacy Program, National Institute of Trial Advocacy and the Hastings College of the Law Advocacy Program at the University of California. He is admitted to the bar in California, New York, Virginia and the Virgin Islands, and has argued appellate cases and is admitted before the Second, Third, Fourth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal. He has been a special master in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

KENNETH B. CERA Kenneth B. Cera, a founding partner of the Firm, has practiced law since 1985 and specializes in all aspects of transactional law and taxation.  His practice encompasses mergers and acquisitions, venture capital and other private equity transactions, forming and organizing all types of new business entities, purchase and lease agreements for real estate, employment and executive agreements, and various intellectual property transactions.  Mr. Cera has represented Kate Spade, Intermix, General Catalyst Venture Fund, Carpenter and Company, Gourmet Garage, the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami, Insureworx, Nautor’s Swan, Oz Technologies, Epic Plastics, Broadmoor Shopping Center, various Land Rover automobile dealerships, American Corrective Counseling Services, BioZone Laboratories, and the San Francisco Giants, in a large variety of corporate, real estate and business transactions.  His background in income taxation helps him to counsel his clients to structure their transactions in a tax efficient manner.

Mr. Cera also practices political and election law, serving as counsel to political consultant Jack Davis and to the Honorable Quentin Kopp, Judge of the San Mateo Superior Court.   He also advised the Inaugural Committees of San Francisco Mayors Frank Jordan and Willie L. Brown, Jr., the San Francisco Ballpark initiative, and the San Francisco Taxpayers’ Association. Typical transactions Mr. Cera has worked on include several acquisitions of companies for values in excess of $100 million, the successful negotiation and closing of a complicated multi-party transaction involving Kate Spade, The Nieman Marcus Group, and Liz Claiborne, a large variety of private equity agreements, on both the company side and the investor side with a variety of clients including the General Catalyst Venture Funds, and a variety of intellectual property agreements from software licenses to design licenses between the well-known Japanese artist Takashi Murakami and Louis Vuitton. Prior to forming the Firm, Mr. Cera was a partner in the San Francisco firm Reuben & Cera.  He was formerly associated with the law firms Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, and Coudert Brothers.

Mr. Cera is admitted to the bar in New York, California and Massachusetts, and has been admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court for over ten years.

FRANK J. GILBERT Francis (Frank) J. Gilbert specializes in business transactions, including license agreements, intellectual property, joint ventures, corporate and limited liability company law, acquisitions, representation of start-up companies, and business litigation.  Mr. Gilbert advises and represents a wide range of entrepreneurial companies at all stages of development, from initial company formation to liquidity event.  He provides advice to clients in a general counsel role on matters related to day-to-day business activities and operations, as well as representation in substantial and extraordinary business transactions.  Mr. Gilbert has formed, advised, and assisted with the capitalization, structure and operation of numerous corporations, limited liability companies and partnerships.  He has drafted and negotiated hundreds of intellectual property licensing and transfer agreements, software and website development agreements, manufacturing and distribution agreements, strategic joint venture agreements, and various technology and multimedia agreements.  Mr. Gilbert has successfully advised and represented numerous private companies in large acquisitions and corporate reorganizations, including sales of stock, sales of assets and mergers.  He has participated extensively in trademark applications and trademark infringement prosecution, including managing trademark matters for a large manufacturing company with over one hundred registered trademarks worldwide.  He has also represented borrowing entities in approximately thirty loans from the Federal National Mortgage Association to finance the purchase and operation of multi-unit residential apartment buildings. 

Mr. Gilbert was formerly affiliated with the law firms Methven & Associates in Berkeley, California, Neal & Methven in Oakland, California, and Lewis, D’Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard in San Francisco, California.

Mr. Gilbert has been a speaker on trademark law and Internet domain name issues before the Intellectual Property and Computer Law Committee of the Alameda County Bar Association.

PETRA M. REINECKE Petra M. Reinecke joined Schwartz & Cera shortly after the formation of the firm in 1997, and currently serves as of counsel.  She is a litigator with extensive experience in both criminal and civil litigation, and also maintains an appellate practice.  Since joining Schwartz & Cera, Ms. Reinecke has handled and participated in a diverse range of litigation, including the defense of environmental, fraud, and insider trading prosecutions, and the prosecution of shareholder derivative, wrongful death and legal malpractice actions.  Ms. Reinecke has also successfully advised and represented clients in administrative proceedings before the Labor Commissioner, Workers Compensation Appeals Board, Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and the Department of Motor Vehicles. 

In her criminal practice, Ms. Reinecke has litigated many Federal trials, appeals, and petitions for certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.  She has argued numerous cases before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the California Courts of Appeal, obtaining the reversal of a criminal conviction.  She has also successfully defended clients in State court proceedings involving prosecutions for fraud, theft, and drug and alcohol related offenses.  

In the civil arena, Ms. Reinecke has over fifteen years’ experience in state and federal litigation in diverse areas, including complex commercial litigation, personal injury, employment discrimination, securities litigation, partnership dissolutions, landlord-tenant disputes, construction defects actions and collections.  Ms. Reinecke has also developed related experience with license applications, and the drafting and negotiation of sales, partnership and lease agreements.

Ms. Reinecke was previously associated with the law firm Less & Weaver, and was the principal of her own firm prior to joining Schwartz & Cera. 

Ms. Reinecke graduated from Hastings College of Law in 1991.  While in law school, she externed at the Federal Public Defender’s Office and the Tenderloin Housing Clinic.  Ms. Reinecke is a member of the American Bar Association, the Bar Association of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association.  Ms. Reinecke received her A.B. in International Relations from Stanford University in 1988, and is fluent in German.

ROBERT L. ELAM Robert L. Elam is a litigation associate in the firm's San Francisco office.  He specializes in commercial disputes, business torts, insurance, legal malpractice and corporate litigation. 
Prior to joining the firm, he worked in San Francisco as a litigation defense attorney focusing primarily on toxic tort, personal injury, wrongful death claims and other general liability issues for national industrial conglomerates.  He has vast experience advocating for his clients before the San Francisco Superior Court and Alameda County Superior Court and secured dismissals in over 85% of his cases. Mr. Elam began his professional career as a litigation associate with Greenberg Traurig, LLP, a national law firm.  His practice focused on general commercial, intellectual property and insurance defense litigation.  In this capacity, Mr. Elam helped overturn a $13 million judgment before the Fourth Circuit against a contractor for improper termination of contract; negotiated full defense coverage for a telecommunications client sued for "brain cancer" claims; obtained summary judgment in the Northern District of California for a protective eyewear client, invalidating all 22 claims of patent-in-suit; and worked alongside former United States Solicitor General Kenneth Starr to compel arbitration for a private security contractor client sued for wrongful death arising from military operations in Iraq.

Mr. Elam graduated from Georgetown University in 1997 and received his Juris Doctorate degree from Stanford Law School in 2003.  While in law school, he interned for the Department of Justice and the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.  He was a California Senate Associate in 1997-98 for current U.S. Congressman Adam B. Schiff and a Fulbright Scholar to the United Kingdom in 2001-02.  He has earned diplomas in public policy at Sacramento State University and economic history at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.  He is also a licensed real estate broker.

Mr. Elam is a member of the American Bar Association, California State Bar and the Marin County Bar Association.  He is admitted to practice law in the State of California; the U.S. Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit; United States District Court, Northern District of California; United States District Court, Central District of California; United States District Court, Eastern District of California; United States District Court, Southern District of California; United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida; and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.

Copyright 2011 Schwartz & Cera LLP. All rights reserved.