The Legal 500

Within Construction (including construction litigation), Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP is a third tier firm,

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP has seven offices across California handling litigation and transactional instructions. Co-chairs Raymond Buddie in San Francisco and Delmar Nehrenberg in Century City lead the construction practice. Their 23-attorney group is active representing well-known clients such as Lennar Communities and The Blackstone Group. It handles all aspects of public and private projects, assisting clients through every stage of development, from proposals, finance agreements and bidding documents through to resolving disputes via litigation, arbitration or mediation. Recent work highlights include acting for DPR Construction in its ongoing work for the University of California on the Mission Bay Medical Center, a $800m project still in the pre-construction phase; the firm has been representing the client in negotiations and bid protest actions. It has also been representing AIMCO, one of the largest owners and operators of apartment communities in the US, in relation to multiple redevelopment projects. Names to note, in addition to the group’s co-chairs, include the founding chair of the practice Kenneth Curtis and sustainable development expert Bryan Jackson.

Within Land use/zoning , Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP is a second tier firm,

Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP ‘really knows the land use market inside out’, and has become involved in important climate change initiatives in California. The group, which handles both land use transactions and litigation, is comprised of lawyers in five offices across the state and is chaired by Michael Durkee, William Devine and Sonia Ransom. Recent work includes continued assistance to First Industrial Realty Trust, involving securing entitlements for a 250 million ton aggregate mine in unincorporated Riverside County. Other work in the area includes acting for Anheuser-Busch in condemnation litigation, which includes a CEQA action against Riverside County.

Within Real estate, tier 4

Anton Natsis leads the ‘very superior’ real estate group at Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP. This California-based firm has a land use and natural resources practice in addition to its 95 real estate attorneys serving a diverse array of clients on all types of real estate matters. Natsis represented Joint Treasure on its $148.3m acquisition of 9900 Wilshire in Beverly Hills; and also acted on Kilroy Realty’s acquisitions of 2211 Michelson Drive in Irvine for $103m and 303 Second Street in San Francisco for $237m. The ‘extremely knowledgeable, very creative and solution-based’ Thomas Henning and Frederick Allen represented Terranea Hotel and Resort on acquiring, financing, development and complex recapitalization of its $500m oceanfront resort project in Palos Verdes. Natsis and Eric Shelby advised McCarthy Cook & Co on a complex transaction concerning its $600m lease transaction with the University of California in San Francisco, involving the development of a $198m state-of-the-art neuroscience center financed by non-profit bonds offered by the California Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank. Michael Matkins has ‘broad knowledge of the market and its participants’, and is recommended along with the strategic and tactical Brian Leck, as well as Thomas Foster, who has particular strength regarding trusts and insurance.