Jeffrey Howard Lerman

Jeffrey H. Lerman, 2007 President of the Marin County Bar Association, is a real estate investor and real estate broker as well as an attorney. Before co-founding Lerman Law Partners, LLP, Mr. Lerman practiced at prominent, large firms and served as General Counsel of two real estate companies with large portfolios of award-winning commercial, mixed-use, retail, medical office and residential properties nationwide, including the Los Angeles Four Seasons Hotel. Mr. Lerman handles acquisitions and sales, entity formation, syndication, commercial leases, loan documents, construction documents, loan work-outs, and litigation involving each of these areas as well as unfair business practices litigation. Mr. Lerman has lectured on various real estate and litigation topics. Mr. Lerman has prevailed in the California Court of Appeals as reported in the published decision Keimer v. Buena Vista Books, Inc., 75 Cal. App 4th 1220, 89 Cal Rptr. 2nd 781 (1999). This important case was also reported and discussed in several articles including 'Selling Snake Oil', Brill's Content, February, 2000. Mr. Lerman also published an article entitled 'Defamation: The Plight of Celebrity Relatives,' Los Angeles Lawyer, Sept. 1983.

Representative Cases

• Represented a major celebrity as the defendant in defamation lawsuit. The lawsuit was brought by a relative of another celebrity who was discussed in the book. The lawsuit involved a key First Amendment issue: whether relatives of public figures should be treated the same as public figures for purposes of defamation actions. After I made a successful motion for summary adjudication of issues, the case settled.
• Represented a major national food chain as the defendant in a federal lawsuit involving First Amendment issues relating to defendant's right to fly its flag on the same flagpole as the American flag. We succeeded in our motion to dismiss the lawsuit, terminating the case with a minimum of expense to the client.
• Represented a major retailer of food products as the plaintiff and cross-defendant in a lawsuit under the California Commercial Code involving a shipment of rancid product from the plaintiff's supplier. After I made a successful motion for summary adjudication of issues, the case settled.
• Represented a nationally-prominent owner of an automobile manufacturing company in a bankruptcy proceeding involving his company. The proceeding involved assets spanning the globe and simultaneous high-profile criminal proceedings against the owner.
• Represented a landlord as a defendant and cross-complainant in a lawsuit brought by the tenant seeking damages for the landlord's alleged failure to pay for repairs to tenant's premises after an earthquake. We cross-complained for the tenant's failure to pay rent. After taking the case over from another lawyer, I found through my research another case on point which played a major role in winning the case. After a 14-day jury trial, we prevailed.
• Represented plaintiff in an unfair business practice lawsuit against a major entertainment company arising from false statements made on the covers of books it published. This lawsuit involved a First Amendment issue which had never been decided by any court in the United States. This issue was litigated all the way to the Court of Appeals, where we prevailed, resulting ultimately in a settlement of the case (subject to court approval, which is pending).
• Represented plaintiff in an unfair business practice lawsuit against a major national muscle-building supplement store chain arising from false advertising included on the labels of certain products sold by defendant. After I took the depositions of defendant's owners, the case settled resulting in benefits to the plaintiff class worth millions of dollars.
• Represented defendant restaurant owner in an unfair business practice lawsuit. Successfully settled saving defendant tens of thousands of dollars in potential damages.
• Represented plaintiff/owner in a construction defect lawsuit involving a commercial building. Successfully mediated a settlement.
• Negotiated countless leases involving major retail and office tenants, representing landlords and tenants.
• Negotiated countless commercial property purchase and sale agreements.
• Represented a telecommunications company in an eight-figure merger.
• Represented a satellite telecommunications company in an eight-figure stock purchase transaction.
• Formed numerous entities (corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies)
• Negotiated numerous loan transactions

• Keimer v. Buena Vista Books, Inc., 75 Cal. App 4th 1220, 89 Cal Rptr. 2nd 781, 1999