A veteran litigator and trusted advisor to bank general counsel, Jeff brings more than 30 years of experience to dispute resolution. After many years as a partner with larger San Francisco law firms, Jeff launched Kirschenbaum Law, PC in 2017. He regularly appears as lead trial counsel in state and federal court and in arbitrations, as well as civil appeals. In addition to his thriving litigation practice, Jeff is retained by banks and other financial and real estate entities to act as outside general counsel or to manage other outside legal teams, from RFP through billing review.  

 

Recent litigation matters include serving as lead counsel for financial institutions in cases involving defense of accusations of aiding and abetting in a bank client’s Ponzi scheme and cases involving accusations of fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, collection of secured and unsecured commercial debt, and actions related to violations of the California Comprehensive Computer Data Access and Fraud Act.

 

Jeff’s experience extends to representing clients in disputes related to multi-party mortgage repurchases and serving as counsel in complex environmental matters requiring ongoing negotiation with counterparties and regulatory bodies, such as the State Water Resources Control Board. He has represented parties in real property partnership disputes, commercial evictions, and various breach of contract suits.

 

While Jeff’s practice takes an approach to client communications and personalized service that is decidedly “old-school,” he is also on the leading edge when it comes to the use of technology in the courtroom. He served as lead trial counsel in the first civil case tried on Zoom in San Francisco Superior Court during the Covid pandemic. He also is a member of the advisory board of the Online Courtroom Project, a task force on the psychological, behavioral, communication, and technical elements of online courtroom operations, and the author of several articles and a book chapter on trial testimony in online proceedings.

 

Admitted to practice in California, Jeff received his B.A. from University of California, San Diego, and his J.D. from University of California, Berkeley - School of Law.