Real Estate

I am interested in handling just about anything that a principal party (seller or buyer, landlord or tenant) in a commercial transaction would need.

• Architectural & Engineering
• Buying & Selling
• Construction Contracts
• Conveyancing
• Homeowners' Associations
• Land Contracts
• Land Use & Zoning
• Mortgages
• Renting & Leasing
• Title Insurance

CA, Dec 1987
Bar Number: 132357

State Courts of California; U.S. Federal Court, Northern District of California. I am also a member of the Real Property Section of the California State Bar.

I am a member of the State Bar of California and the Alameda County Bar Association.

Over the past several years I have averaged between 5 and 10 hours per years in course work on commercial real estate transactions. I also keep current on several trade publications, particularly in the area of shopping center development.

In law school I served as an articles editor on The Santa Clara Law Review. I have also reviewed and edited marketing materials for real estate agent colleagues.

I assisted a national supermarket chain client in the acquisition, development and leasing of a sixteen-acre shopping center in Redding, California. The documentation included a purchase and sale agreement with a national drug store operator acquiring a portion of the center, a site development agreement, a declaration of covenants, conditions and restrictions and leases with smaller space tenants ranging from locally owned businesses to national chain operators.

Recently, one of my developer clients had reached the point in a project where his company was ready to be bought out of the deal. The financing and the timing of the buy out were very tricky and several parties were involved. I led the preparation of the necessary documentation and kept the parties focused on the common goal of reworking the ownership structure of the project. Despite the inherent challenge of working with divergent party interests, I was able to effectively facilitate mutual agreement on critical deal points.

35

California

Donahue Gallagher Woods LLP conducts a highly diversified civil practice, providing a full range of litigation, business counseling, transactional, and alternative dispute resolution services in the areas of business, corporate, real estate, intellectual property, employment, immigration, creditors' rights, and insurance, as well as services in the areas of trusts and estate planning. Our clients range from individuals, sole proprietorships, and small, family-owned businesses to multi-national Fortune 500 corporations, including some of the country's most prominent technology companies and retailers.

The firm was founded in 1918 and has offices in Oakland, Mill Valley, and Walnut Creek. Each of our attorneys brings several areas of expertise to the practice of law, allowing us to maintain a dynamic, flexible firm structure. The breadth of our experience and our cooperative culture enable us to offer our clients the sophistication and expertise of a larger firm, while retaining the responsiveness and efficiency of a smaller firm. Throughout nearly nine decades of providing legal services, our goal always has been to provide our clients with the highest quality of service in the most cost-effective manner. To achieve this end, we carefully staff all projects, matching client objectives with the professional skills and experience of our practitioners. Whenever possible, one attorney assumes full responsibility for handling a matter. For more complex transactions or litigation, we assemble a team suited to the special demands of the matter. Whether we are retained to provide representation for a single matter or to handle a client's ongoing legal needs, we strive to develop a close working relationship with our clients so that we may effectively represent them.

Our transactional, real property, and intellectual property attorneys have in-depth experience negotiating and drafting a wide range of legal documents relating to business, employment, real property, copyrights, trademarks, and estates and trusts. Our litigators have successfully represented clients in complex litigation and arbitrations involving contract disputes, copyright and trademark infringement, software piracy, unfair business practices, wrongful termination, and employment discrimination, antitrust and trade regulation, securities matters, insurance claims, product liability, creditors' rights, and contested wills. Our attorneys strive not only to develop a high level of expertise in their areas of specialization, but also to bring a business and practical perspective to each matter. We seek to be both counselors and problem-solvers, trying to help our clients avoid legal problems and vigorously representing their interest when problems arise.

I have enjoyed the great fortune of spending my entire 19-year legal career at Donahue Gallagher Woods. During law school, I worked summers in the Office of the City Attorney of San Francisco, in the Special Projects Division.

Many of my golfing companions are also in the real estate business, so a round of golf is also often an opportunity to exchange ideas and explore business opportunities in the real estate market.

Suzi Garcia

(510) 832-1486

Monday through Friday
8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
I also work out of our Walnut Creek office for the convenience of my Contra Costa County clients.

Yes

I have some proficiency in Spanish and we have several other Spanish speakers in the office.

Mill Valley, CA
591 Redwood Highway
Suite 1200
Mill Valley, CA 94941
(415) 381-4161

Walnut Creek, CA
1646 N. California Boulevard
Suite 310
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
(925) 746-7770

The type of work I do does not lend itself well to a fixed price type of billing arrangement. Where heavy negotiation is expected from both sides of a transaction, it is difficult to predict how long it will take to complete a deal. However, if a client can provide a general idea of their budget for a particular project, if my fees are getting close to that point, I am happy to meet with the client to discuss where we are in the transaction and what is expected in terms of fees for the balance of the deal.

My hourly rate (through July 2009) is $420.

I do not have a standard policy for initial consultation. Typically, I prefer to begin a client interaction with a short telephone conversation (at no charge) to get an idea of the type of work involved and the potential client's expectations. If there is a possibility of extensive work or a long term business relationship, I very likely would be interested in continuing discussions on an informal basis as long as it is clear that legal advice and representation are not being given until a formal arrangement has been made.

It depends on the nature of the work involved. I will typically request an amount equal to what I would expect to bill in the first month of representing a new client.