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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 FIND OUT MORE ABOUT OUR ATTORNEYS BY READING THEIR BIO'S BELOW Douglas R. Schwartz
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. Mr. Schwartz received his J.D. from Washington and Lee University, where he was student body president and winner of the Phillip Jessup Moot Court Competition, in 1974, and his B.A. from Cornell University in 1971.
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. Mr. Cera received his J.D. from the University of Chicago, cum laude, in 1985, and his B.S. from theUniversity of California, Berkeley in 1981.
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. Mr. Gilbert graduated cum laude from the University of San Francisco School of Law in 1987, where he was a member of the McAuliffe Honor Society and the recipient of the American Jurisprudence Award in Civil Procedure. During law school, Mr. Gilbert was a staff member of the University of San Francisco Law Review and was a teaching assistant for the University of San Francisco Legal Writing Program. He was a judicial extern to Chief Justice Malcolm M. Lucas and Associate Justice Marcus M. Kaufman of the California Supreme Court. Mr. Gilbert was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois and received his B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan in 1983.
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.
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.
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