Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP is pleased to announce the election of Dan Bruggebrew, Caitlin Connell, Eric Hieber, Sarah Peterson, Laura Seegal, and Christopher Westman to the firm’s partnership. These promotions are effective January 1, 2023.
“We are delighted to welcome these six exceptionally talented lawyers to the Coblentz partnership,” said Sara Finigan, managing partner. “Dan, Caitlin, Eric, Sarah, Laura, and Chris have each shown a deep commitment to our clients, community, and firm. We look forward to their future contributions as our partners.”
The 2023 new partners are:
Dan Bruggebrew, Litigation.
Dan Bruggebrew has experience with all aspects of white collar defense, from conducting internal investigations and managing responses to government investigations, to preparing clients and experts for deposition and testimony, to coordinating large individual- and multi-defendant litigation teams in discovery, motion practice, and trial. Dan’s white-collar clients include audit and finance professionals, Boards of Directors, and Special Litigation Committees. He also represents firms in the legal, healthcare, insurance, technology, hospitality, and energy sectors in civil disputes in federal and state courts. Dan earned his J.D. from Berkeley Law in 2015, where he was elected to the Order of the Coif, served as judicial extern to California Supreme Court Associate Justice Goodwin H. Liu, and received the Jurisprudence Award in Written & Oral Advocacy and the Prosser Prize in Professional Legal Ethics. Dan earned his M.S. from the College of Chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 2008. He earned his B.A., summa cum laude, with an independent concentration in bio-organic chemistry, from the University Professors Program at Boston University in 2007, where he was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and was a Goldwater Scholar and a Beckman Scholar.
Caitlin Connell, Real Estate.
Caitlin Connell advises clients on real estate transactions, with a focus on commercial leasing, purchase and sale agreements, and wine industry acquisitions and contracts. She negotiates and drafts purchase and sale agreements, leases, licenses, easements, property management agreements, and service contracts for clients in the tech, bioscience, retail, hospitality, and wine industries, as well as cultural and educational campuses. Caitlin administers the due diligence and closing of real estate acquisitions and dispositions, including multi-family and mixed-used projects, wineries, agricultural land, and undeveloped land. She represents and advises landlords and tenants regarding leasing, assignment, subleasing, property management, relations, defaults, disputes, and early termination. She also has significant experience facilitating real estate backed financing transactions. Caitlin earned her J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, where she contributed to the UC Hastings Constitutional Law Quarterly and was President of the UC Hastings Association of Students for Kids. She earned her B.A. in Political Science and Sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Eric Hieber, Real Estate.
Eric Hieber represents real estate developers, owners, and investors at all stages of the development life cycle, with an emphasis on representing clients in the drafting and negotiation of design and construction contracts. He has extensive experience counseling clients during construction of medium to large-scale projects, including project administration, contract interpretation, risk assessments, and dispute resolution. Eric’s representations include a diverse range of property types, including office, residential, mixed-use, industrial, sports venues, and cultural institutions across the United States. He also has substantial experience representing developers in high stakes litigation involving construction and real estate. Eric is a civil engineer and brings real-world experience to his practice from his time at one of California’s largest general contractors, where he managed project design development, estimating, procurement, contracting, and construction administration. Eric earned his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, William S. Boyd School of Law in 2012. He earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering, with distinction, from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2009.
Sarah Peterson, Litigation.
Sarah Peterson handles complex civil litigation with a focus on appellate litigation. She has represented clients in the federal and California appellate courts, as well as in the United States Supreme Court. Sarah has broad subject-matter expertise, having represented corporate clients in all types of breach-of-contract and commercial disputes. She has deep experience litigating land-use cases, including cases brought under the California Environmental Quality Act. She also has extensive experience with white-collar criminal and related matters in federal court, where she has represented individuals charged with federal crimes and litigated securities-fraud and civil-forfeiture actions. Sarah clerked for the Honorable A. Wallace Tashima on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and for the Honorable Maxine M. Chesney on the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Sarah graduated magna cum laude, in the top ten percent of her class, from Harvard Law School. She earned her B.A. with high honors in Politics and Environmental Science from the University of Virginia, where she was Phi Beta Kappa and an Echols Scholar.
Laura Seegal, Employment and Litigation.
Laura Seegal’s practice encompasses a range of regulatory, white collar, and high-stakes litigation matters. She represents individuals, public entities, and companies of all sizes in state, federal, and administrative court, with a focus on clients in the government, communications, and energy sectors. Laura earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2015, where she was a member of the Thurston Honors Society and an editor of the constitutional law journal. While in law school, Laura externed for the Honorable Maria-Elena James and the Honorable Edward M. Chen of the United States District Court, Northern District of California. Laura earned her B.A. in English at Reed College in 2011.
Christopher Westman, Corporate.
Christopher Westman advises public and private companies on a wide range of corporate and securities matters, including corporate governance, venture capital financing, and domestic and cross-border mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures. Chris’s clients operate in the advertising, consulting, marketing and design industries, giving him unique insight into market trends and practices. He advises on buy-side and sell-side M&A and corporate and partnership restructuring matters, guiding clients through every phase of their business, from formation and financings to sale or other exit events. Chris also provides guidance on an extensive range of commercial transactions, including service, supply, software, intellectual property, and non-disclosure agreements. Chris was a Judicial Extern to the Honorable Magistrate Judge Nathanael Cousins of the United States District Court, Northern District of California. He earned his J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law in 2013, where he graduated magna cum laude. He earned his B.A. in Economics from Occidental College in 2008.
