Robert A. Steinberg, Esq.
Commercial Contract/General Business
Mr. Steinberg’s mediation practice focuses on business-related cases.
He is known for his technical legal expertise, his innovative solutions
to difficult business disputes, and his insight into parties’
motivations.
REPRESENTATIVE BUSINESS CASES
Banking/Commercial Law
Mr. Steinberg has negotiated and drafted various forms of loan and other
financing documents, both secured and unsecured, covering both real and
personal property. He has handled matters involving all aspects of the
Uniform Commercial Code, including Articles 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 9.
• Trust sought recovery on promissory note against defense that maker
had forgiven note before his death.
• Company sought recovery from bank when company controller embezzled
funds by forging president's signature on multiple checks over four year
period.
• Dispute between major banks regarding responsibility for unpaid
international letter of credit.
• Claim that bank should have recognized that customer’s controller
forged president’s signature on company checks.
• Claim that bank failed to prevent elderly customer from withdrawing
life savings and relinquishing funds to embezzler.
• Bank president terminated for suspicious loans to related party.
• Numerous cases involving claims of wrongful real property foreclosure.
Business Torts
• Claim that major software company deprived competing entrepreneurs of
prospective business advantage.
• Technology company sued former employees who allegedly stole customer
lists, technical data and other confidential information.
• Manufacturer of proprietary product sued former shareholder and his
partners for unfair competition and trade secret theft after defendants
hired away manufacturer’s key engineer.
• A vendor to an entertainment company sued the vendor’s former employee
and the entertainment company for unfair competition after the
entertainment company replaced the vendor with the former employee’s
company.
• Numerous common law fraud claims.
Corporate Acquisitions and Divestitures
Mr. Steinberg personally planned, negotiated and implemented the
acquisition, divestiture or merger of dozens of companies. He has been
involved in battles over corporate control, fights among shareholders,
management disputes, claims of officer and director misconduct, and
other corporate governance issues under the laws of several states,
including California and Delaware.
• Public company claimed former owner of purchased subsidiary breached
his financial and accounting warranties. Former owner cross-claimed for
breaches of lease and employment agreement.
• Several cases involving successor liability.
• Numerous breach of noncompetition covenant cases arising from sales of
business.
Customer-Supplier Relationships
• Public Asian company claimed American supplier’s technical products
were defective.
• Countless breach of commercial contract claims.
Director and Officer’s Liability
• Minority shareholders of medical management company sued directors
derivatively for breach of fiduciary duty of loyalty.
• Venture capital investor in environmental services company sued
company directors and officers for breach of fiduciary duty of care.
• Investment banking partnership dissolved, with mutual claims of breach
of the fiduciary duty of loyalty.
• Founder of environmental services company sued directors for breach of
fiduciary duty of care, unwarranted dilution of stock interest, and
wrongful termination.
• Shareholder of engineering services company sued majority shareholders
alleging corporate “freeze out.”
Taxation
Mr. Steinberg holds a Masters of Laws degree in Taxation from New York
University. He has practiced tax law for over twenty years, with
specific experience and expertise in corporate, partnership, and foreign
taxation, ERISA, and state taxation of multi-jurisdictional entities. He
also has extensive property, sales and use tax experience.
• Foreign company sought tax refund from California Franchise Tax Board.
Issue involved proper apportionment of California franchise tax
liability in view of substantial fluctuations in the currency exchange
rate during the relevant tax years.
• Corporation sought refund from County of Los Angeles involving the
apportionment of gross receipts inside and outside the County.
• Major accounting firm advised limited liability company to become
taxable as corporation in advance of its sale. Advice cost client as
much as $20,000,000 in reduced purchase price because of adverse tax
consequences of decision.
• Pension firm client sued claiming firm misled him as to the
permissible amount of his annual contributions.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
• Mr. Steinberg has successfully resolved hundreds of mediated cases. In
his twenty-five year career as a corporate, securities and tax lawyer
and as a litigator, Mr. Steinberg handled billions of dollars in
transactions and obtained tens of millions of dollars in tax refunds.
• As partner-in-charge of the Los Angeles office of an international law
firm, Mr. Steinberg increased annual distributable income per partner by
more than $300,000 in fewer than four years.
• 150 of Mr. Steinberg’s partners honored him with an award for
“Outstanding Teamwork and Collegiality.”
• Mr. Steinberg has extensive experience with multinational and
multicultural matters.
Mr. Steinberg has published more than fifty
articles and presented more
than thirty seminars on
settlement advocacy, case evaluation, negotiation strategy and tactics,
and mediation. He received his undergraduate degree from the University
of Michigan (Honors in English), his law degree from Duke University,
and his Masters of Law (in Taxation) degree from New York University.
Mr. Steinberg’s full resume and references can be reviewed
here.
This page was last modified in February 2008
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