Commendations

Firm Prevails in Employment Action, June 2011

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Plaintiff-construction workers alleged they were employees and not independent contractors. The Firm represented the Defendants, property owners, who, after a four-week trial in the San Francisco Superior Court, not only defeated all of Plaintiffs' six causes of action but were awarded $250,000 against the lead Plaintiff on Defendants' cross-complaint for violations of the California Contractor Licensing Statute.

 

 

 

Gregory J. Wood
gwood@woodrobbins.com

Greg Wood is a partner of the firm with over thirteen years of litigation experience.  He specializes in representing employers/employees, developers, commercial landlords, accountants, real estate professionals, and buyers and sellers of real property.

Mr. Wood's career is marked by achievement. He graduated from the University of San Diego School Of Law and edited the San Diego Law Review. Mr. Wood's resourcefulness and good client communication skills were critical in his appointment as panel counsel for Chartis (formerly known as AIG), CAMICO, and CNA – some of the largest providers of professional liability insurance in the world.

Mr. Wood has been named to the list of Super Lawyer's Magazine 2011 and 2012 Rising Stars.

Employer/Employee Litigation

Mr. Wood is most well known for his work in the area of employment and departing employees' rights with respect to competition, solicitation and use of information. In the case Retirement Group v. Galante, 176 Cal. App. 4th 1226 (2009), Mr. Wood represented investment advisors that left their old firm to form their own business and immediately began soliciting clients. The employer sued and secured a preliminary injunction at the trial court level preventing further solicitation. On appeal, Mr. Wood was successful in getting that injunction reversed. The opinion is now law for others to follow.

In a recent case, Mr. Wood represented a real estate brokerage that was the victim of a corporate raid. The branch manager left overnight with the top agents from that branch. Mr. Wood filed suit on behalf of brokerage as against the departing manager and the brokerage that hired her. Mr. Wood obtained a favorable settlement that offset the economic loss suffered by the raid.

Land Use Litigation

Mr. Wood is a land use and CEQA expert. He represents owners of real property in San Francisco often in opposition to San Francisco City agencies. His clients include owners of churches, and other structures that have been refused permits by the San Francisco Planning Department, Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors.

In Cal.-Nev. Annual Conference of United Methodist Church v. San Francisco, 173 Cal. App. 4th 1559 (2009), the City of San Francisco designated a Church on Clay and Larkin Streets a landmark. The Methodist Church and property developer (our client) objected to the landmarking designation, and petitioned for writ of mandate, arguing that landmarking the Church was beyond the City's jurisdiction. The trial court agreed, issuing the writ of mandate to stop the City. The City appealed but the Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court's decision 3-0, in a published decision, killing the City's authority to landmark.

Real Estate Broker Defense

Mr. Wood is panel counsel for Chartis, formerly known as AIG, one of the largest providers of residential real estate broker defense in the world.

Mr. Wood specializes in representing brokers and agents in failure to disclose litigation. Mr. Wood has given many risk management talks to Realtor® associations and brokerages, advising brokers and agents concerning their common law, Section 2079 and fiduciary duties to disclose material defects in residential purchase transactions.

In a recent case, Mr. Wood represented a real state broker who served as a dual agent in the purchase and sale of a large home in the North Bay. Early in the case, Mr. Wood persuaded plaintiffs' counsel to settle for approximately $20,000. The buyers and sellers went to trial and a jury found against the sellers, awarding buyers $1,497,363.89. The client very much appreciated Mr. Wood's insight, which cut-off the client's exposure early on.

Accountant Defense

Mr. Wood is panel counsel for CAMICO Mutual Insurance Company in Redwood City, California and for CNA based out of Chicago.  CAMICO is the largest mutual insurance company specializing in accountant errors and omissions lines and the second-largest CPA liability carrier and risk-management consultant overall behind the giant CNA.

Through CAMICO and CNA, Mr. Wood defends accountants in audit and tax cases large and small.  Mr. Wood recently defended auditors who failed to detect embezzlement and auditors that were claimed to be involved in setting up an allegedly bogus employee stock option plan.  Both cases involved damages in the millions of dollars.  Mr. Wood has also defended tax accountants against assertions that they misreported sales tax.  In a recent case, Mr. Wood defended tax accountants said to have failed to report foreign income dividend tax.  Mr. Wood has defended many cases in which accountants have been charged with overstepping the line between accounting and the practice of law.

Trial Experience

Mr. Wood has considerable trial experience.  One of Mr. Wood’s recent successes includes securing a defense verdict for a seller of real property, in which the plaintiff alleged that the seller had agreed to sell the property back. In addition to winning the case after trial, Mr. Wood secured an award of attorney’s fees against the plaintiff.  Mr. Wood is an effective litigator who knows when to litigate and when to resolve cases in settlement. 

Education and Published Decisions