The Partners

Many litigators spend their careers handling lawsuits without ever grasping the operational realities of the business they represent. Susie brings the opposite perspective. Grounded in economics, business sense, and hands-on experience in real estate, she understands accounting, operations, marketing, and risk management from the inside out.

Her commercial and real estate practice spans the full spectrum of business realities: from sprawling fraud and embezzlement disputes involving tens of thousands of documents to closely held family businesses where nothing was ever reduced to a formal contract and the key evidence lives on Post-it notes. She has litigated multi-million-dollar commercial property sales and complex lease agreements as well as fast-moving unlawful detainer trials, and she frequently guides owners through high-tension “business divorces” where partnership breakups are complicated by decades of family history and personal grievances.

Susie has personally handled every stage of litigation from pre-suit strategy and discovery through dispositive motions, trial, and settlement negotiations. When litigation can be won decisively before trial, Susie looks for the lever to end it early. In one high-exposure premises liability action against a high-net-worth property owner, she secured complete summary judgment—sparing the client massive ongoing litigation expense—with the judge remarking from the bench that while courts see countless summary judgment motions and deny almost all of them, hers was “one of the good ones.”

Whether she is protecting the company a client has spent years building or standing beside an individual in a deeply personal workplace or sexual assault case, Susie’s clients know they are fiercely protected. Her composure under pressure and instinct for split-second tactical decisions in the courtroom were honed long before law school, when she competed as a sponsored drifter behind the wheel of a 240SX. Outside the office, she is a devoted dog lover.

Brett’s practice centers on high-stakes employment litigation and business controversies across California state and federal courts. He has successfully litigated a wide spectrum of workplace claims—including wage and hour, overtime and off-the-clock violations, as well as complex discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault cases. At the same time, his extensive background spans class actions, intellectual property, business fraud, bankruptcy, real property disputes, construction contract, license, and defect disputes, and appeals. Because of that background, he is frequently brought in to untangle novel legal questions where there is no published authority on point.

Brett’s unusually broad litigation background provides a distinct strategic advantage to his clients. Business and workplace disputes rarely exist in a vacuum; a departing employee may trigger a complex trade secret fight, or a partnership dispute may threaten a company's intellectual property or real estate assets. Because Brett has litigated across these intersecting legal disciplines, he anticipates vulnerabilities that narrow specialists often miss, allowing him to guide business owners and employees away from hidden pitfalls and comprehensively protect their interests.

Even so, Brett is a firm believer that not every problem belongs in court. Guided by the principle that “you should focus on having a better life, rather than a better lawsuit,” he takes his ethical duty as a counselor seriously and never pushes a client into litigation they do not need. He routinely puts a client’s long-term well-being ahead of his own financial interest—and has even received unprompted thank-you gifts from prospective clients grateful that he advised them not to hire him when a lawsuit was not the right path.

That perspective comes from a clear understanding of how deeply a legal crisis affects a person’s life and livelihood. Brett recognizes that what happens to an employee at work can be emotionally devastating, and that a dispute threatening the survival of a small business or entrepreneurial venture is life-altering—often shaking the very way an owner views themselves. In those moments, clients rely on Brett as a true counselor to help them weigh their options clearly and navigate the challenges ahead. Outside the practice of law, Brett’s appreciation for complex strategy and analytical problem-solving carries over into his free time, where he is an avid enthusiast of tabletop board games and escape rooms.