PILLSBURY MADISON & SUTRO: TOP QUALITY IN ALL AREAS OF LAW
During 120 years of legal practice, Pillsbury Madison & Sutro LLP has developed the resources and the expertise to provide the highest quality representation in every area of law.
Pillsbury can meet any legal need, from straightforward counseling to the most complex litigation. While we are organized by specialty practice groups, each practice group has the ability to draw upon the expertise of the other groups. This means that a client working with any Pillsbury attorney has available the expertise of the entire firm. Our firm’s culture emphasizes cooperation rather than competition. For clients, this means that we will seek out the lawyer who can handle a given task most effectively and at the lowest possible cost.
OUR RESOURCES
The firm recruits the finest legal talent from preeminent law schools, and we are committed to training our lawyers rigorously and extensively. We are proud of our cultural and ethnic diversity, with women and minority lawyers serving on our executive committee and as practice group managers.
The firm gives its lawyers the support they need to stay in the forefront of their respective fields. Our law library is one of the largest in the country, with 170,000 volumes plus a growing collection of CD-ROMs and access to unlimited online resources. We employ a highly trained staff of paralegals, librarians, computer experts, and litigation-support personnel. We have invested in cutting-edge information and communication technology.
To control the cost of litigation, Pillsbury has taken an aggressive approach to case management. We use case management software to develop detailed budgets and to review progress against the budget with clients. Sophisticated desktop publishing and imaging technology enables us to develop exhibits and support materials in-house. We are a leader in the use of alternative dispute resolution, including mini-trials, mediation, arbitration, and court-sponsored early neutral evaluation.
OUR CLIENTS
Pillsbury’s clients include multinational corporations, financial institutions of all types, emerging and mid-sized companies, and individuals. On their behalf, we have participated in many precedent-setting cases and transactions that have prepared us to address the next generation of legal problems. We serve as principal outside counsel for numerous companies, many of which we have represented for decades. Other clients have turned to us for expertise in specialty areas.
While we represent some of the largest corporations in the world, we are equally committed to providing smaller clients with legal services tailored to their unique needs. Hundreds of start-up and developing companies benefit from our broad range of expertise and our attention to cost-efficient service. We understand and support the entrepreneurial spirit that continues to be the engine of growth in Southern California and worldwide.
AREAS OF PRACTICE
Pillsbury is a firm of approximately 550 attorneys practicing in more than 30 specialty areas. Founded in 1874 in San Francisco, the firm now has offices in seven California cities, New York, Washington, D.C., Hong Kong, and Tokyo.
BUSINESS
The firm’s legal capabilities encompass all aspects of business law. From its earliest days, the firm was involved in the formation of major California corporations and participated in shaping California’s economic growth. The firm today maintains its representation of California’s largest companies and financial institutions, as well as many of Silicon Valley’s most innovative high technology companies. Our transactional practice extends to every significant legal issue in a client’s business, including formation, financing, operations, mergers, acquisitions, restructurings, liquidations, and takeover counseling and defense. We also offer specialized expertise in the areas of creditors’ rights, employee benefits, employment and labor counseling, environmental law, intellectual property, patent prosecution, real estate, tax, and trusts and estates.
LITIGATION
By any standard, Pillsbury has one of the most impressive litigation practices in the nation. Our attorneys have extensive trial experience and regularly litigate major business and commercial cases at all levels of the state and federal courts. Approximately half of the firm’s attorneys are litigators, handling lawsuits involving contracts, securities, shareholder and derivative claims, hazardous waste and environmental issues, lender liability, corporate takeovers, insurance, land use, antitrust, trade regulation, trade secrets, intellectual property, labor and employment issues, product liability, consumer fraud, and white collar defense. The firm has extensive experience in managing class actions and other complex and multiforum litigation requiring coordinated action by a large litigation team.
INTERNATIONAL
Pillsbury has an active and diverse international practice which reaches virtually every area of the world. Many of the firm’s attorneys speak foreign languages, including Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Spanish. A number have had significant international responsibilities in government service or have lived or taught abroad and many of our attorneys are from diverse geographical areas. Through our international practice, we have developed a global network of contacts. Our international focus results in efficient and effective representation of clients from diverse cultures and in a wide variety of jurisdictions.