Jeffrey Makoff

I am a trial and appellate lawyer who handles commercial litigation and business control disputes. I am admitted in all California federal and state courts and Washington, D.C.. I arbitrate before AAA, JAMS and other panels and have been co-lead counsel in Delaware and Texas cases. I handle plaintiff and defense cases, and mediator, receiver and trustee assignments. I am experienced in jury trials, court trials, arbitrations and federal and state appeals and writs. My broad motion experience includes dismissals, summary judgments, anti-SLAPP (First Amendment) and trial motions. In business control disputes, I advise clients on management, control, governance and employment in high technology, finance, media and other industries, and negotiate buyouts and management agreements for corporations/LLCs, partnerships, proprietorships, estates and their stakeholders. I handle many contested corporate and LLC dissolutions and owner disputes (called "business divorce"), as well as contested consent solicitations, proxy contests and involuntary buyout disputes. In an advisory capacity, I handle family dispute resolution, fiduciary issues, Marvin ("palimony") issues, crisis management, business stabilization, complex asset management, division and disposition, compensation (including stock options/units and carried interests), asset-secured settlements, shareholder agreements, strategic legal and succession planning, internal and external communications and risk management. I frequently assist family law professionals with business fraud investigations, complex fiduciary duty issues, business valuations, characterization of business interests, community/separate property apportionment, tort and injury claims that arise from intimate relationships, and with the discovery and analysis of electronically stored business information (ESI).