Donahue Fitzgerald LLP

California, United States

Donahue Fitzgerald LLP is a full-service law firm formed in 2014 through the merger of two of California’s most established firms, Donahue Gallagher Woods LLP and Fitzgerald Abbott & Beardsley LLP. With over fifty attorneys, we offer a comprehensive range of civil legal services across multiple practice areas. Our team includes seasoned transactional, real estate, franchise, and intellectual property attorneys who advise clients on matters involving business formation, securities, employment, commercial leasing, licensing, data privacy, and nonprofit governance. Our litigation team handles complex disputes in areas such as business contracts, intellectual property infringement, employment law, insurance coverage, construction, and administrative law. We also provide tailored trust and estate planning, administration, and litigation services.

Our clients span from individuals and family-owned businesses to multinational Fortune 500 companies, including leading technology firms and national retailers. This broad client base reflects the depth of our experience and the collaborative culture that defines our firm. We combine the sophistication of a large firm with the responsiveness and efficiency of a boutique practice. Whether engaged for a single matter or ongoing counsel, we prioritize close, long-term relationships and practical, cost-effective solutions. At Donahue Fitzgerald, we are committed to helping our clients achieve their goals today and into the future. Learn more at donahue.com.

Practice Areas

We have extensive experience in the following practice areas.

• Business and Corporate
• Construction
• Data Privacy and Security
• Employment
• Franchise
• Immigration
• Intellectual Property
• Legal Cannabis
• Litigation
• Music and Entertainment
• Nonprofit
• Real Estate
• Tax
• Trusts and Estates

Highlighted Practices

Business and Corporate

Donahue Fitzgerald’s Corporate practice group advises public and private companies ranging from innovative start-ups to Fortune 500 corporations on a wide array of corporate transactions, institutional and venture financings, and commercial matters. Our attorneys guide clients through the formation, financing, operation, and dissolution of corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies, while also providing ongoing counsel on corporate governance. We are experienced in handling mergers and acquisitions, including tax structuring and securities compliance, and regularly negotiate and draft a broad spectrum of commercial agreements.

Our team also specializes in resolving complex corporate matters such as shareholder disputes and the contested admission or departure of executives and shareholders. We support clients across diverse industries, including technology, life sciences, venture capital, investment management, community banking, real estate, manufacturing, consumer goods, international trade, professional services, and the nonprofit sector. From employment and non-competition agreements to software licensing and collaboration deals, we deliver tailored legal solutions that align with our clients’ business goals.

Employment

The Employment practice group at Donahue Fitzgerald provides proactive legal and business strategies to help clients maintain compliance with evolving employment laws while fostering a productive workforce. In California’s complex legal landscape, where frequent changes in state and federal regulations increase employer liability, our attorneys guide businesses and public entities in managing human resources with both effectiveness and sensitivity. When disputes arise, we work efficiently to resolve them through litigation or alternative means, often before reaching trial.

We represent companies and individuals in employment-related litigation involving human resources management, employment contracts, and employee benefits, appearing in both federal and state courts as well as before agencies like the Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In addition to litigation, we offer customized training for supervisors, managers, and employees on key employment law topics, including workplace harassment, discrimination, violence prevention, and best practices in hiring and management.

Intellectual Property

Our experienced intellectual property attorneys provide strategic counsel on the protection, use, licensing, and enforcement of proprietary rights, recognizing that intellectual property is often a client’s most valuable asset. Donahue Fitzgerald’s IP practice combines deep legal expertise with a passion for innovation, serving a diverse clientele that includes technology companies, manufacturers, publishers, designers, musicians, and authors. We offer comprehensive services in trademark and copyright law and have extensive experience in licensing and legal matters unique to the entertainment industry.

Our IP group is fully integrated with the firm’s other practice areas, allowing us to address both the legal and business dimensions of our clients’ needs. We offer specialized expertise in licensing, trademark and copyright registration, music and entertainment law, franchising, data privacy and security, trade secrets, and IP enforcement and litigation. This integrated approach ensures that we not only protect our clients’ intellectual property but also support their broader strategic goals.

Litigation

The Litigation Department has a long-standing history of delivering exceptional results in both federal and state courts, representing a diverse clientele that includes individuals, start-ups, and Fortune 500 companies. With over a century of experience, our litigators are known for their strategic advocacy and responsiveness to client goals. While we are fully equipped to take cases through trial and appeal, we also prioritize efficient resolutions through settlement and alternative dispute resolution when it best serves our clients’ interests.

Our litigation expertise spans a wide range of business disputes, including contract interpretation, stock ownership, mergers, fraud, and unfair competition. We handle intellectual property matters involving trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and patents, and frequently pursue administrative actions to recover domain names. Our employment litigation covers discrimination and wage and hour claims, while we also represent clients in trust and estate disputes and real estate matters such as leasing, sales, and construction defects. Whatever the nature of the business dispute, we are committed to helping our clients resolve it effectively.

Real Estate

The Real Estate practice group provides comprehensive legal services to owners, investors, and developers across all phases of their commercial real estate portfolios, including acquisition, financing, development, construction, management, and disposition. Our attorneys represent a wide range of clients, property owners, users, developers, lenders, and investors, in commercial, office, residential, and mixed-use projects nationwide. We also serve as general counsel to real estate partnerships and advise on real estate financing transactions, having negotiated over $1 billion in financing for the acquisition, leasing, construction, and development of real property involving major lenders across the U.S.

Our team is experienced in drafting and negotiating agreements for property acquisition, disposition, and leasing, from single-site deals to complex, multi-location transactions tied to business mergers, expansions, and downsizing. We’ve handled high-value transactions such as the $450 million sale of an 80-store discount chain and the $150 million disposition of 75 Florida properties. Our construction practice supports clients through every stage of development managing contracts with architects, engineers, and contractors for projects like shopping centers, office buildings, and industrial facilities.

Trusts and Estates

The Trusts and Estates practice group offers a comprehensive range of services tailored to individuals, families, and fiduciaries. We assist clients including multigenerational, blended, and LGBT families with all aspects of estate planning, including the preparation of living trusts, wills, financial powers of attorney, advance health care directives, and various specialized trusts. Our business and succession planning services help clients prepare for the transition of leadership due to death, retirement, or incapacity, using strategic tools to minimize taxes and ensure business continuity. We also advise individual, professional, and corporate fiduciaries on trust and estate administration, elder law, and tax matters.

For clients with taxable estates, we develop wealth preservation strategies using advanced techniques such as grantor retained annuity trusts and irrevocable life insurance trusts. Charitably inclined clients benefit from our expertise in structuring charitable remainder and lead trusts. Our litigation team represents trustees and beneficiaries in disputes involving trust and estate administration, fiduciary duties, and undue influence claims. Additional specialized services include family limited partnerships and LLCs, mediation and family facilitation, and post-death administration, all designed to support sophisticated estate and trust needs.