William Weinberger joined Parker Milliken as a shareholder in 2004 and joined its Board of Directors in 2006.
Areas of Practice Concentration: Real estate and business; litigation; trade secret misappropriation and unfair competition; employment law counseling and litigation.
He has represented businesses and entrepreneurs in a variety of industries, including real estate development, investment and management, accounting, aerospace parts manufacturing, pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical services, entertainment and high-tech, in cases involving:
- Misappropriation of trade secrets and unfair competition
- Breach of agreements for purchase and sale of real property, purchase of businesses, professional services
- Misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty
- Partnership, corporate and limited liability company disputes, dissolutions and accountings
- Collection on promissory notes and other obligations
- Defamation
- Securities fraud
- Enforcement of arbitration agreements
He has counseled and defended employers in the following areas:
- Wage and hour laws
- Discrimination and harassment claims
- Wrongful termination
- Exempt/non-exempt classification of employees
- Independent contractor status of workers
- Enforcement of arbitration agreements
Mr. Weinberger has represented clients in the trial courts of the State of California and all districts of the U.S. District Court in California, the California Courts of Appeal, the U.S. Ninth and Sixth Circuits Courts of Appeals, and the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel. He has conducted court and jury trials and private arbitrations.
Illustrative cases:
- Successfully defended through trial a claim of usury against an individual, non-exempt lender
- Arbitrated rights to continued compensation under a term sheet on behalf of a subcontractor to an energy efficiency company.
- Pursued and successfully resolved a trade secret misappropriation complaint on behalf of a multinational company.
- Successfully tried and then resolved a complaint for breach of an agreement to purchase a professional service business and defended against cross-claims for breach of a non-competition covenant and trade secret misappropriation. The case settled after the trial judge issued a preliminary ruling that the client was entitled to punitive damages.
- Negotiated successful resolutions to wage and hour class actions in the service, manufacturing and hospitality industries.
- Litigated and resolved a real estate family partnership dispute involving multiple commercial properties.
- Won several Anti-SLAPP motions in cases involving defamation and prior litigation
- Obtained dismissal on demurrer of claims against a large accounting firm based upon concurrent jurisdiction doctrine and defended ruling in an appeal by the plaintiff.
- Obtained writs of mandate from the California Courts of Appeal and favorable appellate decisions in cases involving sanctions under section 128.7 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the anti-SLAPP statute, a First Amendment challenge to a local special events ordinance, the Federal Arbitration Act, dismissal on demurrer of a complaint against a Big 4 accounting firm, and a legal malpractice defense summary judgment.
- Successfully tried a First Amendment cases involving the special events ordinance of a South Bay city.
- Served as a monitor, appointed by both the plaintiff police officer and the defendant city, to monitor the city’s compliance with an agreement settling a sexual orientation discrimination lawsuit against the city and its police department.
Selected appellate cases:
- Whalley v. Forest (CA Ct. of App. 2007) 2007 WL 2172254 (affirming order granting anti-SLAPP motion).
- Burkle v. Burkle (2006) 144 Cal.App.4th 387 (affirming dismissal on demurrer based upon concurrent jurisdiction doctrine).
- Gutierrez v. Autowest, Inc. (2003) 114 Cal.App.4th 77 (enforcement of arbitration agreement in consumer case).
- Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride, Inc. v. City of Long Beach (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 312 (First Amendment challenge to special events ordinance).
- Paramount General Hospital Co. v. Jay (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 360 (dismissal on demurrer of malicious prosecution action reversed in part).
Education:
Cornell University
B.A. in French & American Studies,cum laude, 1977
Stanford Law School
J.D., 1981
Associate Editor of the Stanford Law Review.
William Weinberger 