Janet Fogarty

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

        Janet Fogarty has been a practicing attorney since 1992, and is a graduate of the University of San Francisco School of Law. Mrs. Fogarty also has a B.S. in Human Resources from the University of San Francisco. Additionally, she has been a licensed real estate broker since 1981, and a real estate licensee since 1977.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

• Real Estate Law
• Easements and Neighbor Disputes
• Title Matters
• Real Estate Licensee Representation
• Purchase and Sale Transactions of Residential and Commercial Property
• Residential and Commercial Leasing Transactions
• Common Interest Development
• Homeowner's Association Representation
• Construction & Development
• Land Use and Entitlements
• Condemnation and Inverse Condemnation
• Estate Planning (Wills, Trusts, Trust Administration)
• Corporate Formation and Advising Business Entities
• Commercial Transactions including Sale of Businesses and Sale of Business Assets

EXPERIENCED IN ALL AREAS OF REAL PROPERTY LAW

          As a real estate attorney, Ms. Fogarty has represented government entities, individuals, non-profit agencies, small businesses, small and large limited partnerships and general partnerships, and corporations in assisting them in their transactions, resolving disputes, and obtaining permits and approvals from public agencies. She has helped to put together Department of Real Estate documentation for formation of homeowners associations, and negotiated contracts for construction of new and converted planned developments. She represented the Foster City Redevelopment Agency in obtaining affordable housing. She has handled CEQA litigation, challenging the sufficiency of environmental review of public projects. She has handled condemnation actions on behalf of the condemnee, and inverse condemnation actions against government entities. Ms. Fogarty has acted on behalf of clients to draft legislation, and worked with former Senator Quentin Kopp's office to draft legal questions for review by State Legislative Counsel.

        Ms. Fogarty's experience in transactional work has ranged from single-family homes to a $147,000,000 acquisition of commercial property, negotiating commercial leases and other landlord-tenant matters, investor pools of unregistered securities and investor-pool loans secured by real property, commercial loan transactions exceeding $10,000,000, and loan work-outs, trustees sales and judicial foreclosures, Redevelopment Agency low and moderate income housing transactions, easements and utility company licenses. She has reviewed and advised clients on due diligence investigation of investment in development projects from a custom spec home in Hillsborough to a 580 unit apartment complex purchased in Hayward. Ms. Fogarty, has been involved in matters involving title and legal documentation, has helped to resolve legal disputes involving flooding, mudslides, ocean action erosion, and land slippage of real property, disputes between real property owners as to easements and prescriptive rights, disputes between buyers and sellers of real property, and disputes involving real estate licensee defense and suits against real estate licensees. Ms. Fogarty is known for her ability to negotiate favorable resolutions to difficult real estate, land use, and government matters.

        Ms. Fogarty also provides estate planning services, drafting wills and trusts, and providing the appropriate documentation for health care directives and other related family concerns.

        Ms. Fogarty currently serves regularly as a judge pro tempore in the San Mateo County court system.

        With more than 30 years of experience in real estate and land use issues, Ms. Fogarty also has 18 years of experience serving on public agencies, notably on the Millbrae City Council and Millbrae Redevelopment Agency from 1987 through 1995, including two terms as Mayor, also serving as the Chair of the Millbrae Redevelopment Agency while serving as Mayor. Ms. Fogarty served as an instructor of Land Use and Environmental Law at San Jose State University in their Urban Planning program.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

           Present community service includes membership in the Millbrae Rotary Club, the Soroptimist International of Millbrae-San Bruno, the Millbrae Chamber of Commerce, and as the President of the Millbrae Community Foundation.  Ms. Fogarty has been working with community leaders to raise funds to rehabilitate a 50-year old building to be used for a community Teen Center, providing pro bono services to provide the infrastructure to complete the project, known as the “Millbrae Community Youth Center”.

        Her past community service includes the Chairmanship of both the Millbrae Chamber of Commerce and of the Visiting Nurses Association Home Hospice Board of San Mateo County, and Past Presidency of Soroptimist International of Millbrae-San Bruno. She served as the elected Secretary to the Foundation Board of the Visiting Nurses Association Hospice of Northern California. She was the Chamber of Commerce representative to the Millbrae Downtown Process Committee, an advisory committee on business issues to the City Council. She also served as a founding member for 10 years with the SamTrans Board, serving on several State and National Committees of the California Association of Publicly Owned Transit Systems and the American Public Transit Association.

        Ms. Fogarty also has been involved with policy-making service with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, chairing its Legislative Committee. She was a founding member of San Mateo County's Congestion Management Agency, C/CAG, Chair of its Growth Management Policy Committee, and a member of its Congestion Management Air Quality Committee and its Transportation Systems Management Task Force. She was a founding member of the Multi-City Transportation Systems Management Agency (MTSMA), serving as its Chair from 1992 to 1994.

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Dennis Zell

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

Dennis Zell is a general practitioner with over fourteen years of experience in civil matters.  He has litigated and won civil trials and appeals in both state and federal courts.
               
Mr. Zell earned the degree of Doctor of Jurisprudence from Golden Gate University School of Law in 1995 and the California Supreme Court admitted and licensed him as an Attorney and Counselor of Law to practice in all of the Courts of the State of California the same year.  During the next four years, Mr. Zell was admitted and qualified to practice in all four United States District Courts of California, as well as the United States court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.  In 2004, Mr. Zell was admitted and qualified to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States.

While awaiting bar results in 1995, Mr. Zell interned as a law clerk for the Honorable Donald S. Mitchell of the San Francisco Superior Court, and as a bar-certified law student with the Santa Clara County Public Defender’s Office.

Prior to studying law, in 1989 Mr. Zell earned an Associate in Arts degree with high honors in Film from the College of San Mateo, and subsequently interned as a script-reader for a producer at Tri-Star Pictures while studying film at U.C.L.A.

Mr. Zell earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1991, and spent the following year promoting democracy and capitalism in the former Soviet Union while volunteering as a Program Officer at the non-profit U.S.- Baltic Foundation in Washington, D.C. and Kaunas, Lithuania.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Business

• Contract Enforcement
• Contract Negotiation
• Contract Drafting
• Entity Formation
  • Partnerships
  • Corporations
  • Limited Liability Companies
• Corporate Governance
• Government Compliance
• Dissolutions
• Sale of Businesses or Assets
• Trade Secrets
• Licensing
• Unfair Competition
• Wrongful Termination
• Wage Disputes
• Insurance Coverage & Bad Faith
• False Advertising & Commercial Speech

Land Use

• Zoning
• Signs and Billboards
• Easements & Licenses
• Development Entitlements
• Construction
• Subdivisions
• Environment/CEQA
• Eminent Domain

Real Estate

• Sales, Transfers, and Partitions
• Escrows
• Broker/Agent Commissions
• Broker/Agent  Licensing
• Ownership Disputes
• Title Insurance
• Liens
• Property Management Contracts
• Leases
• Evictions

Probate

• Estate Administration
• Estate Litigation
• Conservatorships
• Will Drafting
• Trust Drafting

Personal Injury & Property Damage

• Auto Accidents
• Premises Liability

Election Law

• Initiatives, Referenda & Recalls
• Political Parties
• Campaign Regulation
• 1st Amendment Issues

PUBLISHED CASES

The courts have ordered official reports of Mr. Zell’s cases to be published in the areas of election law, civil procedure, and the 1st Amendment:
Alliance for a Better Downtown Millbrae v. Wade, 108 Cal.App.4th 123 (2003)
Maldonado v. Harris, 370 F.3d 945 (9th Cir. 2004), cert. denied sub nom., Kempton v.       Maldonado, 544 U.S. 968 (2005)
Maldonado v. Kempton, 422 F.Supp.2d 1169 (N.D. Cal. 2006) (Breyer, J.)
Maldonado v. Morales, 556 F.3d 1037 (9th Cir. 2009), cert. denied sub nom., Maldonado v. Iwasaki, __ U.S. __, 130 S.Ct. 1139 (2010)

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Mr. Zell is an active participant in civic, legal, educational, and political matters:
    President of the 100+ member Burlingame Rotary Club during the 2010-2011 fiscal year.  Member since 2002, serving on numerous committees, including as Chair of the Interact Committee and Chair of the 7th Annual Burlingame Goes Hollywood fund-raising event.  He has been a member of the Board of Directors since 2008.
    Small Claims Court judge pro tempore for over a decade (Solano County, 1998-1999 and San Mateo County 2004-Present).
    Member of the San Mateo County Bar Association, currently serving on the Public Affairs Committee.
    Attorney-Coach for the Mills High School Mock Trial Team sponsored by the San Mateo County Bar Association and Constitutional Rights Foundation (2004-Present).
    Judge, Golden Gate University School of Law Appellate Advocacy Program (1998-Present).
    Board of Directors of the Burlingame High School Alumni Association (2005-Present).
    Member, Burlingame High School Advisory Council (2007-Present)
    Member, San Mateo County Republican Party Central Committee (1999-2004).
    Republican Nominee for State Senate District 8 (2002).
    General Counsel to San Francisco Republican Party (2002-2003).
    Co-Chair of Concerned Residents of Burlingame neighborhood association.  (2003-2004)

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Dena Hein     

BACKGROUND AND EDUCATION

            Dena Hein has practiced law since 1992, a graduate of University of San Francisco School of Law. While in law school, Ms. Hein received the distinguished American Jurisprudence Award in Legal Research and Writing. She also worked as a law clerk for the Honorable Daniel M. Hanlon in San Francisco Superior Court’s Complex Litigation Department, where she assisted the Judge with legal research and analysis relating to trials and the complex litigation law and motion calendar. Ms. Hein received her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations from University of California at Davis, where she was a member of the Dean’s Honor List.

            Ms. Hein was a legal assistant prior to entering law school, and worked for several years at two of San Francisco’s premier law firms, focusing on labor and employment law matters. Ms. Hein’s work included factual investigation and analysis, trial preparation and document management on complex employment litigation including two high profile class action employment discrimination cases and a discrimination case where she assisted in all phases of pre-trial case work-up and then traveled to Texas with the two trial attorneys to assist in the courtroom and behind the scenes with a month-long trial, leading to a victory for the firm’s client. Ms Hein’s outstanding investigation and communication skills along with her consistent attention to detail led to many successes in the field.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

• General Civil Litigation
• Neighbor Disputes, Easements and Boundary Disputes
• Real Estate Sale Non-Disclosure Cases
• Business Contract Litigation and Collections
• Professional Liability, Real Estate Professional Representation
• Home Owners Association Law and Governing Documents
• California Department of Real Estate Regulations
• Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)
• Federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA, Reg Z)
• California Foreclosure Consultant Law
• Pet Trusts

LEGAL BACKGROUND AND EXPERIENCE

            Ms. Hein’s legal experience is diverse. She has successfully litigated a wide variety cases, including high-value and sensitive matters through trial. Ms. Hein’s litigation work includes real estate fraud and concealment cases, business disputes involving contracts and collections, professional liability, straightforward as well as catastrophic personal injury cases, insurance bad faith, and bankruptcy and worker’s compensation litigation matters. In Ms. Hein’s past position as Of Counsel to a firm representing bankruptcy trustees, Ms. Hein handled bankruptcy litigation focusing on fraudulent and preferential real estate transfers, and settled numerous bankruptcy-related matters without litigation, resulting in significant asset recovery for the bankruptcy estate and its creditors. Ms. Hein has also handled transactional matters involving real estate, as well as business and personal property-related sales transactions.

            Ms. Hein’s practice as Of Counsel to Fogarty & Zell, LLP since 2007, has focused on real estate law and litigation, involving fraud and concealment in commercial and residential real estate transactions, neighbor disputes including encroachment claims and fence issues, as well as claims and litigation involving CC&R and Architectural Rule enforcement in common interest developments.  Ms. Hein also works with Home Owners Associations by drafting and updating their governing documents, and provides ongoing advice and counsel concerning Home Owner's Association management and liability issues.  Ms. Hein broad background in real estate law and practice also includes the representation of clients in California Department of Real Estate regulation matters.  Ms. Hein also litigates business disputes, professional liability claims and contract cases, and handles collection matters.  

        Ms. Hein successfully resolves cases through arbitration and mediation and with her strong settlement negotiation skills. 
        
        Ms. Hein also supports the firm’s estate planning practice.